Search Publications

Effects of the crustal magnetic fields on the Martian atmospheric ion escape rate

Barabash, Stas; Nilsson, Hans; Holmström, Mats +2 more

Eight years (2007-2015) of ion flux measurements from Mars Express are used to statistically investigate the influence of the Martian magnetic crustal fields on the atmospheric ion escape rate. We combine all Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms/Ion Mass Analyzer (ASPERA-3/IMA) measurements taken during nominal upstream solar wind and sol…

Mass wasting on Phobos triggered by an evolving tidal environment

Shi, X.; Oberst, J.; Willner, K.

The Martian moon Phobos is experiencing orbital decay, increasing tidal forces, and possible disruption in the near future. We suggest that this changing dynamic tidal environment has contributed to resurfacing of the odd-shaped small moon. We investigated mass wasting features in craters using high-resolution images acquired by the Mars Express o…

A case study of a density structure over a vertical magnetic field region in the Martian ionosphere

Gurnett, D. A.; Lundin, R.; Morgan, D. D. +3 more

One of the discoveries made by the radar sounder on the Mars Express spacecraft is the existence of magnetically controlled structures in the ionosphere of Mars, which result in bulges in the ionospheric electron density contours. These bulges lead in turn to oblique echoes, which show up as hyperbola-shaped features in the echograms. A hyperbola-…

Ducted electromagnetic waves in the Martian ionosphere detected by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding radar

Huang, Qian; Zhang, Jie; Orosei, Roberto +1 more

In the data of the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding on board the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Mars Express (MEX), a distinctive type of signals (called the "epsilon signature"), which is similar to that previously detected during radio sounding of the terrestrial F region ionosphere, is found. The signature is inte…