Overburden Integrity Monitoring
Settlement + Slope Stability Monitoring
Overburden integrity monitoring uses a 2-kilogram, 20-sensor array of settlement gauges, slope inclinometers, and ground-penetrating radar antennas to verify the structural integrity of protective regolith shielding over a 100-year mission. Operating on 5 watts with a 30-day scan interval, the system measures material compaction, monitors slope stability, and scans for internal voids or fractures. The lunar environment complicates long-term operations through ambient radiation requiring radiation-tolerant electronics, alongside micrometeoroid and orbital debris impacts that produce localized craters. With a 25-year lifetime and a 200,000-hour mean time between failures, the instrumentation quantifies progressive settlement to direct corrective maintenance additions.
Settlement gauges, slope inclinometers, and ground-penetrating radar verifying overburden integrity over 100-year mission and detecting any erosion or impact damage.
Purpose
Settlement gauges, slope inclinometers, and ground-penetrating radar verifying overburden integrity over 100-year mission and detecting any erosion or impact damage.
Context
Child of L2-RAD-REG within the Lunar Ark system
Principles
- ▸Settlement gauges detect compaction over time
- ▸Inclinometers monitor slope stability
- ▸GPR scans for voids or fractures inside overburden
- ▸Periodic visual survey via L1-ROB
- ▸Anomaly triggers maintenance via L1-MNT
Typical implementations
- ▸Geotechnical monitoring (terrestrial mining/dams)
- ▸Spacecraft structure health monitoring
- ▸Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package
Lunar considerations
- ▸MMOD impacts may create small craters in overburden — monitoring detects
- ▸Long-mission settlement quantified for L1-MNT corrective additions
- ▸Rad-tolerant sensor electronics
Specifications
Functional
| primary function | Settlement gauges, slope inclinometers, and ground-penetrating radar verifying overburden integrity over 100-year mission and detecting any erosion or impact damage. |
| sensor count | 20 |
| scan interval days | 30 |
Physical
| mass kg | 2 |
| materials | Settlement gauges, Inclinometers, GPR antennas |
| vacuum compatibility | True |
Operational
| power consumption w | 5 |
| thermal range c | -40, 70 |
| lifetime years | 25 |
| mtbf hours | 200000 |
Interfaces
Provides
- Maintenance triggers
- Integrity telemetry
Requires
- Sensor power (~5 W)
Cite this entry
Lunar Ark Codex. "Overburden Integrity Monitoring" (L3-RAD-REG-MON). Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://lunarark.com/entry/L3-RAD-REG-MON
Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. You may reuse and adapt this entry with attribution, under the same licence.