Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
Sunward Oxygen Ion Fluxes and the Magnetic Field Topology at Mars From Hybrid Simulations
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
Sunward Oxygen Ion Fluxes and the Magnetic Field Topology at Mars From Hybrid Simulations
Do you wish to request the book?
Sunward Oxygen Ion Fluxes and the Magnetic Field Topology at Mars From Hybrid Simulations
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
Sunward Oxygen Ion Fluxes and the Magnetic Field Topology at Mars From Hybrid Simulations
2024
Overview
It is commonly believed that because of the direct solar wind interaction with the Martian atmosphere/ionosphere, the planet could have lost a significant part of its atmosphere. Closed field lines of the crustal magnetic field can weaken a transport of the ionospheric ions to the tail. Reconnection of the interplanetary magnetic field lines draping around Mars and the crustal magnetic field can also lead to a presense of sunward fluxes of planetary ions that might affect the total ion loss. The LatHyS (LATMOS Hybrid Simulation) three‐dimensional multispecies hybrid model is used here to characterize sunward fluxes of O+ ions and the magnetic field topology at Mars. It is shown that although reconnection between the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and the crustal magnetic fields strongly modifies the field topology, then sunward ion fluxes are rather small and do not significantly change the total ion loss.
Plain Language Summary
Although Mars has no a global intrinsic magnetic field and solar wind interacts directly with the planetary atmosphere/ionosphere, the existence of strong but localized crustal magnetic field modifies the field topology around Mars. As a result, the Martian magnetosphere contains elements of the intrinsic and the induced magnetospheres. Reconnection between the interplanetary magnetic field and the crustal magnetic field can generate the plasma flows toward the planet and decrease the ionospheric losses, which is very important for the evolution of the Mars atmosphere/ionosphere. We have performed the numerical simulations of these potential effects and shown that the sunward ion fluxes are significantly less than the losses induced by the solar wind impact on the Martian ionosphere.
Key Points
Hybrid simulations show a drastic change of the field topology at altitudes less than ∼1,000 km due to crustal field sources
Although the magnetic field topology is modified, the sunward fluxes do not essentially affect the total ion loss
Sunward fluxes of oxygen ions in the tail vary between ∼5% and ∼20% compared to the anti‐sunward fluxes
