Martian shock and magnetic pile-up boundary positions and shapes determined from the Phobos 2 and Mars Global Surveyor data sets

Trotignon, J. G.; Mazelle, C.; Bertucci, C.; Acuña, M. H.

doi:10.1016/j.pss.2006.01.003

Cited by 213 publications

(361 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Average positions of the bow shock (BS) and the magnetospheric boundary (MB) determined, respectively, from the MGS and MEX observations (Vignes et al, 2000;Dubinin et al, 2006) are also shown. It is worth noting that the model of the MB position based both on MGS and Phobos-2 observations (Trotignon et al, 2006) gives a reasonable agreement with the above mentioned models. It is seen that the MB moves upward in the Southern Hemisphere (dashed curve) that is in the agreement with the MGS observations (Crider et al, 2002).…”

Section: Access Of Solar Wind Electrons On the Daysidesupporting

confidence: 73%

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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Section: Access Of Solar Wind Electrons On the Daysidesupporting

confidence: 73%

Access of solar wind electrons into the Martian magnetosphere

et al. 2008

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“…However, we have analyzed the entire set of MEX/ELS and MEX/IMA data from 2004 until 2009 and have identified 5014 MPB crossings and 3277 BS crossings. The number of crossings during the overlapping mission time between MGS andMEX (February 2004-November 2006) decreases to 2500 and 1840, respectively, which is still twice as many as MGS observed from 1997 until 1999 when it was in an elliptic orbit similar to the orbit of MEX Trotignon et al, 2006;Edberg et al, 2008). It should be noted that we can only get values of the measured solar wind dynamic pressure when the BS is crossed, meaning that we do not know the upstream pressure for all of the 5014 MPB crossings.…”

Section: Mars Express and Mars Global Surveyor Observationsmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…The shape and location of the Martian BS and MPB have been studied in the past by Slavin and Holzer (1981), Vignes et al (2000), Trotignon et al (2006) and Edberg et al…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasma boundary variability at Mars as observed by Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Express

et al. 2009

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Abstract. We have used Mars Express (MEX) and MarsGlobal Surveyor (MGS) simultaneous and non-simultaneous measurements to study the Martian plasma environment. In particular, we have derived quantitative expressions for the altitude of the terminator bow shock (BS) and magnetic pileup boundary (MPB) as functions of solar wind dynamic pressure, crustal magnetic fields and solar EUV flux. We have also studied the influence of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction. Through simultaneous two-spacecraft case studies we have shown that the dynamic pressure has a strong influence on the location and shape of these boundaries, which is also confirmed through a large statistical study. A higher dynamic pressure pushes the boundaries downward. The IMF direction has a weaker but still significant influence on both boundaries and causes them to move outward in the hemisphere of locally upward electric field. However, the MPB in the Southern Hemisphere is found to actually move inward when the electric field is directed locally upward. The crustal magnetic fields in the Southern Hemisphere have a strong influence on the MPB and cause it to move to higher altitudes over strong crustal magnetic fields. The influence of the crustal magnetic fields on the BS is more ambiguous since there are few crossings over the strongest crustal fields, but there appears to be at least a small trend of a higher BS for stronger crustal fields. An increased solar EUV flux has been found to cause the BS to move outward and the MPB to move inward.

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“…We resolve the Maxwell equations and self-consistently obtain a quasi-stationary solution to the global electromagnetic (EM) field as well as a description of the plasma dynamic in the vicinity of the planet. This simulation model successfully reproduces the plasma environment surrounding Mars, such as the Martian bow shock (MBS) and the Magnetic pile-up boundary (MPB) observed by the Mars Global Surveyor and Phobos-2 spacecrafts (Trotignon et al 2006).…”

Section: Simulation Modelmentioning

confidence: 91%

Solar wind charge exchange X-ray emission from Mars

Koutroumpa¹,

Modolo²,

Chanteur³

et al. 2012

A&A

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Aims. We study the soft X-ray emission induced by charge exchange (CX) collisions between solar-wind, highly charged ions and neutral atoms of the Martian exosphere. Methods. A 3D multispecies hybrid simulation model with improved spatial resolution (130 km) is used to describe the interaction between the solar wind and the Martian neutrals. We calculated velocity and density distributions of the solar wind plasma in the Martian environment with realistic planetary ions description, using spherically symmetric exospheric H and O profiles. Following that, a 3D test-particle model was developed to compute the X-ray emission produced by CX collisions between neutrals and solar wind minor ions. The model results are compared to XMM-Newton observations of Mars. Results. We calculate projected X-ray emission maps for the XMM-Newton observing conditions and demonstrate how the X-ray emission reflects the Martian electromagnetic structure in accordance with the observed X-ray images. Our maps confirm that X-ray images are a powerful tool for the study of solar wind-planetary interfaces. However, the simulation results reveal several quantitative discrepancies compared to the observations. Typical solar wind and neutral coronae conditions corresponding to the 2003 observation period of Mars cannot reproduce the high luminosity or the corresponding very extended halo observed with XMM-Newton. Potential explanations of these discrepancies are discussed.

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Martian shock and magnetic pile-up boundary positions and shapes determined from the Phobos 2 and Mars Global Surveyor data sets

Cited by 213 publications

References 38 publications

Access of solar wind electrons into the Martian magnetosphere

Access of solar wind electrons into the Martian magnetosphere

Plasma boundary variability at Mars as observed by Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Express

Solar wind charge exchange X-ray emission from Mars

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