Electromagnetic features of ground penetrating radars for the exploration of martian subsurface

The possible use of GPR for Mars subsurface exploration has been under discussion for over a decade. This technique seems to be the most suitable to address some of the scientific problems, like fiding evidence of past or present life, locating water, and mapping the stratigraphy of different areas (polar caps, sedimentary deposits, volcanic terrains, etc.). The main scope of the present work is to predict GPR propagation and attenuation features in Martian-like materials on the basis of the electromagnetic parameters measured in the laboratory. Preliiminary work, involving frequency and time domain measurements, has been performed in order to evaluate the electrical and magnetic properties of iron-rich soil. Subsequent work focused on calculating the velocity and attenuation for low frequency orbiting systems (MARSIS and SHARAD) has been developed. The results indicate a high propagation velocity and a modlerate attenuation in materials up to about 15% in volume of iron oxides, depending on the grain size of the sample.