University of Twente Student Theses
Polarimetric modeling of dual frequency SAR data for characterization of the lunar surface
Singh, Awinash (2021) Polarimetric modeling of dual frequency SAR data for characterization of the lunar surface.
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| Abstract: | Studies of the lunar surface from Synthetic Aperture Radar data have played a prominent role in the exploration of the lunar surface in recent times. This study utilizes the data of the three lunar missions Chandrayaan-1, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Chandrayaan-2. The sensors present in these missions are Mini-SAR and Mini-RF which operates at S-band Hybrid polarimetric mode. The Mini-SAR of Chandrayaan-1 and Mini-RF of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter were the first to operate in S-band in Hybrid polarimetric mode whereas, the Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) of Chandrayaan-2 mission and the Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) is the first of its kind to operate at L-band and S-band and in a fully polarimetric mode. These are used to study the polarimetric characterization of the lunar crater Shackleton, Slater and Cabeus situated at South Pole on the moon and Hermite-A and Erlanger crater situated at the North Pole on the moon. These all craters lie in the Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR) of the lunar Sorth pole and North Pole. Because of its location within the PSR of the lunar polar region, these craters make an ideal candidate for containing water-ice deposits. This study also characterizes the Rimae Sulpicius Gallus which is a lunar rille which has pyroclastic deposits in its region. and the data used for this is of Mini-RF. This study uses Mini-RF data of Shackleton crater and Hermite-A crater, Mini-SAR data of Erlanger crater and Hermite-A crater, DFSAR data of Erlanger, Hermite-A, Cabeus and Slater crater. This study characterizes the scattering mechanisms from three decomposition techniques of Hybrid Polarimetry namely m-delta, m-chi and m-alpha decompositions and for fully polarimetric data Barnes decomposition technique was applied which is based on wave dichotomy. Eigenvector and Eigenvalue based decomposition model which H-A-Alpha decomposition was also applied to characterize the scattering behaviour of the craters. The Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR) also gave a constructive result in the crater as it showed the value to be more than unity in the craters. Identification of water-ice at the lunar polar craters can lead to future exploration of the lunar surface. Furthermore, in this study, the dielectric constant is also used to obtain the values of the dielectric constant by making use of the Gaussian model. The values of dielectric constant for Hermite-A crater from Chandrayaan-1 and LRO is similar which goes further in establishing the presence of water-ice in the region. Based on the results, it follows that the high volume scattering and high CPR, as well as the high values of dielectric constant, are caused by water-ice in the crater. The results give an interpretation of the regions which can be studied further for the identification of the lunar volatiles. It is recommended here that more in-depth analysis of other potential lunar regions be carried out, as these regions are likely to have mineral deposits, so that future manned missions can utilize these resources. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | ITC: Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation |
| Programme: | Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation MSc (75014) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/89538 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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