Structure and dynamics of the solar wind/ionosphere interface on Mars: MEX-ASPERA-3 and MEX-MARSIS observations

Details Structure and dynamics of the solar wind/ionosphere interface on Mars: MEX-ASPERA-3 and MEX-MARSIS observations Structure and dynamics of the solar wind/ionosphere interface on Mars: MEX-ASPERA-3 and MEX-MARSIS observations

Jun 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008georl..3511103d&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 35, Issue 11, CiteID L11103

Physics

15

Magnetospheric Physics: Solar Wind Interactions With Unmagnetized Bodies, Magnetospheric Physics: Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033), Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetopause And Boundary Layers, Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Magnetospheres (2756), Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Mars

Scientific paper

The measurements of the local plasma parameters of the ionospheric and solar wind plasmas and the magnetic field strength carried out by the ASPERA-3 and MARSIS experiments onboard Mars Express (MEX) in the subsolar region of the induced Martian magnetosphere provide us with a first test of the pressure balance across the solar wind/ionosphere interface. The structure of this transition is very dynamic and is controlled by the solar wind. For a broad range of the solar wind dynamic pressures, the magnetic field in the boundary layer raises to the values just sufficient to balance the solar wind pressure. The magnetic field frozen into the electrons is transported across the magnetospheric boundary (MB) where solar wind terminates and the planetary plasma begins to prevail. The dense ionospheric plasma has a sharp outer boundary the position of which is usually a little closer to the planet than the MB. Although the number density reaches on this boundary ~103 cm-3 the contribution of the ionospheric thermal pressure is rather small and the ionosphere is magnetized. There are also cases when the magnetic field almost does not vary across both boundaries.

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