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How SHARAD works

How SHARAD works
How SHARAD works Quick diagram of how SHARAD works (top), and what its output radargram looks like (bottom). As SHARAD travels in orbit, it sends radar pulses towards Mars. Some of the wave bounces back from the surface, and some penetrates into the ground. If it hits a boundary in the “dielectric” properties (ε1, ε2) in the subsurface, that wave bounces back. Based on these returns, we can measure some material properties of the subsurface. A characteristic dielectric constant for water ice is 3.15. Cassie Stuurman