Microwave tomography for Lunar Penetrating Radar data processing in Chang'e 4 mission

Area of Science:

• Planetary Science
• Geophysics
• Radar Remote Sensing

Background:

• The Chang'e 4 mission's Yutu-2 rover utilizes the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) to study the lunar subsurface.
• Interpreting LPR data requires advanced signal processing to overcome noise and computational challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply a microwave tomographic approach to LPR data for enhanced subsurface imaging.
• To compare two distinct tomographic methods for modeling signal propagation at the lunar air-soil interface.

Main Methods:

• A two-step signal processing pipeline was employed, including time-domain pre-processing for noise and clutter reduction.
• Microwave tomography was utilized to address computational issues associated with the large probing domain.
• Two tomographic approaches differing in air-soil interface propagation modeling were evaluated.

Main Results:

• Tomographic images were generated along a 1340 m traverse route.
• The images successfully identified significant subsurface geometrical features.
• These findings align with geological interpretations from previous research.

Conclusions:

• Microwave tomography is an effective technique for analyzing Lunar Penetrating Radar data.
• The study confirms the presence of complex subsurface structures on the Moon.
• The results support and enhance existing geological models of the Chang'e 4 landing site.