Dual-polarization radar observations of Mars: Tharsis and Environs

Observations of the Tharsis region of Mars with the 12.6-cm radar at Arecibo Observatory have yielded radar echoes which are highly depolarizes and which are, in terms of total echo power, dominated by diffuse rather than quasi-specular backscattering. The observations were made on February 7, 8, and 9, 1980, and the subradar track extended from 77 to 126°W Longitude at 22°N Latitude. Dual-polarized reception was employed, i.e., the echo was received in the same sense of circular polarization as transmitted (“depolarized” sense) as well as in the opposite (“polarized”) sense. The disk-integrated ratio of depolarized power to polarized power averages 0.37 and the ratio of diffuse power to quasi-specular power averages 3.2. The depolarized spectra are dominated by a broad “enhancement” identified primarily with echoes from the Tharsis Ridge, implying that extensive areas of Tharsis are rough on decimeter scales. The major Tharsis shield volcanoes are candidates for sources of strong depolarization, although they alone cannot account for the entire depolarization enhancement.