juliensimon/lunar-craters-robbins

---
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "Lunar Crater Database (Robbins 2019)"
language:
- en
description: "Definitive lunar impact crater database with 384,278 craters >= 1 km diameter from Robbins (2019). Artemis-relevant."
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
- tabular-regression
tags:
- space
- moon
- lunar
- crater
- planetary-science
- usgs
- artemis
- open-data
- tabular-data
size_categories:
- 1M<n<10M
configs:
- config_name: default
data_files:
- split: train
path: data/lunar_craters.parquet
default: true
---

# Lunar Crater Database (Robbins 2019)

*Part of the [Planetary Science Datasets](https://huggingface.co/collections/juliensimon/planetary-science-datasets-69c2d4683bd6a66c34fb4af2) collection on Hugging Face.*

The definitive lunar impact crater database, containing **384,278** craters with diameter >= 1 km.
Essential reference for Artemis mission planning and lunar surface studies.

## Dataset description

This database was compiled by Stuart J. Robbins (2019) using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
imagery and LOLA topography. It is the most comprehensive catalog of lunar impact craters,
covering the entire lunar surface with consistent methodology.

## Schema

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `crater_id` | int64 | Unique crater identifier |
| `latitude_deg` | float64 | Crater center latitude (degrees, planetocentric) |
| `longitude_deg` | float64 | Crater center longitude (degrees, 0-360 E) |
| `diameter_km` | float64 | Crater rim-to-rim diameter (km) |
| `depth_km` | float64 | Rim-to-floor depth (km) |
| `floor_elevation_km` | float64 | Floor elevation (km) |
| `depth_rim_sd_km` | float64 | Rim depth standard deviation (km) |
| `size_class` | string | Derived: small (<5 km), medium (5-20), large (20-100), giant (>100) |

## Quick stats

- **384,278** total craters
- Size distribution: 336,675 small, 36,690 medium, 10,602 large, 311 giant
- Diameter range: 1.00 -- 3411.7 km

## Usage

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/lunar-craters-robbins", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# Size distribution
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
df["diameter_km"].hist(bins=100, log=True)
plt.xlabel("Diameter (km)")
plt.ylabel("Count")
plt.title("Lunar Crater Size Distribution")
plt.show()

# South pole region (Artemis-relevant)
south_pole = df[(df["latitude_deg"] < -80)]
print(f"Craters near south pole: {len(south_pole):,}")
plt.scatter(south_pole["longitude_deg"], south_pole["latitude_deg"],
s=south_pole["diameter_km"], alpha=0.5)
plt.title("Lunar South Pole Craters")
plt.show()
```

## Data source

Robbins, S.J. (2019), *A New Global Database of Lunar Impact Craters >1-2 km:
1. Crater Locations and Sizes, Comparisons With Published Databases, and Global Analysis.*
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 124, 871-892.
Distributed by USGS Astrogeology Science Center.

## Pipeline

Source code: [juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## Support

If you find this dataset useful, please give it a ❤️ on the [dataset page](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/lunar-craters-robbins) and share feedback in the Community tab! Also consider giving a ⭐️ to the [space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets) repo.

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{lunar_craters_robbins,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {Lunar Crater Database (Robbins 2019)},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/lunar-craters-robbins},
note = {Based on Robbins (2019) via USGS Astrogeology}
}
```

## License

[CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)