月球南极尘埃等离子体环境特性研究

月球南极尘埃等离子体环境特性研究

月球探测是人类探索宇宙的重要一步，而月球表面的尘埃等离子体环境是影响探测任务成功实施的关键因素之一。月球表面缺乏大气和全球性磁场的保护，使得空间等离子体环境可以直接作用于月壤层，导致月壤中较小粒径的月尘带电后在月面附近形成复杂的尘埃等离子体环境。本文通过仿真研究揭示了月球南极尘埃等离子体环境的特性，为未来的月球探测任务提供了重要参考。

由于缺少大气和全球性磁场的保护，空间等离子体环境可直接作用于月球表面的月壤层，月壤中较小粒径的月尘带电后会在月面附近形成复杂的尘埃等离子体环境，影响探月任务的顺利实施。针对月球南极尘埃等离子体环境，本文利用SPIS (spacecraft plasma interactions software)软件，仿真研究了月球南极0—200 m高度范围的等离子体和月尘的空间分布情况及月面充电特性，揭示了月面附近尘埃等离子体环境特征及悬浮在月面附近的带电月尘对等离子体环境的影响。仿真结果与Apollo探测数据和Popel团队的理论数据吻合。

研究结果表明，空间电位随着高度升高而增加，月球南极附近0—10 m电位约为–40 V，在100 m处空间电位约为–20 V；在10 m以下高度范围内月尘密度为107.22—104.66m–3；月表附近尘埃等离子体中的电子密度为105.47m–3，离子密度为106.07m–3，并随着高度升高而增大；带电月尘会影响月尘的空间分布，主要是通过影响空间电场的分布，进而导致电子分布差异，对离子的影响不大。

图 1 仿真区域网格划分图

图 2 仿真过程中电流的变化

图 7 月尘空间密度分布

图 8 月尘空间电位分布

图 9 电子空间密度分布

图 10 离子空间密度分布

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