Magnetic Field and Plasma Observations at Mars: Initial Results of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission

Acuña, M. H.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Wasilewski, P. J.; Lin, R. P.; Anderson, K. A.; Carlson, C. W.; McFadden, J. P.; Curtis, D. W.; Mitchell, David; Rème, H.; Mazelle, C.; Sauvaud, J. A.; d’Uston, C.; Cros, A.; Médale, J. L.; Bauer, S. J.; Cloutier, P. A.; Mayhew, M. A.; Winterhalter, D.; Ness, N. F.

doi:10.1126/science.279.5357.1676

Cited by 687 publications

(194 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…a weakly magnetized celestial body with atmosphere and ionosphere exposed to a superAlfvénic plasma flow [e.g., Alfvén, 1953]. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) findings of strong crustal anomalies at Mars [Acuña et al, 1998] considerably changed this picture. We now expect to find diverging magnetic field "cusps" above Mars [Krymskii et al, 2002] and "minimagnetospheres" [Mitchell et al, 2001] with local magnetic conditions similar to those found on magnetized planets such as the Earth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the relation between plasma escape and the Martian crustal magnetic field

Lundin

Barabash

Yamauchi

et al. 2011

Geophys. Res. Lett.

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[1] Data from ASPERA-3 on Mars Express is used to study the geographic distribution of ionospheric O + outflow and escape from Mars. Of particular interest is how the ion outflow relates to the crustal magnetic field regions facing the dayside, flank, and nightside of Mars. The most intense O + fluxes are generated on the dayside at altitudes below ≈1000 km, peaking over the southern hemisphere in the longitude sector 120°-250°. This sector coincides with the strongest crustal magnetic field regions at Mars. On the other hand, the correspondence between dayside and nightside O + fluxes is weak, i.e. the tailward transport of dayside O + ions is apparently inhibited. This suggests that most ionospheric O + ions on crustal magnetic field lines remain on the dayside. The dayside "mini-magnetospheres" developed acts as cellular structures recycling ionospheric plasma and reducing the tailward transport and escape of ionospheric plasma. Further support for this is that the O + flow over the southern hemisphere deviates strongly from the tailward northern hemisphere flow, leading to eddy structures over the southern polar cap. Citation: Lundin, R., S. Barabash, M. Yamauchi, H. Nilsson, and D. Brain (2011), On the relation between plasma escape and the Martian crustal magnetic field,

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the relation between plasma escape and the Martian crustal magnetic field

Lundin

Barabash

Yamauchi

et al. 2011

Geophys. Res. Lett.

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“…Among other important results, the measurements made by the magnetometer (MAG) on board the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft [Acuña et al, 1992] showed that Mars does not have a significant intrinsic magnetic field [Acuña et al, 1998]. As a consequence, there is a direct interaction between the magnetized solar wind (SW) and the atmosphere/ionosphere of the planet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dependence of the location of the Martian magnetic lobes on the interplanetary magnetic field direction: Observations from Mars Global Surveyor

et al. 2015

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We use magnetometer data from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft during portions of the premapping orbits of the mission to study the variability of the Martian‐induced magnetotail as a function of the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The time spent by MGS in the magnetotail lobes during periods with positive solar wind flow‐aligned IMF component suggests that their location as well as the position of the central polarity reversal layer (PRL) are displaced in the direction antiparallel to the IMF cross‐flow component . Analogously, in the cases where is negative, the lobes are displaced in the direction of . This behavior is compatible with a previously published analytical model of the IMF draping, where for the first time, the displacement of a complementary reversal layer (denoted as IPRL for inverse polarity reversal layer) is deduced from first principles.

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“…Cloutier et al, 1999), also lacking a global planetary magnetic field (e.g. Acuña et al, 1998). A statistical study of low-frequency magnetic field oscillations in the Martian plasma environment is presented by Espley et al (2004).…”

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Low-frequency magnetic field fluctuations in Venus' solar wind interaction region: Venus Express observations

et al. 2010

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Abstract. We investigate wave properties of low-frequency magnetic field fluctuations in Venus' solar wind interaction region based on the measurements made on board the Venus Express spacecraft. The orbit geometry is very suitable to investigate the fluctuations in Venus' low-altitude magnetosheath and mid-magnetotail and provides an opportunity for a comparative study of low-frequency waves at Venus and Mars. The spatial distributions of the wave properties, in particular in the dayside and nightside magnetosheath as well as in the tail and mantle region, are similar to observations at Mars. As both planets do not have a global magnetic field, the interaction process of the solar wind with both planets is similar and leads to similar instabilities and wave structures. We focus on the spatial distribution of the wave intensity of the fluctuating magnetic field and detect an enhancement of the intensity in the dayside magnetosheath and a strong decrease towards the terminator. For a detailed investigation of the intensity distribution we adopt an analytical streamline model to describe the plasma flow around Venus. This allows displaying the evolution of the intensity along different streamlines. It is assumed that the waves are generated in the vicinity of the bow shock and are convected downstream with the turbulent magnetosheath flow. However, neither the different Mach numbers upstream and downstream of the bow shock, nor the variation of the cross sectional area and the flow velocity along the streamlines play probably an important role in order to explain the observed concentration of Correspondence to: L. Guicking (l.guicking@tu-bs.de) wave intensity in the dayside magnetosheath and the decay towards the nightside magnetosheath. But, the concept of freely evolving or decaying turbulence is in good qualitative agreement with the observations, as we observe a power law decay of the intensity along the streamlines. The observations support the assumption of wave convection through the magnetosheath, but reveal at the same time that wave sources may not only exist at the bow shock, but also in the magnetosheath.

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Magnetic Field and Plasma Observations at Mars: Initial Results of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission

Cited by 687 publications

References 34 publications

On the relation between plasma escape and the Martian crustal magnetic field

On the relation between plasma escape and the Martian crustal magnetic field

Dependence of the location of the Martian magnetic lobes on the interplanetary magnetic field direction: Observations from Mars Global Surveyor

Low-frequency magnetic field fluctuations in Venus' solar wind interaction region: Venus Express observations

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