The lunar surface undergoes various space weathering and impact processes, which shape the regolith and expose boulders. Using high-resolution Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Narrow Angle Camera imagery and associated Digital Elevation Models, we investigate regolith thicknesses and boulder densities at the four candidate landing sites of the Emirates Lunar Mission Rashid-1 rover: the floor-fractured crater Atlas and the Sinus Iridum, Oceanus Procellarum and Lacus Somniorum maria.

The regolith thickness is estimated using the small crater morphology method, by mapping 3,413 central mound, flat-bottomed, concentric craters (< 350 m in diameter). Boulders were counted manually and compared with LRO Diviner rock abundance and mini-RF Circular Polarisation Ratio global maps.

There is no obvious correlation between the site's age, average regolith thickness and boulder density.

The "Depth-Age hypothesis" is not confirmed here: Atlas (3.8 Gyr) has the thinnest regolith (median:

1.2 m), Procellarum (1.9 Gyr) and Somniorum (3.7 Gyr) have similar thicknesses (1.7 m and 1.8 m respectively), and the regolith in Iridum (3.4 Gyr) is the thickest (2.9 m). The estimated regolith p. 2 thickness is highly variable laterally within the landing ellipses. Boulder fields in the landing areas are well-correlated with higher Diviner rock abundance values, and with locally thicker patches of regolith.

The relatively thin regolith in Atlas could be related to its complex geology involving multiple volcanic episodes. Orbital estimates of regolith thickness and boulder distribution remain key for landing safety and trafficability assessments during mission preparations, and bring key insights into the local history of the regolith through crater morphologies.