GRSG 35th Conference 2024 Abstract

Title: Searching for Venus in Iceland: linking volcanic surface characteristics with radar signatures to model future measurements by EnVision and VERITAS

Author: Gerard Gallardo i Peres

Organisation: Imperial College London / isardSAT

We present an overview of our reconnaissance fieldtrip to Iceland this August, providing an overview of our itinerary, our goals and some of the most striking geological features of the other-worldly landscapes we have studied as relevant planetary analogues for Venus, Mars and the Moon. On one hand, we describe our field methodology to characterise the surface properties of our targeted locations, encompassing geological observations, in-situ measurements of millimetre-scale surface roughness, centimetre and metre-scale geomorphological analysis using Digital Surface Models (DSMs) generated from stereo drone imagery, and extraction of representative samples for posterior laboratory analysis, including X-ray fluorescence and measurements of permittivity.

Then, we analyse Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery of the field locations and discuss their most representative signatures, focusing particularly on mean backscatter, radar texture, and their possible coupling.

We discuss and provide updates on the final objective of the analysis; to link both ends to build a ‘Simulation Transfer Function’ between the SAR signatures of different terrains imaged by the Magellan SAR experiment on Venus, and the SAR signatures observed by radar missions on the studied terrains on Iceland. On that note, the data gathered on the fieldtrip serves as a partial validation on the similarity between Venus and Icelandic landscapes.

To conclude, we also analyse the overall geological evolution of the targeted volcanic landscapes in Iceland and their likely correlation to other planetary surface processes.