Geological processes on the terrestrial planets: regolith, cratering, and history

我是行星科学领域公认的专家，特别是在行星风化层研究方面。 我的研究小组结合实验室测量的风化层属性和直接观察风化层使用遥感，电磁波传播的建模，和撞击坑人口的统计分析，调查重要的行星风化层科学的开放性问题。 我们的目标是推进风化过程的知识状态，并提供新的理解水平，这些过程对行星体的大规模地质演化产生影响。行星风化层提供了45亿年的太阳系事件记录，这些记录在很大程度上没有保存在地球上;特别是，它们包含了所有尺度的撞击记录。 这一点很重要，因为可以对内太阳系中的其他天体产生影响的天体（例如，月球）也有可能撞击地球，因此a）代表潜在的危险;和B）提供了影响地球的事件的记录，这些事件在陆地上的记录很少。 我的工作表明，风化层的性质可以用来限制这些物体在地质时期的入射通量及其对行星表面的影响。 * 我的研究计划围绕三个主要项目，相关任务构成HQP论文或部分论文。 这些项目都集中在一个中心问题上：行星风化层的物理性质揭示了潜在的地质过程？ 每个项目都以独特的方式处理这一问题的一个方面，使用最先进的仪器、最新的行星使命数据和复杂的建模技术。* 我目前参与了三个活跃的NASA行星任务（一个在轨道上，一个在2016年发射，一个在2020年发射），我的研究涉及新使命数据的生成，处理和分析，以及实验室测量，实地工作，并在使命生命周期的所有阶段建模。 我所在的小组中目前的HQP学员都是这些任务科学团队的积极成员，并且有难得的机会参与这些高级别的地面国际任务。 他们不仅是公开的使命数据的用户，而且作为实验的全面参与者与任务的科学和工程团队互动。 除了这项工作将为他们提供一套宝贵的学术和市场技能外，他们作为这些国际NASA使命小组成员的经验将使HQP受训人员成为一个高技能工人的稀缺阶层，随时准备满足加拿大未来对空间技术部门专门知识的需要。

I am a recognized expert in the field of planetary science, notably in the study of planetary regoliths. My research group combines laboratory measurements of regolith properties and direct observation of regoliths using remote sensing, modeling of electromagnetic wave propagation, and statistical analyses of impact crater populations to investigate important open questions in planetary regolith science. Our goal is to advance the state of knowledge of regolith processes, and to provide new levels of understanding of the ways in which those processes bear on the larger-scale geological evolution of planetary bodies.****Planetary regoliths provide a 4.5 billion year long record of Solar System events largely not preserved on Earth; in particular, they contain records of bombardment at all scales. This is important because objects that are available to produce impacts on other bodies in the inner Solar System (e.g., the Moon) are also available to strike Earth, and therefore a) represent potential hazards; and b) provide a record of events affecting Earth for which the terrestrial record is sparse. My work has shown that regolith properties can be used to constrain both the incoming flux of these objects over geological time and their effects on planetary surfaces. ***My research program is centered around three major projects, with associated tasks that constitute HQP theses or parts of theses. These projects all focus on the central question: What do the physical properties of planetary regoliths reveal about the underlying geological processes? Each project addresses an aspect of this question in a unique way, using state of the art instrumentation, the most recent planetary mission data, and sophisticated modelling techniques. ****I am currently involved in three active NASA planetary missions (one in orbit, one launching in 2016, and one launching in 2020), and my research involves generation, processing, and analysis of new mission data, as well as laboratory measurements, field work, and modelling at all stages of the mission life cycle. Current HQP trainees in my group are active members of the science teams for these missions, and have a rare opportunity to participate in these high-profile international missions at the ground level. They are not simply users of publicly available mission data, but interact with the missions' science and engineering teams as full participants in the experiments. In addition to the invaluable set of academic and marketable skills that this work will provide them, their experience functioning as members of these international NASA mission teams will place HQP trainees in a rarified stratum of highly skilled workers, ready to meet Canada's future need for expertise in the technical space sector.**