BENGALURU: ISRO has released data captured by Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) onboard Chandrayaan-2 for experts to analyse.
DFSAR is the first device to map the Moon using L-Band in full polarimetric mode at 25M/pixel. This mode receives and sends data in horizontal and vertical directions, thus making it ideal for studying moon surface.
Since the launch, around 1,400 radar datasets have been collected and processed to create polarimetric mosaics of the north and south polar region (80-90 degrees latitude) of the Moon.
Using these datasets, scientists from the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, have developed advanced data products on potential presence of water-ice and surface roughness as well as an important electrical property, dielectric constant, which describes features such as density and porosity of the Moon’s surface. The algorithm for analysing the full-polarimetric data has been developed and data products have been indigenously generated.
These advanced data products are significant in view of gathering first-order information on the Moon’s polar regions. Such regions are expected to have preserved early chemical conditions of the solar system, which are important clues to explain several facets of evolution of planetary bodies. These data products on lunar polar regions have always been sought after. Because, they will provide holistic information to characterise the polar regions for future lunar exploration.
Polar mosaics include key radar parameters that reveal the physical and electrical (dielectric) characteristics of the Moon’s surface and subsurface.