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Multifluid MHD study of the solar wind interaction with Mars' upper atmosphere during the 2015 March 8th ICME event
Author(s) -
Dong Chuanfei,
Ma Yingjuan,
Bougher Stephen W.,
Toth Gabor,
Nagy Andrew F.,
Halekas Jasper S.,
Dong Yaxue,
Curry Shan M.,
Luhmann Janet G.,
Brain David,
Connerney Jack E. P.,
Espley Jared,
Mahaffy Paul,
Benna Mehdi,
McFadden James P.,
Mitchell David L.,
DiBraccio Gina A.,
Lillis Robert J.,
Jakosky Bruce M.,
Grebowsky Joseph M.
Publication year - 2015
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 - 10.1002/2015gl065944
Subject(s) - martian , solar wind , atmosphere (unit) , physics , mars exploration program , atmosphere of mars , coronal mass ejection , interplanetary spaceflight , ionosphere , atmospheric sciences , ejecta , geophysics , astrophysics , astrobiology , plasma , meteorology , quantum mechanics , supernova
We study the solar wind interaction with the Martian upper atmosphere during the 8 March 2015 interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) by using a global multifluid MHD model. Comparison of the simulation results with observations from Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft shows good agreement. The total ion escape rate is increased by an order of magnitude, from 2.05 × 10 24 s −1 (pre‐ICME phase) to 2.25 × 10 25 s −1 (ICME sheath phase), during this time period. Two major ion escape channels are illustrated: accelerated pickup ion loss through the dayside plume and ionospheric ion loss through the nightside plasma wake region. Interestingly, the tailward ion loss is significantly increased at the ejecta phase. Both bow shock and magnetic pileup boundary (BS and MPB) locations are decreased from (1.2 R M , 1.57 R M ) at the pre‐ICME phase to (1.16 R M , 1.47 R M ), respectively, during the sheath phase along the dayside Mars‐Sun line. Furthermore, both simulation and observational results indicate that there is no significant variation in the Martian ionosphere (at altitudes ≲ 200 km, i.e., the photochemical region) during this event.