Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsa13a1876p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SA13A-1876
Physics
[2114] Interplanetary Physics / Energetic Particles, [2423] Ionosphere / Ionization Processes, [2427] Ionosphere / Ionosphere/Atmosphere Interactions, [6299] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / General Or Miscellaneous
Scientific paper
The structure, dynamics, chemistry, and evolution of planetary upper atmospheres are in large part determined by the available sources of energy. In addition to the solar EUV flux, the solar wind and solar energetic particle (SEP) events are also important sources. Both of these particle populations can significantly affect an atmosphere, causing atmospheric loss and driving chemical reactions. Attention has been paid to these sources from the standpoint of the radiation environment for humans and electronics, but little work has been done to evaluate their impact on planetary atmospheres. At unmagnetized planets or those with crustal field anomalies, in particular, the solar wind and SEPs of all energies have direct access to the atmosphere and so provide a more substantial energy source than at planets having protective global magnetic fields. Additionally, solar wind and energetic particle fluxes should be more significant for planets orbiting more active stars, such as is the case in the early history of the solar system for paleo-Venus and Mars. Therefore quantification of the atmospheric energy input from the solar wind and SEP events is an important component of our understanding of the processes that control their state and evolution. Such modeling has been previously done for Earth, Mars and Jupiter using a guiding center precipitation model with extensive collisional physics. Currently, this code is only valid for particles with small gyroradii in strong uniform magnetic fields. There is a clear necessity for a Lorentz formulation that can perform calculations for cases where there is only a weak or nonexistent magnetic field that includes detailed physical interaction with the atmosphere (i.e. collisional physics). We show initial efforts to apply a full Lorentz motion particle transport model to study the effects of particle precipitation in the upper atmospheres of Venus, Mars, and Titan. A systematic study of the ionization, excitation, and energy deposition is conducted including a comparison of the influence relative to other energy sources (namely EUV photons) and previous efforts using the guiding center approximation.
Bougher Stephen W.
Brain David Andrew
Liemohn Michael W.
Lillis Robert J.
Parkinson Christopher D.
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