Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 11: Planets and Small Bodies

EP 11.2: Talk

Friday, March 20, 2026, 11:30–11:45, KH 01.019

Sonar Simulations of the TRIPLE Forefield Reconnaissance System with COMSOL — •Julien Leroux, Alexandros Deslis, Ömer Altug, Jan Audehm, Mia Giang Do, Lars Heuermann, Dirk Heinen, Lukas Michels, Andreas Nöll, Christopher Wiebusch, and Simon Zierke — Physics Institute IIIb, RWTH Aachen, Germany

The TRIPLE (Technologies for Rapid Ice Penetration and Subglacial Lake Exploration) project line was initiated by the German Space Agency at DLR in order to pioneer the exploration of subglacial oceans on icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus, in the search for extraterrestrial life. In TRIPLE, we explore numerous technologies to safely navigate a melting probe through the ice cover. The melting probe must be able to detect hazards such as debris or crevasses, as well as locating an anchoring point at the water-ice boundary below the glacier. For this, the TRIPLE Forefield Reconnaissance System (TRIPLE-FRS) employs a combination of radar and sonar integrated into the melting head of the probe. This system must preserve the melting head's narrow profile, high melting speed, and maximize the reconnaissance performance. For the optimization of the sonar system, we perform finite element simulations using COMSOL. We present the latest results from these studies.

Keywords: Acoustics; Simulation; Finite Element; Icy Moons; Ocean Worlds