Volatile dynamics and regolith interactions on solar system bodies

Introduction

Over the recent decades, several remote observations have provided evidence for water on the Moon. Due to the lack of in-situ measurements, the nature of lunar water is not yet sufficiently understood.

Key Questions

Open fundamental questions include:

• The origin and form of lunar water
• Spatial distribution
• Temporal variation
• Transport processes
• Surface interactions

Research Approach

In VOLARIS, I will employ a novel modelling and experimental approach to address these questions and characterise their main influencing factors. I will specifically study the combined physical, chemical, and thermal processes across the exosphere, surface, and subsurface that govern the dynamic behaviour of volatile water.

Relevance to Other Species

These investigations will be similarly relevant to other species such as hydrogen, hydroxyl, and noble gases and will significantly advance our understanding of the volatile dynamics of many atmosphere-less celestial bodies.

Current Limitations

Current models are not capable of simulating the complete volatile cycle with the respective source, sink, loss, conversion, and transport processes, mainly due to the computational complexity and the different physical scales.

Model Development

I will develop a unified model framework to enable more comprehensive simulations across different model domains and scales to systematically investigate the sensitivities to key parameters.

Experimental Setup

With a novel experimental setup, I will reproduce coupled processes of the lunar water cycle in an analogue environment to investigate volatile transport and interactions emerging from a combination of multiple factors. These include:

• Complex formation and release processes
• Temperature-driven migration and redeposition of volatiles

Significance of VOLARIS

VOLARIS will enable ground-breaking research on the volatile dynamics of atmosphere-less celestial bodies and is highly relevant to:

1. Fundamental solar system science
2. Future missions and instrument developments
3. The preservation of volatiles in their natural environment
4. The potential utilisation of volatile resources