Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011jgre..11601006t&link_type=abstract
Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 116, Issue E1, CiteID E01006
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
3
Electromagnetics: Scattering And Diffraction, Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Polar Regions, Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Moon (1221), Radio Science: Radar Astronomy, Radio Science: Remote Sensing
Scientific paper
Two orbital synthetic aperture radars (SARs), the Chandrayaan-1 Mini-SAR (13 cm wavelength) and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Mini-RF (13 and 4.2 cm wavelengths), have been imaging the lunar surface searching for ice deposits in the polar permanently shadowed areas. To understand the radar signatures of lunar polar ices, an empirical two-component model with parametric variations of the specular and diffuse components was developed and validated. This model estimates scattering differences associated with slopes, surface roughness, thin regolith over ice, and patches of ice. Lunar radar backscatter cross sections for the average surface for the Chandrayaan-1 and LRO instruments are estimated from the radar cross sections from the Moon at 3.8, 23, and 68 cm wavelengths measured in the 1960s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This modeling predicts that enhanced diffuse scattering from near-surface ice can be separated from rocks if the scattering is characterized by both the high reflectivity and circular polarization ratios (CPRs) like those observed on Mercury, Mars, and the Galilean satellites. Scattering from near-surface ices covered by a thin regolith can be separated from rocks if the enhancement is twice the average or more. If, however, the lunar ice is dispersed throughout the regolith as ice-filling pores, then scattering differences might be too small to detect. Preliminary validation using LRO radar data for a few polar and midlatitude craters indicate that the observed CPRs are consistent with our models for different regolith ice and roughness conditions.
Heggy Essam
Thompson Thomas W.
Ustinov Eugene A.
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