Journal article
The spatial distribution of planetary ion fluxes near Mars observed by MAVEN
Geophysical research letters, Vol.42(21), pp.9142–9148-9148
11/16/2015
DOI: 10.1002/2015GL065293
Abstract
We present the results of an initial effort to statistically map the fluxes of planetary ions on a closed surface around Mars. Choosing a spherical shell ~1000 km above the planet, we map both outgoing and incoming ion fluxes (with energies >25 eV) over a 4 month period. The results show net escape of planetary ions behind Mars and strong fluxes of escaping ions from the northern hemisphere with respect to the solar wind convection electric field. Planetary ions also travel toward the planet, and return fluxes are particularly strong in the southern electric field hemisphere. We obtain a lower bound estimate for planetary ion escape of ~3 × 1024 s−1, accounting for the ~10% of ions that return toward the planet and assuming that the ~70% of the surface covered so far is representative of the regions not yet visited by Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN).
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The spatial distribution of planetary ion fluxes near Mars observed by MAVEN
- Creators
- David A. Brain - University of Colorado BoulderJ. P. Mcfadden - University of California, BerkeleyJasper S. Halekas - University of IowaJ. E. P. Connerney - Goddard Space Flight CenterStephen W. Bougher - University of MichiganShannon Curry - University of California, BerkeleyC. F. Dong - University of MichiganY. Dong - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsF. Eparvier - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsXiaohua Fang - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsK. Fortier - University of Colorado BoulderT. Hara - University of California, BerkeleyY. Harada - University of California, BerkeleyBruce M. Jakosky - University of Colorado BoulderRobert J. Lillis - University of California, BerkeleyR. Livi - University of California, BerkeleyJanet G. Luhmann - University of California, BerkeleyYingjuan Ma - University of California, Los AngelesRonan Modolo - Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatialesKanako Seki - Nagoya University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Geophysical research letters, Vol.42(21), pp.9142–9148-9148
- DOI
- 10.1002/2015GL065293
- ISSN
- 0094-8276
- eISSN
- 1944-8007
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100000104, name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/16/2015
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984429016502771
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