Shallow subsurface water-ice distribution in the lunar south polar region: analysis based on Mini-RF and multi-metrics
The precise detection of water-ice distributions within the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of the lunar south polar region is of paramount importance. We applied a polarimetric method for water-ice detection (PM4W) that utilizes Mini-RF data. The PM4W method incorporates several key radar scatt...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Geo-spatial Information Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2025.2526678 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | The precise detection of water-ice distributions within the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of the lunar south polar region is of paramount importance. We applied a polarimetric method for water-ice detection (PM4W) that utilizes Mini-RF data. The PM4W method incorporates several key radar scattering properties with topographical and environmental characteristics to detect water-ice within the lunar south polar region of 87°S–90°S. The method successfully identified 1578 water-ice containing pixels (each representing a 30 m × 30 m area) in the lunar shallow subsurface (1–3 m) at the south polar region, of which 1445 (~91%) are spatially clustered in 29 PSRs. When comparing Mini-RF with M3 (each point representing a 280 m × 280 m area) using a buffer-based fuzzy assessment method, we found a pixel consistency of 60% and area consistency of 11%, which can be attributed to the differences in spatial resolution, positioning accuracy, and depth sensitivity. Moreover, over 90% of the water-ice pixels detected by Mini-RF are located within PSRs, accounting for 0.025% of their total area. In contrast, only 68% of the pixels detected by M3 are within PSRs, covering 0.760% of the PSRs area, which is approximately 30 times greater than the Mini-RF detections. The finer spatial resolution of the Mini-RF enables it to reveal previously undetectable features that align with the environmental mechanisms of water-ice storage. Our work contributes to assessing the potential presence of water-ice in vital exploration areas, providing pertinent indications for future lunar probes to identify water-ice on the Moon directly. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1009-5020 1993-5153 |