Search Publications
Oblique reflections in the Mars Express MARSIS data set: Stable density structures in the Martian ionosphere
Gurnett, D. A.; André, M.; Edberg, N. J. T. +6 more
The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) onboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express (MEX) spacecraft routinely detects evidence of localized plasma density structures in the Martian dayside ionosphere. Such structures, likely taking the form of spatially extended elevations in the plasma density at a given alt…
Effects of a strong ICME on the Martian ionosphere as detected by Mars Express and Mars Odyssey
Gurnett, D. A.; Mitrofanov, I.; Fränz, M. +8 more
We present evidence of a substantial ionospheric response to a strong interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) detected by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) on board the Mars Express (MEX) spacecraft. A powerful ICME impacted the Martian ionosphere beginning on 5 June 2011, peaking on 6 June, and trailing o…
MARSIS observations of the Martian nightside ionosphere dependence on solar wind conditions
Gurnett, D. A.; Němec, F.; Morgan, D. D. +1 more
Despite the absence of solar radiation on the Martian nightside, a weak, irregular, and variable ionosphere is produced there. The nightside ionosphere is thought to be maintained by two main sources: dayside-nightside plasma transport and electron precipitation. Observations by Mars Express (MEX) and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) have shown that the…
Influence of dust loading on atmospheric ionizing radiation on Mars
Gronoff, Guillaume; Mertens, Christopher J.; Norman, Ryan B.
Measuring the radiation environment at the surface of Mars is the primary goal of the Radiation Assessment Detector on the NASA Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover. One of the conditions that Curiosity will likely encounter is a dust storm. The objective of this paper is to compute the cosmic ray ionization in different conditions, including…
Mars Express observations of high altitude planetary ion beams and their relation to the "energetic plume" loss channel
Liemohn, Michael W.; Johnson, Blake C.; Fränz, Markus +1 more
This study presents observational evidence of high-energy (ions >2 keV) beams of planetary ions above Mars' induced magnetospheric boundary (IMB) and relates them with the energetic plume loss channel calculated from numerical models. A systematic search of the Mars Express (MEX) ion data using an orbit filtering criteria is described, using ma…
Numerical simulation of the effects of meteoroid ablation and solar EUV/X-ray radiation in the dayside ionosphere of Mars: MGS/MEX observations
Haider, S. A.; Pandya, B. M.
We have developed a model which produces three plasma layers simultaneously due to the impact of the meteoroids, solar X-ray (0.5-9 nm), and EUV (9-102.6 nm) radiation at altitude range 75-85 km, 100-115 km, and 135-140 km, respectively, in the dayside ionosphere of Mars. The calculated results are compared with the radio occultation measurements …
Influence of Martian crustal magnetic anomalies on the emission of energetic neutral hydrogen atoms
Barabash, S.; Futaana, Y.; Grigoriev, A. +2 more
We analyze the data on hydrogen energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) emissions from the dayside of Mars, recorded by a Neutral Particle Detector of the Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms aboard Mars Express from 14 March to 9 July 2004. We first identify and analyze events of the ENA flux enhancement coinciding with the presence of the crusta…
Mars Express radio-occultation data: A novel analysis approach
Witasse, O.; Blelly, P. -L.; Grandin, M. +1 more
The Mars Express Radio Science (MaRS) experiment on board Mars Express has been providing radio-occultation data since early 2004. The analysis method currently used to retrieve neutral atmosphere and ionosphere profiles is based on the resolution of a complex inverse problem. The solution to such a problem is obtained under strong assumptions on …