Evidence of an ion composition boundary (protonopause) in bi‐ion fluid simulations of solar wind mass loading

Sauer, K.; Bogdanov, A. T.; Baumgärtel, K.

doi:10.1029/94gl01691

Cited by 106 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Ion measurements conducted by the ASPERA and HARP experiments aboard Phobos-2 identified an Ion Composition Boundary (ICB) which was located at the same position as the magnetic pile-up boundary (MPB). This boundary separates the solar wind protons from the planetary ions (Sauer et al, 1990;Breus et al, 1991;Sauer et al, 1994). The magnetic pile-up boundary at Mars has been observed between the bow shock and the ionopause by both Mars Global Surveyor and the Phobos-2 MAGMA instrument (Riedler et al, 1991;Vignes et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physics of the Ion Composition Boundary: a comparative 3-D hybrid simulation study of Mars and Titan

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The plasma environments of Mars and Titan have been studied by means of a 3-D hybrid simulation code, treating the electrons as a massless, charge-neutralizing fluid, whereas ion dynamics are covered by a kinetic approach. As neither Mars nor Titan possesses a significant intrinsic magnetic field, the upstream plasma flow interacts directly with the planetary ionosphere. The characteristic features of the interaction region are determined as a function of the alfvénic, sonic and magnetosonic Mach number of the impinging plasma. For the Martian interaction with the solar wind as well as for the case of Titan being located outside Saturn's magnetosphere in times of high solar wind dynamic pressure, all three Mach numbers are larger than 1. In such a scenario, the interaction gives rise to a so-called Ion Composition Boundary, separating the ionospheric plasma from the ambient flow and being highly asymmetric with respect to the direction of the convective electric field. The formation of these features is explained by analyzing the Lorentz forces acting on ionospheric and ambient plasma particles. Titan's plasma environment is highly variable and allows various different combinations of the three Mach numbers. Therefore, the Ion Composition Boundary may vanish under certain circumstances. The relevant physical mechanism is illustrated as a function of the Mach numbers in the upstream plasma flow.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physics of the Ion Composition Boundary: a comparative 3-D hybrid simulation study of Mars and Titan

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The concept of a multi-fluid description is very useful and has been applied to solar wind mass loading at unmagnetized planets and comets (see e.g. Sauer et al, 1994Sauer et al, , 1996Sauer et al, , 1997Dubinin and Sauer, 1999). Stationary waves in a bi-ion plasma, propagating transverse to the magnetic field, were discussed recently by Sauer et al (2000), McKenzie et al (2001), Dubinin et al (2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solitons and oscillitons in multi-ion space plasmas

Sauer

Dubinin

McKenzie

2003

Nonlin. Processes Geophys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract.It is well known that additional low-frequency waves arise when a second ion population is added to a plasma normally consisting of protons and electrons. Here, we investigate stationary structures streaming with a sub-fast speed in such a bi-ion plasma. It is shown that in addition to the usual "solitons", which have already been described for a single-ion plasma, a new type of stationary structure occurs due to the second ion population. This structure is associated with complex solutions of the linear dispersion relation in certain regions of the wave number-obliquity space. This implies that the corresponding soliton structure exhibits an oscillating spatial structure superposed on the usual spatial growth or decay. The full-blown solution of the nonlinear equations confirms that this is indeed the case. The related structure is called an "oscilliton". Examples of both types of stationary nonlinear waves (solitons and oscillitons), which may exist in a bi-ion plasma are given.

show abstract

“…Two ions populations (light and heavy ions), at least, appear to be essential in the formation of the MPB and thus bi-fluid MHD model (Sauer et al, 1994) or hybrid models are mandatory to describe fully this boundary.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulated solar wind plasma interaction with the Martian exosphere: influence of the solar EUV flux on the bow shock and the magnetic pile-up boundary

Modolo

Chanteur²,

Dubinin³

et al. 2006

Ann. Geophys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The solar wind plasma interaction with the Martian exosphere is investigated by means of 3-D multi-species hybrid simulations. The influence of the solar EUV flux on the bow shock and the magnetic pile-up boundary is examined by comparing two simulations describing the two extreme states of the solar cycle. The hybrid formalism allows a kinetic description of each ions species and a fluid description of electrons. The ionization processes (photoionization, electron impact and charge exchange) are included self-consistently in the model where the production rate is computed locally, separately for each ionization act and for each neutral species. The results of simulations are in a reasonable agreement with the observations made by Phobos 2 and Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The position of the bow shock and the magnetic pile-up boundary is weakly dependent of the solar EUV flux. The motional electric field creates strong asymmetries for the two plasma boundaries.

show abstract

Evidence of an ion composition boundary (protonopause) in bi‐ion fluid simulations of solar wind mass loading

Cited by 106 publications

References 16 publications

Physics of the Ion Composition Boundary: a comparative 3-D hybrid simulation study of Mars and Titan

Physics of the Ion Composition Boundary: a comparative 3-D hybrid simulation study of Mars and Titan

Solitons and oscillitons in multi-ion space plasmas

Simulated solar wind plasma interaction with the Martian exosphere: influence of the solar EUV flux on the bow shock and the magnetic pile-up boundary

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About