Small-scale Physical Processes in the Plasma Environment of Mars

Details Small-scale Physical Processes in the Plasma Environment of Mars Small-scale Physical Processes in the Plasma Environment of Mars

May 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agusmsm23b..06b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2007, abstract #SM23B-06

Other

5421 Interactions With Particles And Fields, 5443 Magnetospheres (2756), 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

The global plasma interaction at Mars is well-known to resemble that at Venus and at comets, where the solar wind is slowed and deflected around the conducting planetary ionosphere, interplanetary magnetic field lines drape around the ionospheric obstacle and form a two-lobed induced magnetotail, and newly-formed planetary ions are added to the external plasma flow. Particle and field measurements reveal all of these features at Mars, and also contain evidence for a number of smaller scale physical processes that are commonly observed in the magnetospheres of Earth and other planets. We present evidence of four non-global plasma features evident in Mars Global Surveyor magnetometer and electron reflectometer (MAG/ER) measurements. Magnetic flux ropes with very large core fields (>150 nT) are observed in association with large crustal magnetic fields. Electron butterfly distributions (or conics) are also observed on the planetary night side. Magnetic field perturbations on short timescales, consistent with localized currents are frequently seen. And a variety of localized plasma waves are seen in current sheets and near crustal magnetic fields. In all four cases we draw comparison with similar features measured in Earth's global magnetic field and elsewhere in the inner solar system.

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