Search Publications

On the relation between plasma escape and the Martian crustal magnetic field

Barabash, S.; Lundin, R.; Yamauchi, M. +2 more

Data from ASPERA-3 on Mars Express is used to study the geographic distribution of ionospheric O⁺ outflow and escape from Mars. Of particular interest is how the ion outflow relates to the crustal magnetic field regions facing the dayside, flank, and nightside of Mars. The most intense O⁺ fluxes are generated on the dayside a…

Low-altitude acceleration of ionospheric ions at Mars

Barabash, S.; Lundin, R.; Yamauchi, M. +2 more

The objective of this study is to understand the acceleration processes that lead to outflow and escape of ionospheric ions from Mars. Observations show that accelerated dayside and flank ionospheric ions move slowly antisunward along the direction of the external/magnetosheath flow. At high altitudes, in the central tail, ions are further acceler…

Vaduz, an unusual fresh crater on Mars: Evidence for impact into a recent ice-rich mantle

Head, James W.; Kadish, Seth J.; Schaefer, Ethan I.

A fresh, 1.85 km diameter impact crater in the midlatitudes of Mars (38°N) named Vaduz exhibits distinctive crater-related geological subunits (facies) extending up to ∼15 radii from the rim crest and perched >10 m above the adjacent plains. Knobby terrain fringing and underlying the facies is interpreted as degraded thermal contraction crack p…

Observational evidence of alpha-particle capture at Mars

Fedorov, A.; Barabash, S.; Futaana, Y. +3 more

Solar wind alpha-particles are suggested to be the most important source of helium in the Martian atmosphere. Recent hybrid simulations show that as much as 30% of the alpha-particles passing through the planetary cross section can be lost from the solar wind due to charge-exchange processes associated with the Mars/solar wind interaction. We use …

Tidal variations in the Martian lower atmosphere inferred from Mars Express Planetary Fourier Spectrometer temperature data

Grassi, D.; Kasaba, Y.; Formisano, V. +4 more

We report on the characteristics of tidal variations in the Martian lower atmosphere (<45 km) using the Mars Express (MEX) Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) temperature data for about three Martian years (between the ends of MY26 and MY29). The PFS data, which widely cover local time, enable us to investigate diurnal variations in the atmosp…