A microwave radiative transfer model applied to lunar soil remote sensing

It was the first time that China launched a microwave radiometer to orbit the Moon in order to measure soil information of the lunar surface. In this paper, we will investigate a microwave radiative transfer model for simulating and retrieving lunar regolith depths. We solve numerically the integral equation of the lunar soil by dividing the soil into many layers, and at each layer, emission, multi-reflection, and attenuation to the sub-layer radiation are all modeled into a formula. The contributions of the underlying rock are also included for evaluating the amount of brightness temperature due to soil depth variation. Some simulated brightness temperatures at lunar surface are given by our models.