X-ray fluorescence modelling for Solar system regoliths: Effects of viewing geometry, particle size, and surface roughness

Soft X-ray fluorescent emission from the surfaces of asteroids and other atmosphereless solar-system objects is studied using ray-tracing techniques. X-ray observations allow the assessment of the elemental composition and structure of the surface. The model regolith is assumed to consist of close-packed uniformly distributed spherical particles of equal size. The surface is also assumed to be rough according to a fractional-Brownian-motion model. The fluorescent X-ray emission from regolith surfaces is simulated in order to better understand the contribution of viewing-geometry -related phenomena on the signal obtained from, e.g., orbiting platforms. The first results are presented and the applicability of the methods to the interpretation of future asteroid and Mercury mission X-ray data (e.g., BepiColombo) is discussed.