Szabo, P. S.; Poppe, A. R.; Biber, H.; Mutzke, A.; Pichler, J.; Jäggi, N.; Galli, A.; Wurz, P.; Aumayr, F. (2022). Deducing Lunar Regolith Porosity From Energetic Neutral Atom Emission. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(21) American Geophysical Union 10.1029/2022gl101232
|
Text
Geophysical_Research_Letters_-_2022_-_Szabo_-_Deducing_Lunar_Regolith_Porosity_From_Energetic_Neutral_Atom_Emission.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (950kB) | Preview |
The porosity of the upper layers of regolith is key to the interaction of an airless planetary body with precipitating radiation, but it remains difficult to characterize. One of the effects that is governed by regolith properties is Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) emission in the form of reflected and neutralized solar wind protons. We simulate this process for the surface of the Moon by implementing a regolith grain stacking in the ion-solid-interaction software SDTrimSP-3D, finding that proton reflection significantly depends on the regolith porosity. Via comparison with ENA measurements by Chandrayaan-1, we derive a globally averaged porosity of the uppermost regolith layers of urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl65047:grl65047-math-0001. These results indicate a highly porous, fairy-castle-like nature of the upper lunar regolith, as well as its importance for the interaction with impacting ions. Our simulations further outline the possibility of future regolith studies with ENA measurements, for example, by the BepiColombo mission to Mercury.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Space Research and Planetary Sciences 08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute |
UniBE Contributor: |
Jäggi, Noah Victor, Galli, A, Wurz, Peter |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 530 Physics 500 Science > 520 Astronomy 600 Technology > 620 Engineering |
ISSN: |
0094-8276 |
Publisher: |
American Geophysical Union |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Dora Ursula Zimmerer |
Date Deposited: |
10 Mar 2023 13:37 |
Last Modified: |
18 May 2023 00:25 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1029/2022gl101232 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/179771 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/179771 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Edit item |