High-resolution rock abundance derivation of lunar cold spot craters based on RA-SAR model

The distribution of rock abundance (RA) on the lunar surface plays a pivotal role in understanding its geological evolution. This study focuses on the derivation of high-resolution RA data for lunar cold spot craters using Mini-RF (Miniature Radio Frequency) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. Firstly, terrain correction was applied to the SAR data. Secondly, the correlation between the Stokes parameters (S1, S2, S3, and S4) and RA was examined using optically-derived RA data, which aligns with the resolution of the Mini-RF SAR images. By plotting scatter diagrams showing the relationships between the Stokes parameters and the optically-derived RA, strong statistical associations were established. Finally, based on these findings, we formulated a regression-based RA-SAR model. This model was applied to other lunar cold spot craters in order to derive their high-resolution RA distributions. The experimental results show that the model yields highly precise outcomes when validated against both Diviner RA and optical data. The study provides a new approach for inferring rock distribution across the lunar surface using SAR data, and offers valuable insights for advancing lunar geological research. [pdf, SCI, EI, IF=1.700, CAS-G4, JCR-Q3]

Recommended citation:

J. Sun, X. Lu, G. Shu, Z. Guo and N. Li, “High-resolution rock abundance derivation of lunar cold spot craters based on RA-SAR model,” in Planetary and Space Science, vol. 263, pp. 106138, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.pss.2025.106138.

bibtex:

@ARTICLE{Sun2025High-resolutionRA,
  author={Jiacheng Sun and Xin Lu and Gaofeng Shu and Zhengwei Guo and Ning Li},
  journal = {Planetary and Space Science},
  title={High-resolution rock abundance derivation of lunar cold spot craters based on RA-SAR model}, 
  year={2025},
  volume={263},
  number={},
  pages={106138},
  doi={10.1016/j.pss.2025.106138}
}