TY - JOUR
T1 - Geologic studies of planetary surfaces using radar polarimetric imaging
AU - Carter, Lynn M.
AU - Campbell, Donald B.
AU - Campbell, Bruce A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Manuscript received March 2, 2010; revised September 9, 2010; accepted November 19, 2010. Date of publication February 10, 2011; date of current version April 19, 2011. Arecibo Observatory is part of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, which is operated by Cornell University under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF). The GBT is part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the NSF that is operated under cooperative agreement by the Associated Universities, Inc. L. M. Carter is with the Planetary Geodynamics Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA (e-mail: [email protected]). D. B. Campbell is with the Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA (e-mail: [email protected]). B. A. Campbell is with the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012 USA (e-mail: [email protected]).
PY - 2011/5
Y1 - 2011/5
N2 - Radar is a useful remote sensing tool for studying planetary geology because it is sensitive to the composition, structure, and roughness of the surface and can penetrate some materials to reveal buried terrain. The Arecibo Observatory radar system transmits a single sense of circular polarization, and both senses of circular polarization are received, which allows for the construction of the Stokes polarization vector. From the Stokes vector, daughter products such as the circular polarization ratio, the degree of linear polarization, and linear polarization angle are obtained. Recent polarimetric imaging using Arecibo has included Venus and the Moon. These observations can be compared to radar data for terrestrial surfaces to better understand surface physical properties and regional geologic evolution. For example, polarimetric radar studies of volcanic settings on Venus, the Moon, and Earth display some similarities, but also illustrate a variety of different emplacement and erosion mechanisms. Polarimetric radar data provide important information about surface properties beyond what can be obtained from single-polarization radar. Future observations using polarimetric synthetic aperture radar will provide information on roughness, composition, and stratigraphy that will support a broader interpretation of surface evolution.
AB - Radar is a useful remote sensing tool for studying planetary geology because it is sensitive to the composition, structure, and roughness of the surface and can penetrate some materials to reveal buried terrain. The Arecibo Observatory radar system transmits a single sense of circular polarization, and both senses of circular polarization are received, which allows for the construction of the Stokes polarization vector. From the Stokes vector, daughter products such as the circular polarization ratio, the degree of linear polarization, and linear polarization angle are obtained. Recent polarimetric imaging using Arecibo has included Venus and the Moon. These observations can be compared to radar data for terrestrial surfaces to better understand surface physical properties and regional geologic evolution. For example, polarimetric radar studies of volcanic settings on Venus, the Moon, and Earth display some similarities, but also illustrate a variety of different emplacement and erosion mechanisms. Polarimetric radar data provide important information about surface properties beyond what can be obtained from single-polarization radar. Future observations using polarimetric synthetic aperture radar will provide information on roughness, composition, and stratigraphy that will support a broader interpretation of surface evolution.
KW - Moon
KW - Venus
KW - polarimetry
KW - radar
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U2 - 10.1109/JPROC.2010.2099090
DO - 10.1109/JPROC.2010.2099090
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79955525047
SN - 0018-9219
VL - 99
SP - 770
EP - 782
JO - Proceedings of the IEEE
JF - Proceedings of the IEEE
IS - 5
M1 - 5710953
ER -