Dielectric properties of the first 100 meters of the Moon

Abstract

Reviewing 92 measurements of lunar sample dielectric constant versus density at frequencies above 100 kHz, gives the relation K′ = (1.93 ± 0.17) p by regression analysis, where K′ is the dielectric constant of a soil or solid at a density of pg/cm 3. This formula is the geometric mean between the dielectric constant of vacuum (1) and the zero porosity dielectric constant of lunar material. Similarly, the loss tangent ( D) can be described by D = [(0.00053 ± 0.00056) + (0.00025 ± 0.00009)C]p where D is the loss tangent at density pg/cm 3 with C percent of total FeO + TiO 2 (approximately proportional to ilmenite content). Using the density versus depth relations derived from lunar surface core tubes, and from laboratory studies of lunar soil compression gives a model of the dielectric properties as a function of depth in the lunar regolith. The dielectric constant increases smoothly with depth, as a function of the soil compaction only. The loss tangent, however, is more sensitive to the ilmenite content than it is to density. Neither dielectric constant nor loss tangent varies significantly with the temperature observed in a lunar day.