Effect of the seasonal variations in the lower atmosphere on the altitude of the ionospheric main peak at Mars

Zou, Hong; Wang, J.-S.; Nielsen, E.

doi:10.1029/2004ja010963

Cited by 23 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Several attempts have been made to explain the behavior of the martian ionosphere within the framework of Chapman (1931a,b) theory or somewhat modified Chapman theory, including, for example, Lindal et al (1979), Bauer and Hantsch (1989), Hantsch and Bauer (1990), Zhang et al (1990), Kliore (1992), Breus et al (1998), Rishbeth and Mendillo (2004), Martinis et al (2003), Zou et al (2005Zou et al ( , 2006, , Nielsen et al (2006), Morgan et al (2008), and Withers (2009). Most of these studies are based on radio occultation profiles from various previous and current Mars missions, but recently there have been investigations that employ data from the MEX MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding) instrument, which is a low frequency radar that operates by vertical sounding (e.g., Picardi et al, 1999;Gurnett et al, 2005Gurnett et al, , 2008.…”

Section: Essentials Of Chapman Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

MGS electron density profiles: Analysis and modeling of peak altitudes

Fox

Weber

2012

Icarus

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Section: Essentials Of Chapman Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

MGS electron density profiles: Analysis and modeling of peak altitudes

Fox

Weber

2012

Icarus

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“…Even considering the difference in solar EUV radiation, the primary peak electron densities observed in the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars are still different [9,20], which indicates that the abnormal larger primary peak electron density in the southern hemisphere of Mars is not caused by the variation of solar EUV radiation flux. The crustal magnetic field of Mars is considered to be related to this abnormal event, which is based on the following fact:…”

Section: Effects Of Crustal Magnetic Field On Ionosphere Observed By mentioning

confidence: 93%

“…After the discovery of the crustal magnetic field on Mars by the MAG/ER magnetometer onboard MGS, the radio occultation observations by Mariner 9, Viking 1 and MGS together with the global distribution and the structure characters of the crustal magnetic field were further investigated to study the effect of the crustal magnetic field on the ionosphere [9,[12][13][18][19][20].…”

Section: Effects Of Crustal Magnetic Field On Ionosphere Observed By mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the observation of the crustal magnetic field by MGS, the effect of the crustal magnetic field on the Martian ionosphere gained more attentions [9,12,13,[18][19][20]. In section 2, the deduced effect of the magnetic field on the Martian ionosphere before the crustal magnetic field observation will be introduced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The primary peak of the Martian ionosphere is under photochemical equilibrium, and its behavior can be described by Chapman theory. There are many factors that control the behavior of the Martian ionosphere, including solar F10.7 cm radiation flux [4][5][6], solar zenith angle (SZA) [7], solar wind [8], neutral atmosphere [3], differences between southern and northern hemispheres [9], dust storm [10], topography [11], etc. Effects of the Martian crustal magnetic field on ionosphere are also one of the hot topics in the Martian ionosphere research [12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Martian crustal magnetic field on its ionosphere

Zou

Chen

et al. 2010

Sci. China Technol. Sci.

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The effect of the Martian crustal magnetic field is one of the hot topics of the study of Martian ionosphere. The studies on this topic are summarized in this paper. Main data of the Martian ionosphere were resulted from radio occultation experiments. According to the observations, the electron density scale height and the peak electron density of the Martian ionosphere are influenced by its crustal magnetic field. The strong horizontal magnetic field prevents the vertical diffusion of the plasma and makes the electron density scale height in the topside ionosphere close to that in the photo equilibrium region. In the cusp-like regions with strong vertical magnetic field, the enhanced vertical diffusion leads to a larger electron density scale height in the diffusion equilibrium region. The observation of radio occultation experiment onboard Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) showed that the averaged peak electron density observed in the southern hemisphere with strong crustal magnetic field was slightly larger than that in the northern hemisphere with weak crustal magnetic field. The Mars advanced radar for subsurface and ionosphere sounding (MARSIS) onboard Mars Express (MEX) was the first topside sounder to be used to observe Martian ionosphere. The MARSIS results confirmed that the enhancement of the peak electron density occurred in cusp-like regions with open field lines, and the amount of the enhancement was much larger than that observed by the radio occultation experiment. There are two possible mechanisms for the peak electron density enhancement in the cusp-like crustal magnetic field regions: One is the precipitation of the energetic particles and the other is the heating by the waves excited by plasma instabilities. It's difficult to determine which one is the key mechanism for the peak electron density enhancement. Based on these studies, several interesting problems on the Martian ionosphere and plasma environment are presented. Mars exploration, Martian crustal megnetic field, Martian ionosphere, energetic particles detection, plasma wave detection Citation:Zou H, Chen H F, Yu N, et al. Effects of Martian crustal magnetic field on its ionosphere.

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A method to estimate the neutral atmospheric density near the ionospheric main peak of Mars

Zou

Wang

et al. 2016

JGR Space Physics

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A method to estimate the neutral atmospheric density near the ionospheric main peak of Mars is introduced in this study. The neutral densities at 130 km can be derived from the ionospheric and atmospheric measurements of the Radio Science experiment on board Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). The derived neutral densities cover a large longitude range in northern high latitudes from summer to late autumn during 3 Martian years, which fills the gap of the previous observations for the upper atmosphere of Mars. The simulations of the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique Mars global circulation model can be corrected with a simple linear equation to fit the neutral densities derived from the first MGS/RS (Radio Science) data sets (EDS1). The corrected simulations with the same correction parameters as for EDS1 match the derived neutral densities from two other MGS/RS data sets (EDS2 and EDS3) very well. The derived neutral density from EDS3 shows a dust storm effect, which is in accord with the Mars Express (MEX) Spectroscopy for Investigation of Characteristics of the Atmosphere of Mars measurement. The neutral density derived from the MGS/RS measurements can be used to validate the Martian atmospheric models. The method presented in this study can be applied to other radio occultation measurements, such as the result of the Radio Science experiment on board MEX.

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Effect of the seasonal variations in the lower atmosphere on the altitude of the ionospheric main peak at Mars

Cited by 23 publications

References 20 publications

MGS electron density profiles: Analysis and modeling of peak altitudes

MGS electron density profiles: Analysis and modeling of peak altitudes

Effects of Martian crustal magnetic field on its ionosphere

A method to estimate the neutral atmospheric density near the ionospheric main peak of Mars

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