Auroras on mars: from discovery to new developments

Atri, Dimitra; Dhuri, Dattaraj B.; Simoni, Mathilde; Sreenivasan, Katepalli R.

doi:10.1140/epjd/s10053-022-00566-5

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…From its high-altitude orbit, the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) on board the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) orbiter (Holsclaw et al, 2021) provides global views of the planet and images the Mars nightside in the FUV between 110 and 180 nm. A series of auroral spectra and images collected at 130.4 nm has been analyzed by Lillis et al (2022) and Atri et al (2022). The observed 130.4 nm nadir brightness varies from 1 to 60 R. Observations indicate that the brightest aurorae preferably appear in regions of strong and mostly vertical crustal magnetic fields, but the highest occurrence rate is observed both in these regions and where the crustal field is very weak or absent.…”

Section: Auroral Fuv Detectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2022) and Atri et al. (2022). The observed 130.4 nm nadir brightness varies from 1 to 60 R. Observations indicate that the brightest aurorae preferably appear in regions of strong and mostly vertical crustal magnetic fields, but the highest occurrence rate is observed both in these regions and where the crustal field is very weak or absent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Quantifying the Electron Energy of Mars Aurorae Through the Oxygen Emission Brightness Ratio at 130.4 and 135.6 nm

Soret,

Hubert,

Gérard

et al. 2024

JGR Planets

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Mars discrete aurorae are caused by accelerated electrons precipitating into the atmosphere and interacting with species such as atomic oxygen. However, the energy of the electrons causing these aurorae remains currently unclear: no simultaneous and concurrent measurements of electron analyzers and spectrometers have been performed so far, preventing from assessing the exact energy of the downgoing auroral electrons. Several auroral emissions have been observed so far on Mars, among which are two oxygen emissions in the far ultraviolet at 130.4 and 135.6 nm. In this study, we simulate the vertical distribution of these auroral oxygen emissions with an electron transport calculation coupled with a radiative transfer model to account for the optical thickness of the atmosphere for the 130.4‐nm triplet. We show that the brightness ratio of these oxygen emissions is independent of the downward electron energy flux and only slightly depends on the atomic oxygen atmospheric composition. In contrast, the brightness ratio is strongly related to the initial energy of the auroral electrons. Measuring the brightness ratio is therefore a unique tool to remotely estimate the energy of the electrons causing the Mars discrete aurorae. We compare our model results with observations from the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer on board the Emirates Mars Mission and find that electrons with typical energies of 250–300 eV are compatible with the observed ratio of 5.

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Section: Auroral Fuv Detectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Quantifying the Electron Energy of Mars Aurorae Through the Oxygen Emission Brightness Ratio at 130.4 and 135.6 nm

Soret,

Hubert,

Gérard

et al. 2024

JGR Planets

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“…Three categories of auroras have been observed on Mars so far – nightside discrete auroras resulting from suprathermal (10s eV to keV) electron precipitation, nightside diffuse auroras resulting from high-energy electrons and protons (hundreds of keV), and proton auroras, which as the name suggests are caused by solar wind protons directly depositing energy in the dayside atmopshere causing auroral emissions. In the following paragraphs, we will describe these auroras only briefly and would refer the readers to a review paper for more details 5 .…”

Section: Martian Auroras and The Hope Missionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A serverless computing architecture for Martian aurora detection with the Emirates Mars Mission

Pacios,

Vázquez-Poletti,

Dhuri

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Remote sensing technologies are experiencing a surge in adoption for monitoring Earth’s environment, demanding more efficient and scalable methods for image analysis. This paper presents a new approach for the Emirates Mars Mission (Hope probe); A serverless computing architecture designed to analyze images of Martian auroras, a key aspect in understanding the Martian atmosphere. Harnessing the power of OpenCV and machine learning algorithms, our architecture offers image classification, object detection, and segmentation in a swift and cost-effective manner. Leveraging the scalability and elasticity of cloud computing, this innovative system is capable of managing high volumes of image data, adapting to fluctuating workloads. This technology, applied to the study of Martian auroras within the HOPE Mission, not only solves a complex problem but also paves the way for future applications in the broad field of remote sensing.

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“…Lillis et al (2022) classified the auroral features captured by EMUS as crustal field aurora in regions of strong crustal magnetic fields (e.g., Figure 1a), non-crustal field sinuous aurora which are elongated, filamentary emissions usually formed away from strong crustal fields (e.g., Figure 1b), and non-crustal field patchy aurora in spatially extended weak crustal field regions often with less defined edges (e.g., Figure 1c). Note that all three types of aurora can appear simultaneously at different locations on the nightside (Atri et al, 2022;Harada et al, 2024;Lillis et al, 2022;Pacios et al, 2024). However, these studies used limited data sets and did not provide in-depth analyses of Mars' FUV aurora, its variability, and drivers.…”

Section: Nightside Aurora On Marsmentioning

confidence: 99%

EMM EMUS Observations of FUV Aurora on Mars: Dependence on Magnetic Topology, Local Time, and Season

Chirakkil,

Lillis,

Deighan

et al. 2024

JGR Planets

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We present a comprehensive study of the nightside aurora phenomenon on Mars, utilizing observations from EMUS onboard Emirates Mars Mission. The oxygen emission at 130.4 nm is by far the brightest FUV auroral emission line observed at Mars. Our statistical analysis reveals geographic, solar zenith angle, local time, and seasonal dependencies of auroral occurrence. Higher occurrence of aurora is observed in regions of open magnetic topology, where crustal magnetic fields are either very weak or both strong and vertical. Aurora occurs more frequently closer to the terminator and is more likely on the dusk side than on the dawn side of the night hemisphere. A pronounced auroral feature appears close to midnight local times in the southern hemisphere, consistent with the spot of energetic electron fluxes previously identified in the Mars Global Surveyor data. This auroral spot is more frequent after midnight than before. Additionally, some regions on Mars are “aurora voids” where essentially no aurora occurs. Aurora exhibits a seasonal dependence, with a major enhancement near perihelion. Non–crustal field aurora additionally shows a secondary enhancement near Ls 30°. This seasonal variability is a combination of the variability in ionospheric photoelectrons and thermospheric atomic oxygen abundance. Auroral occurrence also shows an increase with the rise of Solar Cycle 25. The brightest auroral pixels are observed during space weather events such as Coronal Mass Ejections and Stream Interaction Regions. These observations not only shed light on where and when Martian aurora occurs, but also add to our understanding of Mars' magnetic environment and its interaction with the heliosphere.

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Auroras on mars: from discovery to new developments

Cited by 5 publications

References 28 publications

Quantifying the Electron Energy of Mars Aurorae Through the Oxygen Emission Brightness Ratio at 130.4 and 135.6 nm

Quantifying the Electron Energy of Mars Aurorae Through the Oxygen Emission Brightness Ratio at 130.4 and 135.6 nm

A serverless computing architecture for Martian aurora detection with the Emirates Mars Mission

EMM EMUS Observations of FUV Aurora on Mars: Dependence on Magnetic Topology, Local Time, and Season

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