Promoting Earth-Based Radar Astronomical Observations of the Moon

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 20; no. 7; p. 1874
• Main Authors: Sun, Jing, Ping, Jinsong, Bondarenko, Yuri, Marshalov, Dmitry, Shu, Fengchun, Cao, Jianfeng, Han, Songtao, Chen, Lue, Chen, Wen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.03.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Antennas; Celestial bodies; circular polarization ratio; Collaboration; Experiments; Frequency shift; Lunar surface; Moon; Noise; Orbits; Power; Quasars; Radar; radar albedo; Radar astronomy; Radar transmitters; Radio signals; Radio telescopes; Receivers & amplifiers; Solar system; Space telescopes; Standard deviation; Surface properties; Telescopes; Transmitters; Very long base interferometry; circular polarization ratio; radar astronomy; moon; radar albedo
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s20071874

Earth-based radar astronomical observations provide information on surface characteristics, orbits, and rotations for a wide variety of solar system objects. Based on compound radio telescopes, both the Chinese VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) network (CVN) and the Russian VLBI network (Quasar), in cooperation with the Chinese radar transmitters, we present the current ground radar astronomical observations of the moon. The spectrum of the reflected radio signals was obtained and the Doppler frequency shift in bi-static radar mode was measured. Radar albedo of the observed region and power ratios of the reflected signals with left- and right-hand circular polarizations were determined, allowing us to study the radar reflectivity and near-surface wavelength-scale roughness of the moon. Future developments on radar astronomy are also discussed in the paper.