Q-value estimation of Chang'e-4 lunar penetrating radar data

The geophysical quality Q involved in anelastic energy absorption plays a significant role in the study of subsurface pressure, rock types and temperature distributions. However, with respect to newly collected lunar penetrating radar (LPR) data, scholars mainly focused on related parameters such as the permittivity, density and chemical composition, while the Q-value has rarely been estimated. In this study, we improved the multi-channel quality factor Q estimation method to study shallow underground structures of the Moon, interpret the geological structure and provide reference for the exploration of lunar resources. The improved windowed multi-channel Q estimation method uses multiple spatial coherence-constrained inversion to achieve a stable Q estimation of the whole direction profile in the presence of noise. An example of a numerical simulation of the simple lunar geological model illustrates the feasibility of the proposed method in estimating the Q-value. Partial lunar data collected by Chang'e-4 LPR were used to demonstrate its value with respect to the interpretation of the stratigraphic development history, dislocation and relative permittivity of the Moon.