1D-FDTD Characterization of Ionosphere Influence on Ground Penetrating Radar Data Inversion

A finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulator is employed to evaluate distortions induced by the ionosphere on chirp signals transmitted by orbiting ground penetrating radars like the Mars advanced radar for subsurface and ionosphere sounding (MARSIS) and the shallow radar (SHARAD). The main goal is to support the data inversion process, i.e., the estimation of the permittivity of subsurface layers. Also proposed is an approach to study the influence of the ionosphere on chirp signals for present and future missions. Since data inversion relies on both crust attenuation estimation and rough geometries compensation, procedures that could be both strongly influenced by the ionosphere, several ionosphere compensation schemes are compared and their impact on data inversion is discussed.