Realistic asteroid interior models and full-wave tomography simulation

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to develop a realistic deep interior model for a rubble-pile asteroid and conduct full-wave computed radar tomography on the developed model. The surface model of the asteroid Itokawa is used to develop a finite element mesh including a surface layer of loose soil and regolith coupled with a Gaussian random field which models the realistic interior of a small solar system body. Further structural details such as a void, very loose material space, various cracks and a boulder are added to the realistic interior to investigate the detection power of a bistatic computed radar tomography system.

The results show that a bistatic radar system detects deep interior voids, cracks and boulders in a realistic asteroid. The simulation results and reconstructions show similar radargram profiles as actual radar measurements. The shape and size of voids, loose material, boulders and shallow cracks can be discerned. The deep crack is detectable, but lacks detail. Based on the results of this work, radar tomography is a very promising technique to explore the deep interior of small solar system bodies.