Modeling the Complete Planetary Subsurface Radio Remote Sensing Problem

Abstract

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) methods are in the forefront of the search for subsurface water on Mars largely because of their platform versatility. In theory these instruments can operate from orbit, on the ground, and any altitude in between. Recent review papers and white papers make the strong case for using GPR methods in subsurface water exploration. But important questions have been raised recently about effect of unknown parameters on the ability to successfully obtain planetary GPR measurements. The almost completely unknown lower ionosphere on Mars may cause serious signal absorption problems for GPR instruments on orbiting platforms, and lossy upper layers of the ground may reduce the returned signal for any platform. What is clearly needed is a minimum approximations, full-wave model of the complete GPR problem, including ionospheric dispersion and absorption, surface transmission, and subsurface scattering. We are developing such a model that is as general purpose as possible, allowing arbitrary ionospheric parameters, surface roughness, and subsurface inhomogeneities. We present some of the details of this model, and highlight some of its capabilities with numerical examples. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.