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Science 6 June 1997:
Vol. 276. no. 5318, pp. 1527 - 1530
DOI: 10.1126/science.276.5318.1527
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Reports

Arecibo Radar Mapping of the Lunar Poles: A Search for Ice Deposits

N. J. S. Stacy, D. B. Campbell, * P. G. Ford

The Arecibo 12.6-centimeter wavelength radar system was used to image the polar regions of the moon at a resolution of 125 meters in a search for ice deposits in areas of possible permanent shadow from the sun. No areas greater than 1 square kilometer were found with high radar backscatter cross sections and high circular polarization ratios, properties suggestive of the presence of ice. A number of areas smaller than 1 square kilometer were found with these properties, but optical images from spacecraft missions have shown some of these features to be in sunlight. Arecibo radar images of Sinus Iridum at latitude 47°N also showed a number of small features with similar properties. The coincidence of some of these features with the radar-facing slopes of craters and their presence in sunlit areas suggests that very rough surfaces rather than ice deposits are responsible for their unusual radar properties.

N. J. S. Stacy, Microwave Radar Division, Building 180L, Defence Science and Technology Organization, Post Office Box 1500, Salisbury, SA 5108, Australia.
D. B. Campbell, National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center and Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
P. G. Ford, Center for Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: campbell{at}astrosun.tn.cornell.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Understanding the Lunar Surface and Space-Moon Interactions.
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Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 60, 83-219
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Earth-Moon System, Planetary Science, and Lessons Learned.
S. R. Taylor, C. M. Pieters, and G. J. MacPherson (2006)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 60, 657-704
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Topography of the Lunar Poles from Radar Interferometry: A Survey of Cold Trap Locations.
J. L. Margot, D. B. Campbell, R. F. Jurgens, and M. A. Slade (1999)
Science 284, 1658-1660
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Fluxes of Fast and Epithermal Neutrons from Lunar Prospector: Evidence for Water Ice at the Lunar Poles.
W. C. Feldman, S. Maurice, A. B. Binder, B. L. Barraclough, R. C. Elphic, and D. J. Lawrence (1998)
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The Possibility of Ice on the Moon.
S. J. Weidenschilling;, S. Nozette, E. M. Shoemaker, P. Spudis, C. L. Lichtenberg;, N. J. Stacy, D. B. Campbell, and P. G. Ford; (1997)
Science 278, 144-145
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