Simulation and Data Analysis of the Temperature Distribution and Variation in the Permanent Shaded Region of the Moon

The permanent shaded regions (PSRs) at the lunar poles receive no direct solar illumination throughout the year, so their temperatures are extremely low. The PSR is mainly heated by the radiation heat flow and the scattered solar radiation from the sunlit crater wall. The temperature distribution in the PSR and its diurnal and seasonal variations have been calculated using the ray-tracing method, which determines the radiation heat flow and the scattered solar radiation. In this article, the radiation heat flows were calculated by anisotropic emissivity of the PSR, and the scattered solar radiation was calculated using the lunar Lambert model. To conform to the Diviner IR temperature data, the 1-D heat conduction equation was solved with modified heat conductivity (an important parameter of the regolith media). As an example, the daytime and nighttime temperatures in the Hermite-A crater at the North Pole during summer and winter were numerically simulated and were compared with the Diviner IR data. In addition, rocks near the central peak of the crater in the PSR may enhance the nighttime temperature. This was validated by the PSR images captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), the Miniature Radio Frequency instrument data on the LRO, and the numerical simulations.

Automated summary

PSRs at the lunar poles are not directly illuminated by the sun, resulting in extremely low temperatures. The study used ray-tracing method to calculate temperature distribution and variations, with results validated against Diviner IR data.