Title
Radar images of the Moon at 6-meter wavelength
Date Issued
15 November 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Vierinen J.
Tveito T.
Gustavsson B.
Kesaraju S.
Jicamarca Radio Observatory
Publisher(s)
Academic Press Inc.
Abstract
We present new range-Doppler images of the Moon using 6-mwavelength. The radar images were obtained using the Jicamarca Radio Observatory 49.92 MHz radar. The observations were performed using circular polarization on transmit and two orthogonal linear polarizations on receive, allowing scattering images to be obtained with the polarization matched to the transmitted wave (polarized), and at a polarization orthogonal to the transmitted wave (depolarized). Due to the long wavelength that penetrates efficiently into the subsurface of the Moon, the radar images are especially useful for studies of subsurface composition. Two antenna interferometry on receive was used to remove the Doppler north-south ambiguity. The images have approximately 10 km resolution in range 20 km resolution in Doppler, allowing many large scale features, including maria, terrae, and impact craters to be identified. Strong depolarized return is observed from relatively new larger impact craters with large breccia and shallow regolith. Terrae regions with less lossy surface material also appear brighter in both depolarized and polarized images. A large region in the area near the Mare Orientale impact basin has overall higher than mean radar backscatter in both polarized and depolaried returns, indicating higher than average presence of relatively newly formed large breccia in this region. Mare regions are characterized by lower polarized and depolarized return, indicating that there is higher loss of the radio wave in the subsurface, reducing the echo. We also report unexpected low polarized and depolarized backscatter from an old impact basin in the Schiller–Schickard region, as well as from the region poleward from Mare Imbrium.
Start page
179
End page
188
Volume
297
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Meteorología y ciencias atmosféricas
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85021880166
Source
Icarus
ISSN of the container
00191035
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus