Study of equatorial regions of Moon with the help of backscattering coefficient obtained from LRO data

Abstract

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has a miniature radio-frequency (Mini-RF) payload, i.e., the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that has provided very fundamental information about the lunar surface and subsurface which was not known inspite of many manned and unmanned missions. Microwave sensors are used for analyzing the equatorial region of the Moon (60°N to 60°S) which is covered with many well-known craters like Kopff, Taylor, Maunder, Descartes, Jackson and Santos Dumont, each having different topography. The LRO data in terms of the scattering coefficient (σ ° LH and σ° LV) with incidence angle of 49° has been used for computing physical and electrical parameter of lunar surface and to learn more about the impact cratering process. Most of the lunar surface shows small Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR), i.e., the reversal of polarization is normal, but some targets have high CPR. In this paper we have discussed the scattering behaviour of lunar equatorial region where the value of CPR >1. Studies say that the LV intensity is always greater than LH but from the data obtained from LRO, it is observed that it varies at each pixel depending upon the target properties under radar view. © Indian Academy of Sciences.