Laboratory experiments of X-ray fluorescence at rough surface

Abstract

Planetary surfaces are usually covered with regolith, which is far from ideal for detailed X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis because its powdery rough surface affects XRF intensities. Kuwada et al. (1997) pointed out this phenomenon could cause a serious error in determining rock-types, particularly observed at large phase angles. Therefore, we performed laboratory experiments and model calculations to investigate particle size effects in planetary XRF spectrometry.