Sensing Lunar Dust Density Using Radio Science Signals of Opportunity
Previous lunar missions, such as Surveyor, Apollo, and the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), have played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of the lunar exosphere’s dynamics and its relationship with solar wind flux. The insights gained from these missions have laid...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/11/1940 |
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| author | Kamal Oudrhiri Yu-Ming Yang Daniel Erwin |
| author_facet | Kamal Oudrhiri Yu-Ming Yang Daniel Erwin |
| author_sort | Kamal Oudrhiri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Previous lunar missions, such as Surveyor, Apollo, and the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), have played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of the lunar exosphere’s dynamics and its relationship with solar wind flux. The insights gained from these missions have laid a strong foundation for our current knowledge. However, due to insufficient near-surface observations, the scientific community has faced challenges in interpreting the phenomena of lunar dust lofting and levitation. This paper introduces the concept of signals of opportunity (SoOP), which utilizes radio occultation (RO) to retrieve the near-surface dust density profile on the Moon. Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) radio science beacon (RSB) signals are used to demonstrate this method. By mapping the concentration of lunar near-surface dust using RO, we aim to enhance our understanding of how charged lunar dust interacts with surrounding plasma, thereby contributing to future research in this field and supporting human exploration of the Moon. Additionally, the introduced SoOP will be able to provide observational constraints to physical model development related to lunar surface particle sputtering and the reactions of near-surface dust in the presence of solar wind and electrostatically charged dust grains. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2384786fa84746f5a76dc97a5c763e2d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-2384786fa84746f5a76dc97a5c763e2d2025-08-20T02:23:00ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-06-011711194010.3390/rs17111940Sensing Lunar Dust Density Using Radio Science Signals of OpportunityKamal Oudrhiri0Yu-Ming Yang1Daniel Erwin2Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USADepartment of Astronautical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USAPrevious lunar missions, such as Surveyor, Apollo, and the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), have played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of the lunar exosphere’s dynamics and its relationship with solar wind flux. The insights gained from these missions have laid a strong foundation for our current knowledge. However, due to insufficient near-surface observations, the scientific community has faced challenges in interpreting the phenomena of lunar dust lofting and levitation. This paper introduces the concept of signals of opportunity (SoOP), which utilizes radio occultation (RO) to retrieve the near-surface dust density profile on the Moon. Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) radio science beacon (RSB) signals are used to demonstrate this method. By mapping the concentration of lunar near-surface dust using RO, we aim to enhance our understanding of how charged lunar dust interacts with surrounding plasma, thereby contributing to future research in this field and supporting human exploration of the Moon. Additionally, the introduced SoOP will be able to provide observational constraints to physical model development related to lunar surface particle sputtering and the reactions of near-surface dust in the presence of solar wind and electrostatically charged dust grains.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/11/1940lunar dustlunar exosphereradio occultationGRAIL sciencelunar surface science |
| spellingShingle | Kamal Oudrhiri Yu-Ming Yang Daniel Erwin Sensing Lunar Dust Density Using Radio Science Signals of Opportunity Remote Sensing lunar dust lunar exosphere radio occultation GRAIL science lunar surface science |
| title | Sensing Lunar Dust Density Using Radio Science Signals of Opportunity |
| title_full | Sensing Lunar Dust Density Using Radio Science Signals of Opportunity |
| title_fullStr | Sensing Lunar Dust Density Using Radio Science Signals of Opportunity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sensing Lunar Dust Density Using Radio Science Signals of Opportunity |
| title_short | Sensing Lunar Dust Density Using Radio Science Signals of Opportunity |
| title_sort | sensing lunar dust density using radio science signals of opportunity |
| topic | lunar dust lunar exosphere radio occultation GRAIL science lunar surface science |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/11/1940 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kamaloudrhiri sensinglunardustdensityusingradiosciencesignalsofopportunity AT yumingyang sensinglunardustdensityusingradiosciencesignalsofopportunity AT danielerwin sensinglunardustdensityusingradiosciencesignalsofopportunity |