Mars mapping with delay-Doppler radar

Abstract

Mars radar imaging results from Arecibo 12.6-cm observations are presented. The images were derived from delay-Doppler mapping using a coded-long-pulse technique to mitigate the effects of echo overspreading. Images of the depolarized echo are used to identify regions of high decimeter-scale roughness. Some of the strongest echo features are located on the major shield volcanoes or on relatively young off-shield flows such as the Olympus and Pavonis lava aprons. The shields themselves have highly irregular radar signatures suggesting complex volcanic histories. Some Mars radar features have twice the depolarized brightness of the roughest terrestrial lava flows, apparently due to higher levels of multiple scattering from surfaces of spectacular roughness or from volume scattering. Low-brightness (smooth) areas are associated with older surfaces such as fractured and highland terra, as well as with terrain interpreted to be debris lobes, ash flows, and aureoles; in particular, a close connection was found between the 12.6-cm counterpart of the "Stealth" feature and the Medusae Fossae Formation (postulated to be deep ignimbrite deposits). Marte Vallis is anomalous in being the only outflow channel showing strongly enhanced echoes, which supports the idea that this channel and the Elysium Basin that it drained are filled with lava flows. A weak radar feature was found for the south polar residual ice cap. Comparisons with Goldstone 3.5-cm data show that the south polar enhancement is much weaker at 12.6 cm than at 3.5 cm, indicating that the southern ice cap becomes optically thin at the longer wavelength. A north polar enhancement has also been found, which is comparable in strength to the 12.6-cm south polar feature. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union.