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The dependence of peak electron density in the ionosphere of Mars on solar irradiance
Author(s) -
Girazian Z.,
Withers P.
Publication year - 2013
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/grl.50344
Subject(s) - ionosphere , mars exploration program , irradiance , solar irradiance , atmospheric sciences , electron density , astrobiology , environmental science , solar maximum , electron , physics , meteorology , remote sensing , geology , geophysics , solar cycle , solar wind , optics , plasma , quantum mechanics
Previous studies of the Mars ionosphere have concluded that increased solar flux leads to increased peak electron densities. Many have described this relationship as N m ∝ F k , where N m is the peak electron density, F , the ionizing flux, is represented by either F 10.7 or E 10.7 , and k is an exponent. The derived exponents have varied greatly, but have a mean value of k ≃ 0.35. Here, we explore this relationship using solar spectra measurements from the TIMED‐SEE instrument and Mars Global Surveyor radio occultation data. Our derived exponents, k ≃ 0.50, are larger than those found by previous studies that used F 10.7 or E 10.7 and are close to the theoretical prediction of simplistic Chapman theory.