The Clementine Bistatic Radar Experiment

• Main Authors: Lichtenberg, C. L., Bonner, R., Ort, W., Shoemaker, E. M., Spudis, P., Malaret, E., Nozette, S., Robinson, M.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1996
• Subjects: Communications and Radar; South Pole; North Pole; South pole
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19970023672

During the Clementine 1 mission, a bistatic radar experiment measured the magnitude and polarization of the radar echo versus bistatic angle, beta, for selected lunar areas. Observations of the lunar south pole yield a same-sense polarization enhancement around beta = 0. Analysis shows that the observed enhancement is localized to the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar south pole. Radar observations of periodically solar-illuminated lunar surfaces, including the north pole, yielded no such enhancement. A probable explanation for these differences is the presence of low-loss volume scatterers, such as water ice, in the permanently shadowed region at the south pole.