Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufm.p22a0384l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #P22A-0384
Physics
5464 Remote Sensing, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
A series of fourteen radar observations of Mars were made during the 2001 opposition. Four of these observation tracks passed over Terra Meridiani, a prime candidate landing site for one of the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover missions. Observations were conducted using X-band (3.5 centimeter wavelength) radar transmitted with a pseudo-random binary phase encoding which, combined with the frequency resolution of the processing FFT, yields a maximum spatial resolution of approximately five kilometers. Actual spatial resolution is coarser than this (between five and twenty kilometers) due to signal-to-noise considerations that predicated longer integration times as well as greater planetary ranges for the off-opposition observations. We have processed the Terra Meridiani data in stages, beginning with one-dimensional sub-radar track profiles and culminating with four-station interferometry. Not all observations were amendable to the full four-station interferometry, due to technical issues, but were processed with a minimum of two stations to remove the spatial ambiguities inherent to radar observations. Our processing yields one- and two-dimensional maps of the surface reflectivity along the radar track. We extract scattering data for points along the sub-radar track, where the angle in incidence varies most, and model the scattering function. The multi-station reflectivity data is also modeled according to the Hagfors scattering model to extract two-dimensional maps of RMS roughness and dielectric constant. The RMS roughness data for the Terra Meridiani landing sites shows the local surface slopes to be less than 3 degrees, on the scale of tens of wavelengths. An enhanced dielectric constant is apparent over Terra Meridiani that is spatially correlated with the MGS detected hematite deposits. The level of the enhancement is consistent with the inclusion of 10-15 percent hematite, according to a weighted dielectric or PVL model. Integral to our processing, and new to this opposition's data, is the inclusion of the MOLA topographic dataset. MOLA provides us with known altimetry that is used to eliminate range as an unknown in the target solution, thus improving the solution for the remaining variables.
Arvidson Ray E.
Haldemann A. F.
Jurgens Raymond F.
Larsen Kristopher William
Slade Martin A.
No associations
LandOfFree
Radar Scattering Properties of Terra Meridiani, Mars does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Radar Scattering Properties of Terra Meridiani, Mars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Radar Scattering Properties of Terra Meridiani, Mars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1891979