Special Thermophysical Features of Floor Materials in Mare Smythii Indicated by CE-2 CELMS Data

Abstract

Mare Smythii is a special basin, which is one of the oldest mare basins with the considerably young mare basalts and the high density of floor-fractured craters. In this study, the microwave sounder, named CELMS, onboard Chang'E-2 lunar orbiter was first invested to assess the thermophysical characteristics of the floor materials in mare Smythii. Based on the numerical simulation with the radiative transfer model and the previous geological results, several special findings are noted as follows. (1) The substrate temperature in mare Smythii is likely fairly high, and a special temperature structure is provided. (2) There likely exists an unrevealed deposit in the upper layer of the regolith with strong thermal absorption ability. (3) The CELMS results show a strong correlation with the subsurface features obtained by Lunar Radar Sounder data and the surface wrinkle ridges. These findings will be of essential importance to strengthen knowing the thermal and magmatic evolutions of the lunar maria. Index Terms-microwave propagation, remote sensing, Mare Smythii, thermal anomaly, high substrate temperature, wrinkle ridges I. INTRODUCTIONare Smythii, centered at (87°W, 2°S ), is one of the most ancient regular impact basins with multiple ring structures (Fig. 1a). It is located at the eastern limb of the lunar Manuscript received ___; revised ___; accepted ___. Date of publication __; date of current version __.

Selecting a Superior Landing Area in the Region Far From Procellarum KREEP Terrane

“…9), contrary to the numerical simulation results [45]. Liu et al [43] believed that there is a new, undetected material in this area, and this material also appears near the swasey crater. According to the brightness temperature of Mare Crisium (Fig.…”

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