A high-precision 3D reconstruction method for the internal structure of small Solar System bodies

Research Center of Satellite Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, PR China
e-mail: hcr_hit@hit.edu.cn; xbcao@hit.edu.cn

Received: 21 February 2024
Accepted: 2 May 2024

Abstract

Context. Small Solar System bodies (SSSBs) hold crucial information for understanding the formation and evolution of the Solar System. However, due to their considerable distance, small size, fast rotation, and a lack of prior information, the detection of these celestial bodies, especially their internal structures, faces numerous challenges.

Aims. We explore whether the 3D structure of SSSBs can be reconstructed using monostatic radar. We investigated a more convenient observation mode and addressed the issue of the poor imaging quality of internal structures within existing imaging algorithms.

Methods. Our study focused on a high-precision 3D imaging method for the internal structure of SSSBs based on radar signals. First, we considered a flyby observation mode that uses the spinning characteristics of the target for global observations, and we set up a scaled-down experimental system in the laboratory to simulate this observation mode. Next, we constructed a 3D printed physical surface model based on the shape of the asteroid 162173 Ryugu. We filled it with sand and inserted a small bottle containing different materials separately to construct two distinct layered analogs. The analogs were employed in laboratory measurements to acquire radar echoes, which were then inverted using both a classic back-projection (BP) algorithm and a modified multilayer back-projection (MLBP) method.

Results. The results shown that the 3D surface structure of the target can be reconstructed well through the BP and MLBP algorithms. The MLBP algorithm exhibits a higher reconstruction accuracy for internal structures. Moreover, compared to the BP method, the MLBP method is less sensitive to the quality of echo signals, resulting in a relatively stable imaging performance.

Conclusions. Our findings reveal that observing and reconstructing the high-precision structure of SSSBs is feasible through our proposed method. The observation mode, experimental setup, and analog modeling approach are widely applicable and can be applied in future research on the detection of SSSBs with more diverse and complex structures.