This article assesses how the ground-penetrating radar RIMFAX will image the crater floor at the Mars 2020 landing site, where lithological compositions and stratigraphic relationships are under discussion prior to mission operation. A putative mafic unit (lava flow, volcanic ash, or volcaniclastic deposit) on the crater floor will be crucial in piecing together the chronology of deposition and for understanding the volcanic history in the region. In order to see how lithological properties and subsurface geometries affect radar sounding, a synthetic radargram is generated through forward modeling with a finite-difference time-domain method. The acquisition is simulated across the mafic unit as a succession of lava flows, exploring detection of internal structures and contacts to adjacent lithologies. To compare modeling results with the alternative formation scenarios, a discussion about sounding over a tephra or volcaniclastic material is presented. Similarities and differences between Martian and terrestrial lithologies can be related to electromagnetic properties relevant for radar sounding. This article, therefore, evaluates potential scientific insights gained from acquisition across the disputed mafic unit, in light of proposed hypotheses of lithological generation.

中文翻译：

---

穿越Jezero陨石坑底部的探地雷达建模

本文评估了探地雷达RIMFAX将如何对2020年火星着陆点的火山口地层成像，在执行任务之前，正在讨论岩性成分和地层关系。火山口底部的假定的铁镁质单元（熔岩流，火山灰或火山碎屑沉积物）对于将沉积的时间顺序拼凑在一起并理解该地区的火山历史至关重要。为了了解岩性和地下几何形状如何影响雷达探测，通过使用时域有限差分法进行正演模拟生成了合成雷达图。在连续的熔岩流中，整个基性单元模拟了该采集过程，探索了内部结构和与相邻岩性接触的探测。为了将模拟结果与替代地层情景进行比较，提出了关于在特菲拉或火山碎屑材料上探测的讨论。火星和地面岩性之间的异同可能与与雷达探测有关的电磁特性有关。因此，本文根据提出的岩性生成假说，评估了从有争议的镁铁质单元采集过程中获得的潜在科学见解。