Solar Energetic Particles Measured by the Mars Global Surveyor

Details Solar Energetic Particles Measured by the Mars Global Surveyor Solar Energetic Particles Measured by the Mars Global Surveyor

May 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agusmsa23b..05d&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2004, abstract #SA23B-05

Physics

2780 Solar Wind Interactions With Unmagnetized Bodies, 5435 Ionospheres (2459), 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

We discuss the use of the MGS MAG/ER instrument in the characterization of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs) at Mars. The Electron Reflectometer (ER) onboard Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) is an imaging electrostatic analyzer designed to measure the energy/angle distributions of 10 eV to 20 keV electrons. During quiet conditions, the ER has a background count rate, integrated over the entire anode, of about 7 counts/sec (c/s). This background is caused by high energy particles that penetrate the ~2-mm-thick instrument casing and impact the detector. Since these particles bypass the electrostatic analyzer section, they produce a count rate that is independent of the instrument's energy sweep, typically dominating the signal in the highest 2-3 energy channels. During CME and SEP events, these background count rates increase by several orders of magnitude or more. Using these penetrating particle counts, we show several examples of classical SEP and CME shock arrival profiles at Mars obtained during the MGS mapping orbit, including events from the recent October-November storms in 2003. In many cases the ER data interpretation is supported by magnetic field enhancements, including some examples of the direct measurement of the shock. We also discuss the time variability of these events in orbit around Mars, comparisons to simultaneous measurements by the MARIE instrument and at Earth by the ACE spacecraft, the implications of these results for CME velocity models, and the resulting radiation environment at the surface of Mars.

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