A time-dependent model of radiative and conductive thermal energy transport in planetary regoliths with applications to the Moon and Mercury

Modeling thermal energy transfer in planetary regoliths involves treating four processes: visible radiative transfer, thermal radiative transfer, conductive transfer, and heat storage. We explicitly treat these processes while considering time-dependent problems, and we apply this model to the regoliths of the Moon and Mercury. Fitting the model to observational data allows us to constrain the radiative resistivity and thermal inertia parameters of these regoliths and hence constrain their conductivities, thermal extinction coefficients, and average grain sizes. It is also found that water ice would be stable in the polar subsurfaces of both bodies, even in areas which receive unlight during the day. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).