Modeling and simulation for ground penetrating radar study of the subsurface structure of the moon

Author

Fa, Wenzhe

Author_Institution

Inst. of Remote Sensing & Geographic Inf. Syst., Peking Univ., Beijing, China

fYear

2012

fDate

4-8 June 2012

Firstpage

922

Lastpage

926

Abstract

A ground penetrating radar (GPR) is currently within the scope of China´s Chang-E 3 lunar mission, with the purpose of studying the subsurface structure of the Moon. In this study, the key factors affecting a lunar GPR performance are discussed firstly. Geometrical optics and ray tracing approaches are used to simulate GPR echoes from the lunar subsurface, with considering the transmission, attenuation, reflection and geometrical spreading of radar waves in lunar subsurface as well as the antenna directivity. Taking Sinus Iridum region as an example, radargrams are simulated on the basis of lunar surface topography and regolith composition. Finally, potential scientific return from GPR echoes is also discussed.

Keywords

lunar surface; space vehicles; Chang-E 3 lunar mission; GPR echoes; GPR performance; Moon; Sinus Iridum region; antenna directivity; attenuation; geometrical optics; ground penetrating radar study; lunar subsurface; lunar surface topography; radar waves; radargrams; ray tracing; regolith composition; subsurface structure; Bandwidth; Dielectric constant; Dielectric losses; Ground penetrating radar; Moon; geometrical optics; radar echo; subsurface structure; the Moon;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), 2012 14th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Shanghai

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2662-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICGPR.2012.6254994

Filename

6254994