The Martian Ionospheric Response to the Co‐Rotating Interaction Region That Caused the Disappearing Solar Wind Event at Mars

Abstract

An unusually low density solar wind event was observed in December 2022 moving past both Earth and Mars. The source was traced back to a coronal hole and active region on the Sun's surface. The resulting solar wind lead to the development of a co‐rotating interaction region (CIR) and trailing rarefaction region that lasted for multiple solar rotations. Within this structure, the solar wind conditions, including density, velocity, and magnetic field magnitude and orientation drastically changed. In this study we analyze the response of the Martian ionosphere using MAVEN data to these changing solar wind conditions. The low density solar wind region associated with the December event resulted in the expansion of the Martian ionospheric boundaries. We show that the ion composition boundary (ICB) is located at extreme altitudes that are beyond previously observed locations from the MAVEN mission between 2015 and 2018. Furthermore, the boundary between shocked solar wind and the Martian ionosphere identified using electron and ion data moved together on the dayside of the planet with the changing solar wind conditions. However, at the flank region these boundaries do not move together, and we show here that the decoupling of the two boundaries may be the result of a change in the interplanetary magnetic field azimuthal angle.