Search

BESH acknowledges previous support through STFC grant ST/K502121/1 and also through ST/M001059/1, JW also from STFC grant ST/M001059/1, ML and BS‐C through STFC grant ST/N000749/1. The Swedish contribution to the ASPERA‐3 experiment is supported by funding from the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). The MEX ASPERA‐3 datasets are hosted on the European Space Agency's Planetary Science Archive, and we thank the mission/instrument PIs, and the database managers for their support of the MEX mission. The derived bow shock crossing list in this study is hosted and available from the Lancaster University Research Directory with DOI: https://doi.org/10.17635/lancaster/researchdata/285. The TIMED‐SEE data was downloaded from the University of Colorado’s website (http://lasp.colorado.edu/lisird/index.html) and we thank the PIs for access to this dataset. The OMNI 2 dataset are available on the GSFC/SPDF OMNIWeb platform (http://cdaweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/) and we are grateful to the PIs for the creation and maintenance of this vast dataset. The authors thank the Mars Upper Atmosphere Network led by Hermann J. Opgenoorth for rich discussions at their semi‐annual meetings. BESH, whom has since left academia to pursue other ventures, would personally like to thank the hard work, commitment, and leadership of BS‐C as they took ownership of this publication throughout the review process enabling it to reach its final publishable state.

We discuss observations of the journey throughout the Solar System of a large interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) that was ejected at the Sun on 14 October 2014. The ICME hit Mars on 17 October, as observed by the Mars Express, MAVEN, Mars Odyssey and MSL missions, 44 hours before the encounter of the planet with the Siding-Spring comet, for which the space weather context is provided. It reached comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which was perfectly aligned with the Sun and Mars at 3.1 AU, as observed by Rosetta on 22 October. The ICME was also detected by STEREO-A on 16 October at 1 AU, and by Cassini in the solar wind around Saturn on the 12 November at 9.9 AU. Fortuitously, the New Horizons spacecraft was also aligned with the direction of the ICME at 31.6 AU. We investigate whether this ICME has a non-ambiguous signature at New Horizons. A potential detection of this ICME by Voyager-2 at 110-111 AU is also discussed. The multi-spacecraft observations allow the derivation of certain properties of the ICME, such as its large angular extension of at least 116°, its speed as a function of distance, and its magnetic field structure at four locations from 1 to 10 AU. Observations of the speed data allow two different solar wind propagation models to be validated. Finally, we compare the Forbush decreases (transient decreases followed by gradual recoveries in the galactic cosmic ray intensity) due to the passage of this ICME at Mars, comet 67P and Saturn.

Since Mars lacks a global intrinsic magnetic field, the solar wind interacts directly with the Martian upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The presence of localized intense remnant crustal magnetic fi ...

The response of the Martian ionosphere to solar activity is analyzed by taking into account variations in a range of parameters during four phases of the solar cycle throughout 2005–2012. Multiple Mars Express data sets have been used (such as Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) in Active Ionospheric Sounding, MARSIS subsurface, and MaRS Radio Science), which currently cover more than 10 years of solar activity. The topside of the main ionospheric layer behavior is empirically modeled through the neutral scale height parameter, which describes the density distribution in altitude, and can be used as a dynamic monitor of the solar wind-Martian plasma interaction, as well as of the medium's temperature. The main peak, the total electron content, and the relationship between the solar wind dynamic pressure and the maximum thermal pressure of the ionosphere with the solar cycle are assessed. We conclude that the neutral scale height was different in each phase of the solar cycle, having a large variation with solar zenith angle during the moderate-ascending and high phases, while there is almost no variation during the moderate-descending and low phases. Between end-2007 and end-2009, an almost permanent absence of secondary layer resulted because of the low level of solar X-rays. Also, the ionosphere was more likely to be found in a more continuously magnetized state. The induced magnetic field from the solar wind, even if weak, could be strong enough to penetrate more than at other solar cycle phases.

This paper is a phenomenological description of the ionospheric plasma and induced magnetospheric boundary (IMB) response to two different types of upstream solar wind events impacting Mars in March 2008, at the solar minimum. A total of 16 Mars Express orbits corresponding to five consecutive days is evaluated. Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory-B (STEREO-B) at 1 AU and Mars Express and Mars Odyssey at 1.644 AU detected the arrival of a small transient interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME-like) on the 6 and 7 of March, respectively. This is the first time that this kind of small solar structure is reported at Mars's distance. In both cases, it was followed by a large increase in solar wind velocity that lasted for 10 days. This scenario is simulated with the Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) - ENLIL + Cone solar solar wind model. At Mars, the ICME-like event caused a strong compression of the magnetosheath and ionosphere, and the recovery lasted for 3 orbits ( 20 h). After that, the fast stream affected the upper ionosphere and the IMB, which radial and tangential motions in regions close to the subsolar point are analyzed. Moreover, a compression in the Martian plasma system is also observed, although weaker than after the ICME-like impact, and several magnetosheath plasma blobs in the upper ionosphere are detected by Mars Express. We conclude that, during solar minimum and at aphelion, small solar wind structures can create larger perturbations than previously expected in the Martian system.

We present initial analysis and conclusions from plasma observations made during the reported "Mars plume event" of March - April 2012. During this period, multiple independent amateur observers detected a localized, high-altitude "plume" over the Martian dawn terminator [Sanchez-Lavega et al., Nature, 2015, doi:10.1038/nature14162], the cause of which remains to be explained. The estimated brightness of the plume exceeds that expected for auroral emissions, and its projected altitude greatly exceeds that at which clouds are expected to form. We report on in-situ measurements of ionospheric plasma density and solar wind parameters throughout this interval made by Mars Express, obtained over the same surface region, but at the opposing terminator. Measurements in the ionosphere at the corresponding location frequently show a disturbed structure, though this is not atypical for such regions with intense crustal magnetic fields. We tentatively conclude that the formation and/or transport of this plume to the altitudes where it was observed could be due in part to the result of a large interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) encountering the Martian system. Interestingly, we note that the only similar plume detection in May 1997 may also have been associated with a large ICME impact at Mars., 21 pages, 6 figures, article accepted for publication in J. Geophys. Res

The Martian bow shock distance has previously been shown to be anticorrelated with solar wind dynamic pressure but correlated with solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance. Since both of these so ...

Solar cycle variations in solar radiation create density changes in any planetary ionosphere, which are well established in the Earth's case. At Mars, however, the ionospheric response to such changes is not well understood. We show the solar cycle impact on the topside ionosphere of Mars, using data from the Mars Advance Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) on board Mars Express. Topside ionospheric variability during the solar cycle is analyzed through neutral scale height behavior. For moderate and high solar activity phases, the topside electron density profile is reproduced with an altitude-variable scale height. However, for the period of extremely low solar activity in 2008 and 2009, the topside was smaller in density than in the other phases of the solar cycle, and there is evidence that it could be reproduced with either a constant scale height or a height-variable scale height with lower electron density. Moreover, the ionosphere during this time did not show any apparent dependence on the EUV flux. This singular behavior during low solar activity may respond to the presence of an induced magnetic field which can penetrate to lower ionospheric altitudes than in other phases of the solar cycle due to the reduced thermal pressure. Numerical simulations of possible scenarios for two different solar cycle phases indicate that this hypothesis is consistent with the observations.