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Estimation of peak electron density in upper ionosphere of Mars at high latitude (50°–70°N) using MGS ACC data
Author(s) -
Seth S. P.,
Jayanthi U. B.,
Haider S. A.
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2006gl027064
Subject(s) - ionosphere , solar zenith angle , electron density , mars exploration program , electron , physics , ionization , atmosphere of mars , atmospheric sciences , zenith , latitude , astrophysics , ion , optics , martian , astronomy , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics
Under photochemical equilibrium condition, electron density near peak varies as the square root of total peak ionization rate. Thus by averaging the longitudinal variation of latter, the mean primary and secondary peak electron densities in upper ionosphere of Mars using measured mass densities at LST 16 hrs are estimated to be ∼8.56 × 10 4 cm −3 and ∼1.81 × 10 4 cm −3 . On comparison with mean electron densities at LST 3–4 hrs for observational period Dec. 24–31, 1998, at same solar zenith angle, it is found that the estimated primary peak electron density at LST 16 hrs is more by a factor of ∼1.06. With this analogy, the estimated secondary peak electron density should be ∼3.76 × 10 4 cm −3 instead of ∼1.81 × 10 4 cm −3 . Thus, in order to obtain the estimated secondary peak electron density of ∼3.76 × 10 4 cm −3 , soft X‐ray flux should be increased by a factor of ∼4.31.