On the size distribution functions and their application in regolith studies

The knowledge of particle size distribution (PSD) of regolith surfaces on terrestrial planets, their satellites and minor bodies, has an important role in the field of remote sensing and the study of regolith evolution. Various mathematical distribution functions (dfs) which are currently in use to describe regolith PSD, have been compared on the basis of their best fitting with terrestrial and lunar samples. The correspondences of parameters of the dfs with known physical characteristics of the samples have also been analyzed so that a distribution function suitable for practical applications can be obtained. Rosin’s distribution comes out to be one which can be fitted to both terrestrial and lunar samples with confidence (LSSE/data < 0.003), and also numerically obtained physical parameters from the distribution are close to the sample values (errors < 10% on average).