Implications of surface roughness in models of water desorption on the Moon

Abstract

The observed presence of water molecules in the dayside lunar regolith was an unexpected discovery and remains poorly understood. Standard thermophysical models predict temperatures that are too high for adsorbed water to be stable. We propose that this problem can be caused by the assumption of locally flat surfaces that is common in such models. Here, we apply a model that explicitly considers surface roughness, and accounts for solar illumination, shadows cast by topography, self-heating, thermal reradiation, and heat conduction. We couple the thermophysical model to a model of first-order desorption of lunar surface water and demonstrate that surface roughness substantially increases the capability of the Moon to retain water on its sunlit hemisphere at any latitude, and within 45° of the poles, at any time of the lunar day. Hence, we show that lunar surface roughness has a strong influence on lunar water adsorption and desorption. Therefore, it is of critical importance to take account of surface roughness to get an accurate picture of the amount of water on the Moon's surface and in its exosphere.