A Novel Method for Asteroid Tidal Deformation Measurement and Parameter Inversion with Earth-Based Radar

TY - JOUR

T1 - A Novel Method for Asteroid Tidal Deformation Measurement and Parameter Inversion with Earth-Based Radar

AU - Li, Gen

AU - Sun, Chuanxu

AU - Hu, Zihan

AU - Wang, Yifan

AU - Dong, Zehua

AU - Ding, Zegang

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2004-2012 IEEE.

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - The tidal deformation offers critical insights into the internal structure of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). This study leverages the 2029 Earth flyby of asteroid 99942 Apophis, which will approach within 31000 km. Unlike typical observations constrained by low signal-To-noise ratio (SNR), this encounter allows ground-based radar to support high-precision measurements. We propose a novel physics-signal fusion framework that integrates a dynamic tidal deformation model with the hybrid generalized Radon-Fourier transform (HGRFT) to estimate key structural parameters. Simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed method maintains high robustness, and the relative error of dynamic viscosity estimation remains within 1% under a low-SNR condition. The approach holds significant implications for future asteroid missions and provides a viable pathway for the characterization of hazardous asteroids during close encounters.

AB - The tidal deformation offers critical insights into the internal structure of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). This study leverages the 2029 Earth flyby of asteroid 99942 Apophis, which will approach within 31000 km. Unlike typical observations constrained by low signal-To-noise ratio (SNR), this encounter allows ground-based radar to support high-precision measurements. We propose a novel physics-signal fusion framework that integrates a dynamic tidal deformation model with the hybrid generalized Radon-Fourier transform (HGRFT) to estimate key structural parameters. Simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed method maintains high robustness, and the relative error of dynamic viscosity estimation remains within 1% under a low-SNR condition. The approach holds significant implications for future asteroid missions and provides a viable pathway for the characterization of hazardous asteroids during close encounters.

KW - Apophis

KW - Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs)

KW - dynamic deformation model

KW - generalized Radona-Fourier transform (GRFT)

KW - ground-based radar

KW - tidal deformation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105032771128

U2 - 10.1109/LGRS.2026.3672328

DO - 10.1109/LGRS.2026.3672328

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105032771128

SN - 1545-598X

VL - 23

JO - IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters

JF - IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters

M1 - 3501505

ER -