Theoretical Estimation of Lunar Soil Reflection Coefficients in Radiofrequency Communication Bands

Abstract

When considering the deployment of a radio communications network, the study of multipath interference and its impact on the quality of signal reception is of the outmost importance in order to meet the necessary performance requirements. This work considers specifically the case of the lunar surface as the mission scenario for a community of autonomous mobile exploration robots, which communicate through a radiofrequency network to accomplish their mission. In this application, the low height of the mobile robots makes the influence of multipath interference effects on the performance of the radio communication channel relevant. However, no specific information about lunar soil reflection coefficients characteristics is available for radiofrequency communication bands. This work reviews the literature on the electrical parameter of Lunar soil. From this base, the reflection coefficients are estimated for the assumed radio profile in different communications frequency bands. Finally, the results obtained are discussed.