Tidal Deformation of Mercury from Co-registration of Laser Altimeter Profiles and Implications for the Interior Structure of the Planet

我们关注的是水星的径向变形，这是它对太阳施加的潮汐力的反应。我们将使用共同配准分析的新技术重新分析信使号航天器上MLA（水银激光高度计）仪器获得的高度计剖面，其中还包括基于伪交叉的后校正程序，我们之前已经为其他应用开发并成功演示了该程序。首先，我们将创建潮汐变形的时间和空间模式的半球图。然后，我们将具体测量潮汐参数h2的振幅，这是一个测量径向潮汐变形，包括它的相关误差。接下来，我们将在即将到来的BepiColombo任务中创建激光高度计BELA的观测合成数据。使用相同的分析技术，我们将研究如何改进h2的测量以实现更小的误差范围。此外，模拟将研究仪器测量潮汐隆起的相位滞后的能力，以及潮汐隆起幅度对频率相关潮汐强迫的频谱分量的依赖。我们对h2的测量和BepiColombo的预期改进，包括从无线电科学实验中精确确定潮汐势Love数k2及其相位滞后，将用于讨论行星内部结构参数的新界限（例如，核心的大小和物理状态，地幔流变学，地核/地幔边界的温度），这将大大提高我们对水星热演化和磁电机工作原理的理解。

We focus on the radial deformation of planet Mercury, in its response to tidal forces exerted by the Sun. We will re-analyze altimeter profiles obtained by the MLA (Mercury Laser Altimeter) instrument on the MESSENGER spacecraft using new techniques of co-registration analysis that also includes a post-correction procedure based on pseudo cross-overs, which we have developed earlier for other applications and which we demonstrated successfully. Initially, we will create hemispheric maps of temporal and spatial patterns of the tidal deformation. Then, we will specifically measure the amplitude of the tidal parameter h2 which is a measure for the radial tidal deformation, including its associated errors. Next, we will create synthetic data of observations by the Laser Altimeter BELA on the upcoming BepiColombo mission. Using the same analysis techniques, we will investigate how measurements of h2 will be improved to achieve smaller error bounds. Also, the simulations will be studied for the instrument’s ability to measure the phase lag of the tidal bulge as well as the dependence of tidal bulge amplitudes on spectral components of the frequency dependent tidal forcing. Our measurements of h2 and expected improvements from BepiColombo, also including refined determination of the tidal potential Love number k2 and its phase lag from radio science experiments, will be used to discuss new bounds of interior structure parameters of the planet (e.g., size and physical state of the core, mantle rheology, temperatures at core/mantle boundary), which will greatly improve our understanding of Mercury’s thermal evolution and the workings of the magnetic dynamo.