The plasma Environment of Mars

Nagy, A. F.; Winterhalter, D.; Sauer, K.; Cravens, T. E.; Brecht, S. H.; Mazelle, C.; Crider, D. H.; Kallio, Esa; Захаров, А. В.; Dubinin, E.; Веригин, М. И.; Котова, Г. А.; Axford, W. I.; Bertucci, C.; Trotignon, J. G.

doi:10.1023/b:spac.0000032718.47512.92

Cited by 276 publications

(193 citation statements)

References 240 publications

(290 reference statements)

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“…Quantifying atmospheric escape is particularly important at Mars because quantifying the loss of Mars' atmosphere through solar wind erosion helps answer the question: where did the water go? Nagy et al (2004) provided a detailed review of Mars' interaction with the solar wind including results based on observation and numerical modeling. In this section we review some of that material and update it with results from numerical models published since 2004.…”

Section: Mhd Models Of Mars' Interaction With the Solar Windmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of Venus, Mars, and Titan

Kallio

Chaufray

Modolo

et al. 2011

Space Sciences Series of ISSI

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Increased computer capacity has made it possible to model the global plasma and neutral dynamics near Venus, Mars and Saturn's moon Titan. The plasma interactions at Venus, Mars, and Titan are similar because each possess a substantial atmosphere but lacks a global internally generated magnetic field. In this article three self-consistent plasma models are described: the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model, the hybrid model and the fully kinetic plasma model. are also described. In particular, we describe the pros and cons of each model approach. Results from simulations are presented to demonstrate the ability of the models to capture the known plasma and neutral dynamics near the three objects.

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Section: Mhd Models Of Mars' Interaction With the Solar Windmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of Venus, Mars, and Titan

Kallio

Chaufray

Modolo

et al. 2011

Space Sciences Series of ISSI

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“…The boundary has been often refereed as the magnetic pileup boundary (Bertucci et al, 2003;Nagy et al, 2004). Crustal magnetic fields can contribute to the total pressure of the obstacle against the solar wind (Crider et al, 2002;Dubinin et al, 2006).…”

Section: Access Of Solar Wind Electrons On the Daysidementioning

confidence: 99%

Access of solar wind electrons into the Martian magnetosphere

et al. 2008

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Abstract. Electrons with energy of ∼40-80 eV measured by the instrument ASPERA-3 on Mars Express and MAG-ER onboard Mars Global Surveyor are used to trace an access of solar wind electrons into the Martian magnetosphere. Crustal magnetic fields create an additional protection from solar wind plasma on the dayside of the Southern Hemisphere by shifting the boundary of the induced magnetosphere (this boundary is often refereed as the magnetic pileup boundary) above strong crustal sources to ∼400 km as compared to the Northern Hemisphere. Localized intrusions through cusps are also observed. On the nightside an access into the magnetosphere depends on the IMF orientation. Negative values of the B yIMF component assist the access to the regions with strong crustal magnetizations although electron fluxes are strongly weakened below ∼600 km. A precipitation pattern at lower altitudes is formed by intermittent regions with reduced and enhanced electron fluxes. The precipitation sites are longitudinally stretched narrow bands in the regions with a strong vertical component of the crustal field. Fluxes ≥10 9 cm −2 s −1 of suprathermal electrons necessary to explain the observed aurora emissions are maintained only for the periods with enhanced precipitation. The appearance of another class of electron distributions -inverted V structures, characterized by peaks on energy spectra, is controlled by the IMF. They are clustered in the hemisphere pointed by the interplanetary electric field that implies a constraint on their origin.

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“…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). A detailed discussion of the Martian plasma boundaries, especially of the MPB, has been given by Nagy et al (2004) who summarize the data obtained by MGS and Phobos 2. Barabash and Lundin (2006) give an overview of the instruments aboard ASPERA 3/ MarsExpress and present first scientific results concerning the plasma boundaries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2007

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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.

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The plasma Environment of Mars

Cited by 276 publications

References 240 publications

Modeling of Venus, Mars, and Titan

Modeling of Venus, Mars, and Titan

Access of solar wind electrons into the Martian magnetosphere

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

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