The study also suggests that the amount of water ice in the northern polar region is double that found in the southern polar region.
It also suggests that the water on the lunar poles “is outgassing during volcanism in the Imbrian period".
“The results also conclude that the distribution of water ice is likely governed by Mare volcanism and preferential impact cratering," ISRO said.
It used “radar, laser, optical, neutron spectrometer, ultra-violet spectrometer, and thermal radiometer".
ISRO said “the presented comprehensive understanding of the occurrence of water ice in the lunar poles, in this study, is crucial for supporting ISRO’s future in-situ volatile exploration plans on the Moon".
Months after India took a short walk on the Moon as Chandrayaan-3 strolled around, polarimetric radar data used from the Chandrayaan-2 Dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar has hinted at significant discovery that could be the evidence of possibility of water in polar craters of the lunar surface.
The study was a collaboration between the scientists of Space Applications Centre (SAC)/ISRO with researchers at IIT Kanpur, University of Southern California, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad (Chakraborty et al., 2024).
The study has suggested that “the amount of subsurface ice in the first couple of meters is about 5 to 8 times larger than the one at the surface in both poles", ISRO said.
The study also suggests that the amount of water ice in the northern polar region is double that found in the southern polar region. It also suggests that the water on the lunar poles “is outgassing during volcanism in the Imbrian period".
“The results also conclude that the distribution of water ice is likely governed by Mare volcanism and preferential impact cratering," ISRO said.
The team used seven instruments to make this significant discovery. It used “radar, laser, optical, neutron spectrometer, ultra-violet spectrometer, and thermal radiometer".
ISRO said “the presented comprehensive understanding of the occurrence of water ice in the lunar poles, in this study, is crucial for supporting ISRO’s future in-situ volatile exploration plans on the Moon".
Meanwhile, China, too, has launched a 53-day-long lunar probe mission to collect samples for the first time from the far side of the Moon and bring them for scientific studies. The far-side of the Moon is not visible from Earth.
The Chang'e-6 mission is tasked with collecting and then returning samples from the moon's far side to Earth -- the first endeavour of its kind in the history of human lunar exploration, China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
(With agency inputs)
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