Radiative transfer in layered media: Application to the radar sounding of Martian polar ices. II

The paper addresses the problem of the retrieval of the physical parameters of the Martian polar ices from the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements. The results of the previous paper [Ilyushin, Y.A., Seu, R., Phillips, R.J., 2005. Subsurface radar sounding of the Martian polar cap: radiative transfer approach. Planet. Space Sci. 53(14–15), 1427–1436, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2005.08.002] are further developed. Several electrical models of the Martian polar caps are considered, and several radiative transfer models, appropriate for layered media, are reviewed and compared to each other. Both 1D case, applicable to the orbital GPR instruments, and 2D and 3D geometry, applicable to the landed radars, are studied. A technique for retrieval of the average loss in the medium, which can be attributed to the impurities content in the ice, is proposed. The retrieval technique is numerically tested with the exact solutions of electromagnetic equations for the waves in the layered media. Numerical tests show that the loss in the medium can be determined from the observed radar signal in the whole range of values, expected to be the case in Martian polar caps.