title: The Clementine bistatic radar experiment.
abstract: During the Clementine 1 mission, a bistatic radar experiment measured the magnitude and polarization of the radar echo versus bistatic angle, beta, for selected lunar areas. Observations of the lunar south pole yield a same-sense polarization enhancement around beta = 0. Analysis shows that the observed enhancement is localized to the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar south pole. Radar observations of periodically solar-illuminated lunar surfaces, including the north pole, yielded no such enhancement. A probable explanation for these differences is the presence of low-loss volume scatterers, such as water ice, in the permanently shadowed region at the south pole.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory, Space Experiments Directorate, 711 North Fayette Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nozette
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lichtenberg
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spudis
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonner
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ort
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Malaret
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Shoemaker
mesh_terms: D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D007053:Ice; D016081:Moon; D011825:Radar
chemical_list: D007053:Ice