Heidelberg 2022 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 4: Planets and Small bodies

EP 4.2: Vortrag

Dienstag, 22. März 2022, 14:30–14:45, EP-H1

A PE-based radio propagation simulation for glaciers and ice moons with depth-dependent permittivity profiles — •Gianluca Boccarella, Alex Kyriacou, and Pia Friend — Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstraße 20, 42119 Wuppertal

Enceladus Explorer (EnEx) is an initiative from the DLR to develop a melting probe that can reach a near surface water pocket on the ice moon Enceladus to search for microbial life. To find the water pocket a radar imaging system is needed, but the unknown permittivity of the surface ice will affect the accuracy of the measurements. We present an ice layering model of Enceladus including dielectric properties for the different types of ice layers, derived from Cassini data. We introduce a simulation which utilises Parabolic Equations (PE) to model radio propagation through inhomogeneous dielectric media such as ice environments on terrestrial glaciers or ice moons. Target objects embedded in the ice can be identified together with further reflections from the interface layers in the time-domain spectrum. By extracting the time of flight of respective reflected signals one can calculate the distance from the antennae to the target. Radar images, which would be obtained if a transmitter and receiver were placed on the melting probe moving vertically downwards through the ice, can be simulated and compared to each other for different permittivity profiles and targets. *This project is funded by the Enceladus Explorer Initiative of the DLR Space Administration