Determination of topography and love number of mercury from the simulated data of the BepiColombo laser altimeter [Bestimmung der topographie und lovezahl von merkur aus simulierten daten des bepicolombo-laseraltimeters]

摘要

In addition to cameras, laser altimetry is a powerful method for mapping planets and moons and therefore has increasing importance in planetary science. Many future space missions will carry laser altimeters to explore the geology and the interior structure of planetary bodies. The first European laser altimeter, BELA, will be launched in August 2014 on board ESA's BepiColombo spacecraft in order to map Mercury after a six-years cruise. Conclusions on the interior structure of Mercury can be obtained from the tidal and libration amplitudes. Koch et al. (2008; 2009a) have shown that these amplitudes can be determined with an uncertainty of less than 14% (2a). In this paper, a few applications of laser altimetry in planetary sciences, mainly for Mercury, are investigated.