Ricerc@Sapienza

Orbital radar sounders are an effective tool to investigate the interior of planetary bodies. Typically, the sounding signal lies in the High Frequency (HF) or Very High Frequency (VHF) band, allowing a good ground penetration but a limited range resolution. Moreover, Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) may affect the system, increasing the noise in the radar products.In this paper, we propose methods to enhance the resolution and to suppress the EMI, exploiting a linear prediction based approach. Using simulated data, we investigate the methods’performance and the parameter settings.

The presence of liquid water at the base of the martian polar caps has long been suspected but not observed. We surveyed the Planum Australe region using the MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) instrument, a low-frequency radar on the Mars Express spacecraft. Radar profiles collected between May 2012 and December 2015 contain evidence of liquid water trapped below the ice of the South Polar Layered Deposits.