The magnetic field draping direction at Mars from April 1999 through August 2004

Brain, David; Mitchell, David; Halekas, J. S.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2005.09.023

Cited by 89 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The existence of an asymmetry is suggested by Vennerstrom et al (2003) who conducted a statistical analysis of the magnetic field data collected by MGS. The same phenomenon is discussed by Brain et al (2005Brain et al ( , 2006. However, a detailed global data analysis concerning the formation of the ICB has not yet been performed.…”

Section: The Martian Plasma Environment (Mmentioning

confidence: 61%

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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Section: The Martian Plasma Environment (Mmentioning

confidence: 61%

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

et al. 2007

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“…The IMF y and z components of the Parker IMF case were derived from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data, recorded on February 27, 2004, with the method used by Fedorov et al (2006). The draped IMF measured by MGS is expected to have the same orientation in the y-z plane as the upstream IMF (Brain et al, 2006;Fedorov et al, 2006). This IMF data has also been used as input to the hybrid simulation performed in Diéval et al (submitted, 2011).…”

Section: Input Parameters: Solar Windmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid simulations of proton precipitation patterns onto the upper atmosphere of Mars

et al. 2012

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We study the dependence of proton precipitation patterns onto the Martian upper atmosphere on altitude, proton energy, proton origin, and in a lesser extent, solar zenith angle, using the HYB-Mars model, a 3D quasineutral hybrid model. We find that the flux of precipitating protons has a strong altitude dependence: on the dayside, the flux of precipitating protons decreases substantially when the altitude over Mars decreases. We also find that the contribution of exospheric protons to the deposition is significant and its spatial distribution is not identical to that of the solar wind protons. In addition, the low energy proton population comes mainly from the newborn planetary protons. The energized pick-up protons and solar wind protons contribute to the higher energy proton population. The study also confirms that the proton precipitation is highly asymmetric with respect to the direction of the convection electric field in the solar wind. The study implies that the Martian induced magnetosphere protects the upper atmosphere effectively against proton precipitation.

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“…For pre-mapping data, determined the IMF draping direction from field vectors recorded immediately downstream from the bow shock, where field amplitudes are large enough that the determination is not overly sensitive to spacecraft-generated magnetic fields. For mapping data, Brain et al (2006) used the configuration of the draped IMF on the dayside, far from crustal fields, as indicative of the clock angle of the upstream IMF. Like the proxy for solar wind pressure, both these methods calculate a proxy on an orbit-byorbit basis, and assume that external conditions do not change during each orbit.…”

Section: Proxiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mars Global Surveyor Measurements of the Martian Solar Wind Interaction

Brain

2006

Space Sci Rev

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The solar wind at Mars interacts with the extended atmosphere and small-scale crustal magnetic fields. This interaction shares elements with a variety of solar system bodies, and has direct bearing on studies of the long-term evolution of the Martian atmosphere, the structure of the upper atmosphere, and fundamental plasma processes. The magnetometer (MAG) and electron reflectometer (ER) on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) continue to make many contributions toward understanding the plasma environment, thanks in large part to a spacecraft orbit that had low periapsis, had good coverage of the interaction region, and has been long-lived in its mapping orbit. The crustal magnetic fields discovered using MGS data perturb plasma boundaries on timescales associated with Mars' rotation and enable a complex magnetic field topology near the planet. Every portion of the plasma environment has been sampled by MGS, confirming previous measurements and making new discoveries in each region. The entire system is highly variable, and responds to changes in solar EUV flux, upstream pressure, IMF direction, and the orientation of Mars with respect to the Sun and solar wind flow. New insights from MGS should come from future analysis of new and existing data, as well as multi-spacecraft observations.

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The magnetic field draping direction at Mars from April 1999 through August 2004

Cited by 89 publications

References 33 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

Hybrid simulations of proton precipitation patterns onto the upper atmosphere of Mars

Mars Global Surveyor Measurements of the Martian Solar Wind Interaction

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