The Global Search for Liquid Water on Mars from Orbit: Current and Future Perspectives

Due to its significance in astrobiology, assessing the amount and state of liquid water present on Mars today has become one of the drivers of its exploration. Subglacial water was identified by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) aboard the European Space Agency spacecraft Mars Express through the analysis of echoes, coming from a depth of about 1.5 km, which were stronger than surface echoes. The cause of this anomalous characteristic is the high relative permittivity of water-bearing materials, resulting in a high reflection coefficient. A determining factor in the occurrence of such strong echoes is the low attenuation of the MARSIS radar pulse in cold water ice, the main constituent of the Martian polar caps. The present analysis clarifies that the conditions causing exceptionally strong subsurface echoes occur solely in the Martian polar caps, and that the detection of subsurface water under a predominantly rocky surface layer using radar sounding will require thorough electromagnetic modeling, complicated by the lack of knowledge of many subsurface physical parameters. Higher-frequency radar sounders such as SHARAD cannot penetrate deep enough to detect basal echoes over the thickest part of the polar caps. Alternative methods such as rover-borne Ground Penetrating Radar and time-domain electromagnetic sounding are not capable of providing global coverage. MARSIS observations over the Martian polar caps have been limited by the need to downlink data before on-board processing, but their number will increase in coming years. The Chinese mission to Mars that is to be launched in 2020, Tianwen-1, will carry a subsurface sounding radar operating at frequencies that are close to those of MARSIS, and the expected signal-to-noise ratio of subsurface detection will likely be sufficient for identifying anomalously bright subsurface reflectors. The search for subsurface water through radar sounding is thus far from being concluded

Regolith thickness over the lunar nearside: Results from Earth-based 70-cm Arecibo radar observations

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Modeling polarimetric radar scattering from the lunar surface: Study on the effect of physical properties of the regolith layer

International audienceA theoretical model for radar scattering from the lunar regolith using the vector radiative transfer theory for random media has been developed in order to aid in the interpretation of Mini-SAR data from the Chandrayaan-1 and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions. The lunar regolith is represented as a homogeneous fine-grained layer with rough upper and lower parallel interfaces that possesses embedded inclusions with a different dielectric constant. Our model considers five scattering mechanisms in the regolith layer: diffuse scattering from both the surface and subsurface, volume scattering from buried inclusions, and the interactions of scattering between buried inclusions and the rough interfaces (both the lunar surface and subsurface). Multiple scattering between buried inclusions and coherent backscatter opposite effect are not considered in the current model. The modeled radar scattering coefficients are validated using numerical finite difference time domain simulations and are compared with incident angle-averaged Earth-based radar observations of the Moon. Both polarized and depolarized radar backscattering coefficients and the circular polarization ratio (CPR) are calculated as a function of incidence angle, regolith thickness, surface and subsurface roughness, surface slope, abundance and shape of buried rocks, and the FeO+TiO 2 content of the regolith. Simulation results show that the polarized (opposite sense) radar echo strength at S and X bands is mostly dominated by scattering from the rough surface and buried rocks, while the depolarized (same sense) radar echo strength is dominated by scattering from buried rocks or ice inclusions. Finally, to explore the expected polarimetric signature of ice in the polar permanently shadowed areas, four parametric regolith models are considered and the possibility of detecting diffuse ice inclusions by the CPR is addressed. Our study suggests that detection of ice inclusions at the lunar poles using solely the CPR will be difficult given the small dielectric contrast between the regolith and ice. Citation: Fa, W., M. A. Wieczorek, and E. Heggy (2011), Modeling polarimetric radar scattering from the lunar surface: Study on the effect of physical properties of the regolith layer

Thickness of Lava Flows Within the Northern Smooth Plains on Mercury as Estimated by Partially Buried Craters

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Origin of pit chains in the floor of lunar Copernican craters

There are small pit chains in the floor of lunar Copernican craters. They are usually so small in scale that there are few lunar spacecrafts to detect their detailed morphology. Combining camera data from Lunar Orbiter, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Kaguya and Chang'e-1 missions, 5 representative large Copernican craters on various terrains of the lunar surface are chosen to study the origin of the pit chains in the crater floor. The morphology and distribution characteristic of the pit chains are referred by the high resolution images in this research. It is suggested that it is the magma activities from the subsurface magma layer combining with the existence of fractures and faults under the crater floor that leaded the formation of the pit chains. The model is further verified and discussed using the regolith thickness data in the crater floor. Our model suggests that the pit chains are still developing in the floor of the Copernican craters and the Moon may not be totally cold. Finally, the model limitation and potential future work are discussed based on available data

Ultra-Wideband SAR Tomography on Asteroids

International audienceOur knowledge of the internal structure of asteroids is currently indirect and relies on inferences from remote sensing observations of surfaces. However, it is fundamental for understanding small bodies' history and for planetary defense missions. Radar observation of asteroids is the most mature technique available to characterize their inner structure, and Synthetic Aperture Radar Tomography (TomoSAR) allows 3D imaging of their interior. However, as the geometry of observation of small asteroids is complex, and TomoSAR studies have always been performed in the Earth observation geometry, its results in a small body geometry must be simulated to assess the methods' performances. We adopt here two different tomography algorithms and evaluate their performances in our geometry by assessing the resolution and the difference between the scatterer's position and its retrieved position. The first method, the Frequency Domain Back Projection (FDBP) is based on correcting the Fourier transform of the received signal by a phase function built from the geometry. While it can provide a good resolution, a bias remains in the imaged scatterer's position. Meanwhile, Compressive Sensing (CS) relies on the hypothesis that few scatterers lie in the same direction from the subsurface. Its application in the small body geometry is studied, which results in a slightly impoverished resolution but an improved localization of the scatterer

Modeling the Evolution of Lunar Regolith: 2. Growth Rate and Spatial Distribution

<p>The datasets related to the work of of<em> <strong>Modeling the Evolution of Lunar Regolith: 2. Growth Rate and Spatial Distribution.</strong></em></p> <p>This website contains the derived data in the manuscript of<em> <strong>Modeling the Evolution of Lunar Regolith: 2. Growth Rate and Spatial Distribution</strong> </em>by Mingwei Zhang, Wenzhe Fa, Emily M. Barnard, and Vincent R. Eke, which is submitted to<em> <strong>Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets</strong>.</em></p&gt

Thickness of Lunar Mare Basalts: New Results Based on Modeling the Degradation of Partially Buried Craters

International audiencePartially buried craters on the Moon are those craters whose distal ejecta are covered by lava flows and where the crater rim crest still protrudes above the mare plain. Based on the difference in rim heights between a partially buried crater and an unburied crater, previous studies estimated the thicknesses of the lunar mare basalts. However, these studies did not consider the erosion of the crater rim height, which can result in an overestimate in the derived thickness. By using recent high-resolution topographic data, we report a basalt thickness estimation method based on numerically modeling the topographic degradation of partially buried craters. We identified 661 buried craters over the lunar surface, and their spatial distribution suggests a preferential occurrence along the mare-highland boundaries. An elevation model of fresh lunar craters was derived, and the topographic diffusion equation was used to model crater degradation. By modeling the formation, degradation, and flooding of partially buried craters, basalt thicknesses were estimated for 41 mare craters whose rims are completely exposed. The resulting mare basalt thicknesses vary from 33 to 455 m, with a median value of 105 m that is 95 m smaller than that derived when not considering crater degradation. The estimated eruption rate of lunar mare basalts is found to have peaked at 3.4 Ga and then decreased with time, indicating a progressive cooling of the lunar interior. As a by-product from the crater degradation model, our results suggest that the topographic diffusivity of lunar craters increases with diameter. Plain Language Summary The thickness of mare basalts that partially cover a lunar crater can be estimated from the crater shape. To simplify this problem, previous studies used the shape of a fresh lunar crater, which had been well-characterized beforehand. In reality, however, the lunar crater degrades with time, which results in a more complicated, time-dependent crater shape. In this study, a crater degradation model is used to better estimate mare basalt thicknesses. Our results show that the mare basalt thickness could be overestimated by a factor of two when crater degradation is not considered. Our results constrain the volcanic eruption rate with time and imply that the crater degradation rate scales with crater size

Lunar Surface Temperature and Emissivity Retrieval From Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment Sensor

Abstract The lunar surface temperature (LST) derived from thermal infrared (TIR) measurements can aid in understanding the physical properties of the lunar surface. The Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (herein, Diviner) sensor provides global lunar surface observation in seven TIR channels. However, its retrieval of LST constantly uses a single emissivity value (i.e., 0.95) by ignoring the spatial variation of lunar surface, thereby reducing the accuracy of temperature and day–night temperature difference. To overcome this problem, this study developed a physical method called temperature–emissivity separation (TES) algorithm to retrieve LST and lunar surface emissivity from the daytime observation in three Christiansen Feature (CF) channels (7.55–8.05, 8.10–8.40, and 8.38–8.60 μm) of the Diviner, and then used the emissivity from daytime observation to inverse LST at nighttime observation. Findings showed that the TES algorithm could retrieve LST and emissivity with an error of less than 0.8 K and 0.008, respectively. However, observation noise significantly affected the retrieval accuracy, particularly for the low‐temperature pixels; moreover, high retrieval accuracy requires a surface temperature higher than 240 K. The new algorithm was applied to obtain the daytime and nighttime LST and emissivity from the Diviner images. Results showed that the LST retrieved from the algorithm differed approximately 3.9 K from that calculated from a single emissivity 0.95. Finally, an example of global surface temperature and emissivity were obtained. Consequently, the CF pixels were found to distribute in the latitude range from −60° to 60°; however, they did not have a large distribution in high‐latitude and near‐polar regions