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Radar Determination of the Scattering Properties of the Moon

Abstract

INFORMATION about the scattering properties of the Moon's surface has been deduced by Evans1 from the rapid fading of lunar radio echoes. His results were obtained by picturing the surface as an assembly of randomly spaced scatterers. Such a concept, however, does not take into consideration the distribution in depth of the scattering elements. An approach which does so is that adopted by Feinstein2, who used Huygens's principle to study the general problem of reflexion from a plane surface having random irregularities that are a function both of the space co-ordinates and of time. With minor modifications to take into account the curvature of the reflecting surface, Feinstein's results may be applied to lunar radio echoes.

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References

  1. Evans, J. V., Proc. Phys. Soc., B, 70, 1105 (1957).

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  2. Feinstein, J., Inst. Rad. Eng. Trans., AP, 2, 23 (1954).

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DANIELS, F. Radar Determination of the Scattering Properties of the Moon. Nature 187, 399 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/187399a0

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