IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-15 Epub Date: 2025-11-30 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116892

Matteo Dossi , Jamaledin Baniamerian , Sebastian Emanuel Lauro , Barbara Cosciotti , Elisabetta Mattei , Federico Tosi , Elena Pettinelli

{"title":"Dielectric properties of the lunar regolith estimated through a combined loss tangent and EM velocity distribution analysis of the Chang'e-4 GPR data set","authors":"Matteo Dossi , Jamaledin Baniamerian , Sebastian Emanuel Lauro , Barbara Cosciotti , Elisabetta Mattei , Federico Tosi , Elena Pettinelli","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116892","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116892","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We study the dielectric properties of the lunar near-surface across a 1.43 km long 2-D Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data set, that was acquired by the still-operational Yutu-2 surface rover as part of the Chang'e-4 lunar mission of 2019. The surveyed area is part of the Eastern Floor of the Von Kármán crater, which is located in the northwestern sector of the South Pole–Aitken Basin, on the far side of the Moon. The total attenuation and intrinsic lost tangent are mapped across the entire GPR profile using time-domain amplitude decay and centroid frequency downshift methods, respectively. The cumulative electromagnetic (EM) velocity distribution is obtained by analyzing 136 automatically tracked hyperbolic diffractions spread across the data set, down to a time-depth of ∼200 ns. The resulting vertical trends within three different sections of the GPR profile are then fitted using the Deming regression, in order to estimate the interval EM velocities in the lunar regolith, and subsequently the average electric permittivities, down to a depth of ∼13 m. The novel EM velocity analysis is designed to account for both the GPR antenna height, possible out-of-plane diffractions, and the radii of the scatterers, all of which can significantly affect the reconstructed cumulative EM velocity distribution. We further compare our inversion results with other lunar subsurface models from the available literature, and critically discuss both the advantages and limitations of the applied methodologies, while also taking into account the expectably less-than-ideal survey conditions of the Chang'e-4 mission.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 116892"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145692530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Impact of geometry on 1D molecular-kinetics simulations of acoustic-gravity wave propagation into the exosphere 几何对声重力波传播到外逸层的一维分子动力学模拟的影响

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-15 Epub Date: 2025-12-04 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116900

Jose A. Perez Chavez , Orenthal J. Tucker , Shane R. Carberry Mogan , Robert E. Johnson , Christopher Blaszczak-Boxe

{"title":"Impact of geometry on 1D molecular-kinetics simulations of acoustic-gravity wave propagation into the exosphere","authors":"Jose A. Perez Chavez , Orenthal J. Tucker , Shane R. Carberry Mogan , Robert E. Johnson , Christopher Blaszczak-Boxe","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116900","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116900","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) calculations of acoustic gravity wave propagation into the exobase region of a Mars-like atmosphere reveal that radial geometry can reduce wave-driven heating compared to a Cartesian model. We examine two acoustic wave (AW) modes with periods of 11 min (AW1) and 5.5 min (AW2) propagating from 100 to 320 km altitude using a radial molecular kinetics model. The wave-driven heating was reduced by 40–56 % with cycle-averaged temperature gradient <span><math><mfenced><mrow><mi>d</mi><mi>T</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>d</mi><mi>r</mi></mrow></mfenced></math></span> decreasing from 9.4 K per scale height <em>H</em><sub><em>0</em></sub> to 5.6 K/<em>H</em><sub><em>0</em></sub> for AW1 and from 4.4 K/<em>H</em><sub><em>0</em></sub> to 1.9 K/<em>H</em><sub><em>0</em></sub> for AW2 when accounting for planetary curvature. While the growth in wave density amplitude was attenuated for the 1D radial geometry as well, the heating differences are more pronounced, with both effects driven by geometric spreading accumulating as waves propagate into increasingly rarefied regions. These findings suggest that accounting for curvature effects is crucial when conducting DSMC estimates of acoustic wave contributions to thermospheric heating and atmospheric escape, as Cartesian-based derived counterparts may be overestimated by factors of 1.7–2.3 for these frequencies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 116900"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Pyroduct: A novel parametric software for the simulation of terrestrial, lunar, and Martian lava tubes 产品：一个新的参数化软件，用于模拟地球，月球和火星熔岩管

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-15 Epub Date: 2025-12-05 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116904

Francesco Axel Pio Romio , Gianni Lobosco , Francesco Sauro , Riccardo Pozzobon , Alessandro Marraffa

{"title":"Pyroduct: A novel parametric software for the simulation of terrestrial, lunar, and Martian lava tubes","authors":"Francesco Axel Pio Romio , Gianni Lobosco , Francesco Sauro , Riccardo Pozzobon , Alessandro Marraffa","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116904","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116904","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Lava tubes, also known as“pyroducts”, are caves found on terrestrial volcanoes and on analogue terrains on the Moon and Mars. Their morphometry is the expression of genetic parameters, which are often not well understood, like lava effusion rates and rheology, and cooling rates. Lunar and Martian tubes could offer protection from radiation, micrometeorites, and extreme temperatures, making them promising candidates for future extraterrestrial habitats. Models used in planetary geology and space architectural studies rely on a few terrestrial examples and notional geometries. This paper introduces Pyroduct, the first fully parametric 3D lava tube generator, developed as a free plug-in for Grasshopper in Rhinoceros 3D. Based on a wide catalog of terrestrial lava tube cross-sections, Pyroduct enables the simulation of realistic cave environments for planetary research. It also supports terrestrial applications, offering a cost-effective method for reconstructing lava tubes' 3D geometries for the evaluation of volcanic hazard and creation of VR models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 116904"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Comparison of General Circulation Models of the Venus upper atmosphere 金星上层大气环流模式的比较

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-15 Epub Date: 2025-12-04 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116901

Antoine Martinez , Hiroki Karyu , Amanda Brecht , Gabriella Gilli , Sebastien Lebonnois , Takeshi Kuroda , Aurelien Stolzenbach , Francisco González-Galindo , Stephen Bougher , Hitoshi Fujiwara

{"title":"Comparison of General Circulation Models of the Venus upper atmosphere","authors":"Antoine Martinez , Hiroki Karyu , Amanda Brecht , Gabriella Gilli , Sebastien Lebonnois , Takeshi Kuroda , Aurelien Stolzenbach , Francisco González-Galindo , Stephen Bougher , Hitoshi Fujiwara","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116901","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116901","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the context of future Venusian missions, it is crucial to improve our understanding of Venus upper atmosphere through 3D modeling, notably for spacecraft orbit computation. This study compares three General Circulation Models (GCMs) of the Venusian atmosphere up to the exosphere: the Venus Planetary Climate Model (Venus PCM), the Venus Thermospheric Global Model (VTGCM) and the Tohoku University GCM (TUGCM), focusing on their nominal simulations (e.g. composition, thermal structure and heating/cooling rates). Similarities and discrepancies among them are discussed in this paper, together with data-models comparison. The nominal simulations analyzed in this study fail to accurately reproduce the daytime observations of Pioneer Venus, notably overestimating the exospheric temperature. This is linked to an underestimation of the atomic oxygen (O) abundance in the three GCMs, and suggests the need of additional O production in the thermosphere. The selection of solar spectrum is also the main reason for the discrepancies between the models in terms of temperature dependence on solar activity. A list of recommendations is proposed aiming at improving the modeling of Venus’ upper atmosphere, among them: 1. Standardize the EUV-UV solar spectrum input. 2. Update the near-infrared heating scheme with Venus Express-Era data. 3. Reassess Radiative cooling schemes. 4. Investigate the underestimated atomic Oxygen abundance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 116901"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748589","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Aspects of thermal radiation from the atmosphere in Jezero crater, Mars, through observations and model results: An aphelion case study 火星耶泽洛陨石坑大气热辐射的各个方面，通过观测和模式结果：远日点案例研究

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-15 Epub Date: 2025-11-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116888

Hannu Savijärvi , German Martinez , Mark Paton , Jouni Polkko , Joonas Leino , Ari-Matti Harri

引用次数: 0

Formation and evolution of cold and bright anomalies and warm and dark anomalies on the north polar layered deposits 北极层状矿床冷亮异常和暖暗异常的形成与演化

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-15 Epub Date: 2025-12-05 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116903

Pruthviraj J. Acharya , Isaac B. Smith , Aymeric Spiga

{"title":"Formation and evolution of cold and bright anomalies and warm and dark anomalies on the north polar layered deposits","authors":"Pruthviraj J. Acharya , Isaac B. Smith , Aymeric Spiga","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116903","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116903","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Cold and Bright Anomalies (CABAs) and Warm and Dark Anomalies (WADAs) on the North Polar Layered Deposit (NPLD) are distinct seasonal phenomena on Mars. CABAs, which are colder and brighter during early summer, and WADAs, which are warmer and darker in late summer, were analyzed across Mars Years (MYs) 29–35, focusing on solar longitudes (L<sub>s</sub>) between 30° and 170°. Investigating temperature, albedo, wind patterns, and topography at multiple sites, we found that CABAs emerge around L<sub>s</sub> = 78°, coinciding with peak katabatic wind activity, reach maximum difference from non-anomalous sites at L<sub>s</sub> = 110°, and gradually dissipate by L<sub>s</sub> = 140°. During late summer, after L<sub>s</sub> = 140°, we observe three significant darkening events, approximately 10° of L<sub>s</sub> dates apart, during which CABAs transition into WADAs, with albedo reductions of up to 38 % and intense regional dust activity. WADAs align spatially with bright halos (circumferential remnants of CABAs) surrounding elevated terrain (10–120 m). With mesoscale modeling, we find that WADAs form when transient eddies are prominent across the region, suggesting that these transient eddies strip away the CABA bright fine-grained surface ice, exposing darker larger-grained subsurface layers. The repeatable seasonal events begin in late spring, when the CABA sites experience weaker katabatic winds than nearby regions. This reduces wind shear and thus ice loss, allowing them to retain their brightness and cooler temperatures and act as cold traps. Late, during early summer, cold trapping further enhances these anomalies by condensing fresh ice, slowing the warming process. This dynamic interplay between atmospheric conditions, ice deposition and loss, and topography signifies the complexity of Martian polar climates and their evolution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 116903"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Tracking the non-uniformity in atmospheric water vapor over the north polar layered deposits on Mars using high-resolution observations by MRO/CRISM 利用MRO/CRISM高分辨率观测追踪火星北极层状沉积物大气水汽的不均匀性

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-15 Epub Date: 2025-12-13 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116917

Alain S.J. Khayat, Michael D. Smith, Scott D. Guzewich

{"title":"Tracking the non-uniformity in atmospheric water vapor over the north polar layered deposits on Mars using high-resolution observations by MRO/CRISM","authors":"Alain S.J. Khayat, Michael D. Smith, Scott D. Guzewich","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116917","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116917","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Surface-atmosphere interactions play a major role in shaping the north polar layered deposits (NPLD) on Mars, the major source of atmospheric water during northern spring and summer seasons. Extensive work has been undertaken to study and understand polar processes and their evolutionary patterns. High-resolution water vapor retrievals provide context into these polar processes, in particular with respect to the sublimation of surface ice and the volatile transport across the NPLD. We here report the first high-spatial resolution (∼ 160 m) retrievals of water vapor over the north polar region, including the NPLD, and extending between MY 28, L<sub>s</sub> = 113° (September 29, 2006) and MY 31, L<sub>s</sub> = 115° (May 21, 2012). We have processed 1.7 million near-infrared spectra from hyperspectral observations returned by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to provide the column-integrated water vapor abundance (pr-μm), after improving our radiative transfer model to accommodate the presence of surface ice. Our findings demonstrate that water vapor can accumulate significantly at the bottom of polar troughs, acting as a catalyst for trough cloud formation. We further identify scenarios where elevated water vapor levels correlate with surface ice rather than topography, and conversely, situations where combined sloped terrain and surface ice did not yield significant water vapor increases. These critical water vapor results would help understand the formation of trough clouds, a direct observation of the ice migration processes in the NPLD, hence the evolution of the north polar cap.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 116917"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Keyhole-aware target site selection for kinetic impact missions to near-Earth asteroids 近地小行星动力学撞击任务的锁眼感知目标点选择

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-15 Epub Date: 2025-12-12 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116915

Rahil Makadia , Steven R. Chesley , Davide Farnocchia , Brent W. Barbee , Siegfried Eggl

{"title":"Keyhole-aware target site selection for kinetic impact missions to near-Earth asteroids","authors":"Rahil Makadia , Steven R. Chesley , Davide Farnocchia , Brent W. Barbee , Siegfried Eggl","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116915","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116915","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We introduce a new method for selecting kinetic impactor target sites on near-Earth asteroids. Most asteroids that possess a significant impact risk with Earth admit multiple impacting trajectories. Uncontrolled deflection of such asteroids might dismiss the immediate impact risk but can also push the asteroid into a ‘keyhole’, which would lead to a future impact. Our method maps potential outcomes of a kinetic impactor mission to the surface of the asteroid, allowing us to identify the optimal target site and rotation phase that minimizes the risk of pushing the asteroid off the Earth and into a keyhole. In this work, we illustrate this process using the keyholes for asteroid (101955) Bennu. We map the Bennu keyholes onto shape models of various asteroids to demonstrate the influence of shapes on the deflection outcomes. By computing the per-facet impact probability for different shapes, we can assess the dependence of the optimal target site on the asteroid’s shape and spin state. Our results indicate that an optimal kinetic impact mission must take the spin state and shape of the target asteroid into account to minimize post-deflection impact risk. We also assess the effect of varying the targeting uncertainty of the kinetic impactor spacecraft in anticipation of future improvements. This work provides a framework for selecting optimal timing and target locations for kinetic impact missions at near-Earth asteroids, which can be used by mission designers to inform future asteroid impact hazard mitigation efforts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 116915"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Convection in the subsurface ocean of icy moons and response of the upper ice layer 冰卫星地下海洋的对流和上层冰层的响应

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-11-06 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116875

Silvia Pagnoscin , Jost von Hardenberg , John Robert Brucato , Antonello Provenzale

{"title":"Convection in the subsurface ocean of icy moons and response of the upper ice layer","authors":"Silvia Pagnoscin , Jost von Hardenberg , John Robert Brucato , Antonello Provenzale","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116875","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116875","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The main reservoirs of liquid water in the Solar System are hidden beneath the icy shells of some of the “icy moons” orbiting the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Although these moons lie well outside the traditional habitable zone, tidal forces exerted by their parent planet and internal radiogenic heating can sustain subsurface oceans of liquid water. These environments may offer the necessary conditions for life, making icy moons key targets in the search for extraterrestrial biospheres. Unfortunately, direct exploration of these oceans remains out of reach by current space mission technology, which is limited to surface observations. However, surface activity observed on several of these moons suggests that internal processes may be coupled with surface dynamics, potentially enabling surface-subsurface interactions. Previous global models have shown that large-scale fluid motions within the oceans may lead to latitude-dependent variations in heat flux at the ice-ocean boundary. In this study, we investigate intermediate-scale, localized convective dynamics within the subsurface oceans of icy moons, showing that these oceans can be dominated by intense thermal convection which can generate differential heat fluxes and local interactions at the ice-water interface. To explore this issue, we numerically integrate a simplified turbulent convective fluid model, coupled with a linear approximation for the freeze-melt processes of the overtopping ice layer. We observe that the resulting spatial variability in basal melting and freezing rates could induce thickness variations of the ice shell. These predictions can be tested by upcoming missions such as ESA's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer through gravity and altimetry measurements, offering new insights into the physical coupling between surface and interior also at small spatial scales.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"446 ","pages":"Article 116875"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145577338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Icy-impactor origins of the Martian moons 火星卫星的冰撞击起源

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理

Icarus Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-11-12 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116882

Courteney S. Monchinski, Hidenori Genda, Shigeru Ida

引用次数: 0

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