Theoretical studies of optical phenomena and related inverse problems of solar system bodies

Various optical processes that take place on the surfaces of solar system bodies are under study. Using theoretical models for such processes, inverse methods based on photopolarimetric observations for obtaining information about these objects are being developed. Most asteroids appear as point like sources, so only variations in their total brightnesses as they rotate can be observed. Such variations contain information about an object's shape and surface light scattering properties. New inversion schemes, called photomorphographic methods, for obtaining as much of this information as possible, were developed. A method, called statistical photoclinometry, for recovering topographic information from planetary images at pixel resolution was developed. Rather than producing the exact topography, the method yields statistical parameters of the surface. The thermal emission from atmosphereless bodies does not behave as if they were smooth spheres. The ways in which porosity and surface roughness at different length scales affect heat transport in the body and absorption and emission of electromagnetic radiation on the surface, are under investigation.