The lunar surface progressively darkens and reddens as a result of sputtering from solar wind particles and bombardment of micrometeoroids. The extent of exposure to these space weathering agents is frequently calculated as the location in a diagram of reflectance at 750 nm vs. 950 nm/750 nm color (R-C). Sim & Kim (2018) examined the R-C trends of pixels within ∼3,500 craters, and revealed that the length (L) and skewness (s) of R-C trends can be employed as a secondary age or maturity indicator. We broaden this research to general lunar surface areas (3,400 tiles of 0.25◦ × 0.25◦ size) in 218 mare basalt units, whose ages have been derived from the size-frequency distribution analysis by Hiesinger et al. (2011). We discover that L and s rise with age until ∼3.2 Gyr and reduce rather rapidly afterward, while the optical maturity, OMAT, reduces monotonically with time. We show that in some situations, when not only OMAT but also L and s are incorporated in the estimation utilizing 750 & 950 nm photometry, the age estimation becomes considerably more reliable. We also observed that OMAT and the lunar cratering chronology function (cumulative number of craters larger than a certain diameter as a function of time) have a relatively linear relationship.

A multi-disciplinary approach is used to analyze current trends in environmental and technology color research to provide better understanding of how color plays a crucial role in engineering, medical science, law, design, arts, marketing, and business. The study shows that understanding the complexities of color perception can contribute to better product and building design and the use of color therapy in medicine.