Unexpected Diurnal Variations in Electron Temperature in the Mars Ionosphere
Abstract
Unexpectedly warm electron temperatures at Mars are observed by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft below 200 km. The warmest sunlit temperatures are at the dawn terminator and coldest at the dusk terminator. Such large dawn-dusk temperature asymmetry is known from Earth as the `morning overshoot'. At Earth, this asymmetry is dominantly associated with the asymmetry in the ionosphere. In contrast, at Mars this asymmetry is more associated with the asymmetry of the atmosphere. This presentation will focus on the ionosphere-atmosphere interacting based on neutral and plasma in-situ measurement. This Mars data provides new insight into the atmosphere-ionosphere interaction since at Earth very few in-situ measurements has been done at these altitudes. These new findings will impact our understanding of how Mars' atmosphere is lost today and could help with our understanding of the Earth's ionosphere-thermosphere system.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFMSA51C..05A
- Keywords:
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- 0355 Thermosphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 3369 Thermospheric dynamics;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSESDE: 2419 Ion chemistry and composition;
- IONOSPHEREDE: 2427 Ionosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- IONOSPHERE