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Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Campus Access Master's Report

Degree Name

Master of Science in Geophysics (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences

Advisor 1

Aleksey V. Smirnov

Committee Member 1

Jeremy M. Shannon

Committee Member 2

Paulus J. Van Susante

Abstract

In preparation for upcoming lunar expeditions, a comprehensive understanding of the Moon's geophysical properties is imperative, particularly in the context of resource identification and extraction. This study focuses on the experimental characterization of electromagnetic (EM) behavior in the radio spectrum for ground-penetrating radar applications, utilizing basaltic Keweenawan stamp sand and highland lunar simulant soil test materials with varying particle size distributions. Under controlled laboratory conditions, we systematically analyzed and compared the differences in EM wave velocity and signal amplitude as a function of particle size and mineralogy, as represented in radargrams. Our findings demonstrate that the highland lunar simulant exhibits a significantly lower EM attenuation coefficient than the stamp sand, which potentially can be attributed to its lower conductivity arising from compositional differences. These results hold important implications for the development of remote sensing techniques and optimization of ground-penetrating radar systems for future lunar missions, ultimately enabling the efficient detection, mapping and extraction of valuable resources such as water ice on the lunar surface.

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