Computer Science – Numerical Analysis
Scientific paper
Jul 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994icar..110....2m&link_type=abstract
Icarus (ISSN 0019-1035), vol. 110, no. 1, p. 2-32
Computer Science
Numerical Analysis
58
Diurnal Variations, Infrared Imagery, Mathematical Models, Mercury Surface, Microwave Imagery, Regolith, Thermal Emission, Astronomical Interferometry, Brightness, Image Analysis, Numerical Analysis, Opacity, Radiative Transfer, Very Large Array (Vla)
Scientific paper
We present images of Mercury's thermal emission that were obtained with the Berkeley-Maryland-Illinois Array (BIMA) millimeter interferometer at a wavelength of 0.3 cm and with the VLA (Very Large Array) at wavelengths from 1.3 to 20.5 cm. These images are analyzed with detailed thermophysical and radiative transfer models that are based in part on a lunar analogy. We constrain the thermophysical model with Mariner 10 infrared measurements of Mercury's night-side surface temperature and show that Mercury's regolith, like that of the Moon, consists of a thermally insulating surface layer, with a thickness of a few centimeters, atop a highly compacted region that extends to a depth of several meters. The radiative transfer model is constrained in part by linear polarization images that we obtained with the VLA at wavelengths from 2.0 to 20.5 cm. These images reveal wavelength-dependent scattering at the surface boundary and rms surface slopes that range from 15 deg at lambda 2.0 cm to 10 deg at lambda 6.2 cm. We develop a method for constraining the microwave opacity at each wavelength by modeling diurnal brightness variations over the resolved disk and find that Mercury's regolith is at least two to three times more transparent than the lunar maria and at least 40% more transparent than the lunar highlands. This difference is likely due to lower Fe and Ti abundances in Mercury's regolith, which is consistent with Mercury's high visual albedo and suggests that most of Mercury's surface is an extreme example of the lunar highlands.
de Pater Imke
Mitchell David Leroy
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