Heggy, and 4 co-authors report in 2020 that identifying polarimetric radar signatures of ice in smooth regolith fines on the floors of permanently shadowed lunar craters is hindered by uncertainties in their dielectric properties. We address this deficiency through polarimetric radar analysis of surface backscatter to derive the dielectric constant (ε'r) of smooth, rock-free regolith fines covering brecciated crater floors observed by Mini-RF, which offer ideal locations for unambiguous retrieval of surface ε'r from linear polarimetric scattering models and CPR analysis for volatile identification. Specifically, the authors selected fines covering crater fills in north polar and equatorial regions to constrain the range of variability of ε'r as a function of latitude and crater diameter, where we hypothesize that the latter is indicative of the excavation depth of these fines.
The authors observations suggested that there is measurable variability in the dielectric properties of fines on lunar crater floors as a function of crater size and potentially with impact excavation depth, suggesting that small craters <5-km in diameter have ε'r ranging from 2.3-to-3, and large ones >5-km have higher values of ε'r that range from 3-to-3.8.
The authors found that the most plausible explanation for the observed variability of ε'r of regolith fines on crater floors is mineralogical differences, suggesting an increase in metal abundance in the original excavated substrate with depth, i.e., in the uppermost kilometer of the lunar crust. Finally, the authors suggested that regolith fines on the floors of permanently shadowed craters <5 km in diameter are optimal targets for the unambiguous detection of water-ice enrichment using S-band radar observations. The observed trend in ε'r with crater size, together suggest an increase in metal abundance with depth in the original excavated substrate.
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