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The role of the Martian crustal magnetic fields in controlling ionospheric loss
Author(s) -
Brecht Stephen H.,
Ledvina Stephen A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl060841
Subject(s) - martian , mars exploration program , ionosphere , solar wind , geophysics , planet , computational physics , solar maximum , magnetic field , geology , atmospheric sciences , physics , environmental science , astrobiology , solar cycle , astrophysics , quantum mechanics
A hybrid particle code has been used to examine the interaction of the solar wind with Mars. It is found that the presence of the crustal magnetic fields modifies the heavy ion (O + and O 2 + ) loss rates. In the case of the solar minimum situation the modification was found to be significant and reported in Brecht and Ledvina (2012). In this paper both solar minimum and solar maximum results are reported and compared with data. The crustal magnetic fields reduce the ionospheric loss rate; and when the energy limits imposed on the data fits are considered, the results of the simulations are in reasonable agreement with data. The agreement with the data provides a strong argument for the physical control demonstrated by the simulations being realistic.