Lunar Dust: Formation, Microphysics, and Transport

TL;DR

This paper synthesizes lunar dust formation, properties, and transport mechanisms, linking microphysics to operational considerations for lunar exploration using diverse datasets and modeling approaches.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review and new models connecting lunar dust microphysics to transport processes, aiding future exploration system design.

Findings

Quantified temperature-illumination effects on dust behavior

Developed adhesion-aware lift threshold formulas

Provided transport models for near-surface dust at various heights

Abstract

Lunar dust -- the sub-millimeter fraction of the regolith -- controls the optical, thermophysical, electrical, mechanical, and environmental behavior of the Moon's surface. These properties set the performance envelopes of remote-sensing retrievals, regolith geotechnics, volatile cycles, and exploration systems, while also posing operational and biomedical risks. We synthesize Apollo sample analyses and in-situ observations (Surveyor, Lunokhod, Apollo) with contemporary datasets from the LRO Diviner Lunar Radiometer, the LADEE/LDEX exospheric dust measurements, and Chang'e-4 Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR). We also incorporate 2024-2025 results: Chandrayaan-3 ChaSTE thermophysics at the Vikram lander's site, SCALPSS plume-surface diagnostics from Intuitive Machines Mission 1 (IM-1), and Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) detections of a dayside near-surface H$^{-}$ population on Chang'e-6. The review links (i) production and modification processes to (ii) grain-scale physical/chemical/electrical/optical/mechanical properties, then to (iii) mobilization pathways (meteoroid ejecta, electrostatic hopping, rocket-plume entrainment), and finally to (iv) region-specific design ranges across maria, highlands, pyroclastic units, magnetic swirls, and permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). We quantify temperature-illumination dependence across day/night and PSR-equator regimes through a two-channel $k(T,\rho)$ model and charge-relaxation scaling. We provide closed-form expressions for adhesion-aware lift thresholds and for near-surface (0-3~m) dust transport at apex/hover heights as functions of sheath structure. The result is a design-ready set of relations, figures, and tables that propagate microphysics and composition into engineering parameters for upcoming landed and rover operations.