Assessment of GRAIL Radio Science Signal Noise Patterns in Support of Lunar Radio Occultation

Recently, JPL has utilized NASA's Gravity Recoveryand Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) radio science as Signals ofOpportunity (SoOP) to map the moon's ionosphere andinvestigate the measurements for the future Lunar RadioOccultation (RO) mission, which aims to study lunar dust andsurrounding plasma interactions. This research will provide anassessment of the GRAIL radio science signal noise patternscorresponding to different locations in Geocentric Solar Ecliptic(GSE) coordinate, solar plasmas conditions, and orbit dynamicsof radio occultation experiments for the new scientificobservations derived using GRAIL RO data; the statisticalanalysis of the noise patterns, estimated using the actual GRAILRO data, will be in comparison with the uncertainties derivedusing analytical models. The research findings provide areference for the scientific community to design future lunarRadio Occultation Missions, improving the understanding ofconstraints and errors in these new scientific measurementsmade by GRAIL-like Radio Science instruments.