Dielectric measurements of saline ices: Implications for jovian satellites radar exploration

Abstract

A spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter's moon Ganimede can use ice penetrating radar to probe for a possible liquid water ocean beneath Ganimede's surface ice. The success of such a mission is constrained to the electromagnetic properties of ice, possible subsurface temperature gradients, and possible impurities in the ice. Several saline ice samples were analyzed using Time Domain Reflectometry technique to extract the electrical permittivity and conductivity as function of temperature, from 20°C to -30°C.