Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS): Subsurface Performances Evaluation

Abstract

According to the Mars Express mission, the MARSIS primary scientific objectives are to map the distribution of water, both liquid and solid, in the upper portions of the crust of Mars. Three secondary objectives are also defined: subsurface geologic probing, surface characterization, and ionosphere sounding. In order to obtain the primary objectives, the Radar Sounder design was based on the Ice/water interface and Dry/ice interface scenario: defining the material composition of the first layers and porosity and the pore filling materials. Concerning the surface, we have characterized the geometric structure, due to rocks, as superimposed, taking into account also that recently the structure of the planet's surface was described by means of fractals and in particular the new MARS surface models obtained by processing of the MOLA data. According to these models, this provides a description of the operational planning approach and expected performances of MARSIS.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 14, 2005
Accession Number
ADA445262

Entities

People

  • A. Bazzoni
  • A. Frigeri
  • C. Federico
  • D. Biccari
  • D. Calabrese
  • F. Fois
  • G. Picardi
  • L. Marinangeli
  • P. Melacci
  • W. T. Johnson

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altimeters
  • Attenuation
  • Backscattering
  • Carrier Frequencies
  • Coefficients
  • Dielectric Permittivity
  • Dielectric Properties
  • Frequency
  • Ionosphere
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Laser Altimeters
  • Materials
  • Reflection
  • Reflectivity
  • Remote Sensing
  • Scattering
  • Test And Evaluation

Readers

  • Geotechnical Engineering.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design