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Dielectric map of the Martian northern hemisphere and the nature of plain filling materials
Pommerol, Antoine; Kofman, Wlodek; Clifford, Stephen M. +2 more
A number of observations suggest that an extended ocean once covered a significant part of the Martian northern hemisphere. By probing the physical properties of the subsurface to unprecedented depth, the MARSIS/Mars Express provides new geophysical evidences for the former existence of a Late Hesperian ocean. The Vastitas Borealis formation, loca…
Gravity waves, cold pockets and CO2 clouds in the Martian mesosphere
Forget, F.; González-Galindo, F.; Spiga, A. +1 more
Many independent measurements have shown that extremely cold temperatures are found in the Martian mesosphere. These mesospheric “cold pockets” may result from the propagation of atmospheric waves. Recent observational achievements also hint at such cold pockets by revealing mesospheric clouds formed through the condensation of CO2, the…
Bursty escape fluxes in plasma sheets of Mars and Venus
Fedorov, A.; Barabash, S.; Lundin, R. +5 more
High resolution measurements of plasma in the plasma sheets of Mars and Venus performed by almost identical plasma instruments ASPERA-3 on the Mars Express spacecraft and ASPERA-4 on Venus Express reveal similar features of bursty fluxes of escaping planetary ions. A period of bursts lasts about 1-2 min. Simultaneous magnetic field measurements on…
A clear view of the multifaceted dayside ionosphere of Mars
Tellmann, Silvia; Pätzold, Martin; Häusler, Bernd +10 more
By examining electron density profiles from the Mars Express Radio Science Experiment MaRS, we show that the vertical structure of the dayside ionosphere of Mars is more variable and more complex than previously thought. The top of the ionosphere can be below 250 km (25% occurrence rate) or above 650 km (1%); the topside ionosphere can be well-des…
Dynamic Martian magnetosphere: Transient twist induced by a rotation of the IMF
Dubinin, E.; Modolo, R.; Chanteur, G. M.
Simulation studies of the Martian environment are usually restricted to stationary situations under various steady conditions of the solar wind and solar radiation. Dynamic transients and their implications have so far attracted little attention although global simulation models can provide valuable insights to understand disagreements between sim…
Visible and thermal infrared observations of the Martian surface during three Phobos shadow transits
Christensen, Philip R.; Piqueux, Sylvain
We present visible and thermal infrared observations of the Martian surface acquired during three Phobos transits. Observations show a decrease of up to ∼20% of the reflected solar energy, consistent with the fraction of the Sun disk eclipsed by Phobos, and no measurable surface cooling. Thermal modeling indicates that the top millimeter of the re…