Integral Equation Model of the Martian Surface layer for the Detection of Buried Ice Deposits in Support of the international Ice Mapping Mission Synthetic Aperture Radar

This work implemented a 3-D Electromagnetic Scattering model to gain a better understanding in the observations of L- and P-band radar returns from the multi-layered Martian upper surface layer. The model is based on the Integral Equation Model (IEM) developed by Adrian Fung. Our model implementation treats the upper surface (regolith) layer as an inhomogeneous medium with irregular boundaries for a range of Martian surface and shallow subsurface scenarios. The model is well suited to study the near subsurface (upper 10 meters of surface sediments) ice detection capability of the L-band (32 cm wavelength) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) planned for the international Mars Ice Mapping (I-MIM) mission launching later in the 2020s.