Lunar Regolith Characterization for Solar Wind Implanted Helium-3 Using M3 Spectroscopy and Bistatic Miniature Radar
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Lunar Regolith Characterization for Solar Wind Implanted Helium-3 3 using M Spectroscopy and Bistatic Miniature RADAR SHASHWAT SHUKLA March, 2019 SUPERVISORS: Mr. Shashi Kumar Dr. Valentyn A. Tolpekin Lunar Regolith Characterization for Solar Wind Implanted Helium-3 3 using M Spectroscopy and Bistatic Miniature RADAR SHASHWAT SHUKLA Enschede, The Netherlands, March, 2019 Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation of the University of Twente in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation. Specialization: Geoinformatics SUPERVISORS: Mr. Shashi Kumar Dr. Valentyn A. Tolpekin THESIS ASSESSMENT BOARD: Prof. Dr. Ir. A. Stein (Chair, ITC Professor) Dr. Satadru Bhattacharya (External Examiner, Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad) DISCLAIMER This document describes work undertaken as part of a programme of study at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation of the University of Twente. All views and opinions expressed therein remain the sole responsibility of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of the Faculty. Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the Moon. -Paul Brandt ABSTRACT The Moon serves as an attic to the Earth’s treasure by preserving the volatile repository from the harsh space environment. The exposure of the lunar surface to the solar wind plasma results in the implantation of potential 3He into the top 1 mm of the regolith. The retention of the 3He primarily depends on the regional ilmenite content and maturation subject to the solar wind plasma supply. In the present research, an attempt is made to explore the influence of petrophysical properties of the regolith on the retained 3He using multisensor approach. The retention framework is improved by incorporating the associated effects of space weathering on the regolith materials, which are represented by spectral parameters. The integration of the spectral parameters, plasma flux, and ilmenite content leads to a novel hybrid variable that is directly compared with the in-situ 3He measurements at the Apollo and Luna landing sites. Considering the independence of the space weathering processes, the correlation analysis suggests that the predicted 3He contents are in close agreement with the actual abundance. However, all the weathering processes lead to the reduction of Fe2+ into the nanophase metallic iron particles, thereby interrelating to each other. The applicability of the weighted average linear combination is utilized to model the unknown inherent relationship between the weathering trends. Upon comparing with the in-situ 3He, the RMSE reduces to 1.17 ppb compared to the independent approach. The empirical relationship is applied to the Vallis Schroteri region, wherein the high 3He abundant regions emerge out to be pyroclastic deposits and localized hotspots near the primary rille and Agricola Mountains. It is also observed that the two dominant processes governing the abundance are attenuation of the mafic absorption band depths and reddening of the soil. However, a different scenario all together appears for the 3He abundance per unit area, wherein the soil chemistry proves to be a deciding factor. The spatial variability of the 3He abundant regolith is found to be aligned with the episodic space weathering events over the geological timescale, clearly indicated by the cyclic behaviour of the variogram trends. Moreover, the highly retained 3He content may be oriented at around 135º relative to other directions. The lower cutoff and width increases the spatial variability of the deposition. The retention of the 3He is found to be associated with the petrophysical properties of the soil. This is clearly illustrated by comparing the retrieved scattering mechanisms, dielectric content, and geotechnical variations. In the research, the utility of the radar backscatter is modelled as a function of incidence angle, dielectric constant and surface roughness. The sensitivity analysis is performed, which provides the bounding limits of the realistic surface parameters and radar configuration. This is fed into the multilayer perceptron neural network for performing the inversion based on multivariate regression. The inverted dielectric constant shows an RMSE of 0.26. The retrieval process is applied to the monostatic data of the landing sites, wherein the inverted values are in close agreement with the actual values. Upon testing the study site, the pyroclastic regoliths are associated with high dielectric constant and increased surface scattering mechanisms. The regolith is also characterized by lower void spaces between the grains and higher relative density. Due to the freshly formed microcraters, the excavation of the rocks from the interior lowers the penetration of the radar wave, thereby increasing the granular packing of the gardened regolith. As the dielectric contrast increases, the retention of the lower 3He ejecta regolith increases, attributing to the roughness variations. The observation is also aligned with the CPR. Moreover, the abundance is negatively correlated with the void ratio for shorter lag distances. On the contrary, the higher abundant pyroclastic regolith relates well with the surface scattering mechanisms associated with cyclicity. An opposition is also observed in this to the bistatic angle with a more significant exponential depth profile. Furthermore, retention modelling provides new insights into the potential mining operations for the lunar outposts. The study recommends a deeper exploration of the pyroclastic regoliths through rover, thereby contributing to the lunar mining paradigm. Keywords: Regolith, 3He, Space Weathering, Solar Wind Plasma, Moon i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout the entire MSc research period, I have received significant support from not only my supervisors but also from my friends and family members. Therefore, I would like to thank each one of them personally. At first, I am deeply grateful to my supervisors Mr. Shashi Kumar and Dr. Valentyn A. Tolpekin under whose guidance I have been able to complete my research goals. They have helped me to think critically and develop my overall scientific knowledge base. Moreover, their unflinching support, assistance, valuable suggestions and sustained encouragement throughout the course of this investigation is highly acknowledged. I want to express my sincere gratitude to the MSc course director Dr. Sameer Saran for his constant support throughout the course duration, especially in matters of extending lab timings and considering regular feedbacks. Next, I want to thank PDS Geosciences Node for providing the free lunar datasets of the Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter bistatic MiniRF. In this regard, I would like to convey my special thanks to Prof. Tim Swindle from the University of Arizona for making the 3He ground-truth measurements accessible. Without his kind support, it would have been impossible for me to perform the research. Also, Dr. Wenzhe Fa and Dr. Anup Das deserve special mention for helping me out in understanding the theoretical aspects of backscattering modelling. I would also like to convey my sincere gratitude to Mrs. Shefali Agarwal who have had a substantial influence on my academic achievements so far. I am thankful for her scientific thoughts and suggestions. I am thankful to my friends at IIRS and ITC, especially, Abhisek, Raktim, and Sayantan who have helped to maintain my focus. Moreover, with their help, I was able to remain positive even during stressful situations. Finally, I am also indebted to my parents and sister without whom I would never have made this far. They have always encouraged me in all my academic endeavors, and for that, I am extremely grateful to them. Shashwat Shukla ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................................................................. v 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Planetary Remote Sensing: A New Vision ..............................................................................................................1 1.2. The Moon: A Cornerstone of Understanding Space Weathering Processes ....................................................2 1.3. Importance of Solar Wind Implanted 3He ..............................................................................................................3 1.4. Problem Statement ......................................................................................................................................................4 1.5. Research Identification ...............................................................................................................................................5 1.6. Thesis Outline ..............................................................................................................................................................6 2. Literature Review .................................................................................................................................................