Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992phdt........12s&link_type=abstract
Ph.D. Thesis Rice Univ., Houston, TX.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Astronomical Models, Mars Atmosphere, Mathematical Models, Planetary Ionospheres, Plasma Interactions, Solar Wind, Differential Equations, Heating, Magnetohydrodynamic Flow, Momentum, Viking Mars Program
Scientific paper
A modified steady state flow/field model is applied to the direct interaction of the solar wind with the Martian ionosphere. The original flow/field model (Cloutier et al., 1987) is a one-dimensional, self-consistent derivation of differentials in vertical velocity, magnetic field, and ion densities from the coupled MHD equations. While successful in reproducing features of the ionosphere of Venus (Cloutier et al., 1987; McGary, 1987) and of Mars (Stewart, 1989), the flow/field model required an independently specified heating term (Q). The requirement of this term implies the presence of an energy source not accounted for in conventional calculations. This source was previously simulated with the inclusion of Q, but an unrecognized momentum or pressure term may also provide the coupling with the solar wind without the need of the free parameter Q. An in-depth analysis of Pioneer Venus data in relation to the total conservation of momentum of the system led to the discovery that the total momentum was in most cases not entirely accounted for, and that this 'missing' term was correlated with solar wind dynamic pressure. By including this missing pressure, a new set of differential equations, which were also extended to include horizontal velocity terms, was derived. Extrapolation of the missing pressure to Mars gave results that faithfully reproduced the ionospheric features associated with previous flow/field models while maintaining agreement with Viking 1 and 2 observations. Finally, we suggest that the source of Pmissing could be a population of suprathermal particles within the ionosphere. The missing pressures in the Viking simulations are consistent with measured suprathermal pressures at Mars (Hanson and Mantas, 1988).
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