Planetary exploration missions are equipped with remote sensing, in-situ and geophysical instruments. One such geophysical technique involves imaging the shallow subsurface using satellite-mounted ground penetrating radars, a.k.a. radar sounders. These low frequency nadir looking radar instruments have been deployed on Mars, the Moon, the comet 67P and are now part of future missions to the moons of Jupiter and Venus. This talk introduces planetary radar sounders, briefly describing their working principles, the basic signal characteristics, the nature of wave-target interaction captured by these sensors and the interpretation of the radar sounder data (a.k.a. radargrams). The importance of the radar sounders in supporting the overarching mission objectives will be discussed citing examples of path- breaking science derived from the past radar sounder data. The talk will also briefly present the radar sounders onboard future missions, specifically focusing on the research that precedes the development of these instruments, in particular the role of performance analysis and simulations.

Co-sponsored by: Dr. Unmesh Govind Khati

Speaker(s): Dr. Thakur,

Bldg: IIT Indore, Khandwa Road, LRC Auditorium, Library Building Ground Floor, Simrol, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India, 453552