Martian crustal magnetic fields: influences on the ionosphere
- 1Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
- 2Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Recent Mars Express and MAVEN observations have shown the extent to
which Mars's crustal fields, though weak in absolute magnitude,
nevertheless exert significant control over the structure of the ionosphere
over a range of altitudes. However, quantifying this control remains
challenging given the generally dynamic nature of the Mars solar wind
interaction, and the therefore naturally varying densities and temperatures
of the upper ionosphere in particular. In this study we examine MAVEN
Langmuir Probe and Waves data, and show for the first time a very clear
correspondence between the structure of the crustal fields and both the
measured electron temperatures and densities. Electron temperatures are
shown to be systematically lower in regions of strong crustal fields over a
wide altitude range. We speculate on the origins of this deviation.
How to cite: Andrews, D., Andersson, L., Ergun, R., Eriksson, A., Pilinski, M., and Stergiopoulou, K.: Martian crustal magnetic fields: influences on the ionosphere, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14397, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14397, 2021.
