Skip to main content
  • Article
  • Published:

A two-dimensional MHD model of the solar wind interaction with Mars

Abstract

The ionosphere of Mars is expected to be significantly affected by the solar wind because Mars does not possess a significant intrinsic magnetic field which deflects the solar wind. Despite a number of plasma measurements made near Mars, the nature of the solar wind-Mars interaction has not yet been fully understood. In order to self-consistently study the solar wind interaction with the ionosphere of Mars, a two-dimensional MHD model has been developed with an emphasis placed on the structure of the ionosphere of Mars. It is found that the modeled electron density profile in the upper ionosphere strongly depends on the solar wind dynamic pressure as well as the solar zenith angle. The ionosphere in the model tends to have an ionopause-like sharp drop of the electron density at some altitude for realistic solar wind dynamic pressures. Such behavior is not consistent with most of the observed electron density profiles, which exhibit relatively large and constant scale height in most of the dayside region. While the observed electron density profiles of the Venus ionosphere have been reproduced reasonably well by ionospheric models as well as recent three-dimensional MHD models, the electron density profiles of the Martian ionosphere have not been successfully reproduced by theoretical models including this study. This fact implies that processes not present in the Venus ionosphere, such as crustal magnetic fields and the rotation of the planet, may have significant effects on the structure and the dynamics of the ionosphere of Mars.

References

  • Acuña, M. H., J. E. P. Connerney, P. Wasilewski, R. P. Lin, K. A. Anderson, C. W. Carlson, J. McFadden, D. W. Curtis, D. Mitchell, H. Reme, C. Mazelle, J. A. Sauvaud, C. d’Uston, A. Cros, J. L. Medale, S. J. Bauer, P. Cloutier, M. Mayhew, D. Winterhalter, and N. F. Ness, Magnetic field and plasma observations at Mars: Initial results of the Mars Global Surveyor mission, Science, 279, 1676–1680, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bougher, S. W. and H. Shinagawa, The Mars thermosphere-ionosphere: Predictions for the arrival of Planet-B, Earth Planets Space, 50, 247–257, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cable, S. and R. S. Steinolfson, Three dimensional MHD simulations of the interaction between Venus and the solar wind, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 21645–21658, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cravens, T. E. and H. Shinagawa, The ionopause current layer at Venus, J. Geophys. Res., 96, 11119–11131, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolginov, Sh. and L. N. Zhuzgov, The magnetic field and the magnetosphere of the planet Mars, Planet. Space Sci., 39, 1493–1510, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elphic, R. C., C. T. Russell, J. G. Luhmann, F. L. Scarf, and L. H. Brace, The Venus ionopause current sheet: Thickness length scale and controlling factors, J. Geophys. Res., 86, 11430–11438, 1981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, W. B. and G. P. Mantas, Viking electron temperature measurements: Evidence for a magnetic field in the Martian ionosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 93, 7538–7544, 1988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, W. B., S. Sanatani, and D. R. Zuccaro, The Martian ionosphere as observed by the Viking retarding potential analyzers, J. Geophys. Res., 82, 4351–4363, 1977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kliore, A. J., Radio occultation observations of the ionospheres of Mars and Venus, in Venus and Mars: Atmospheres, Ionospheres, and Solar Wind Interactions, edited by J. G. Luhmann, M. Tatrallyay, and R. O. Pepin, Geophysical Monograph Series, 66, pp. 265–276, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krymskii, A. M., T. Breus, and E. Nielsen, On possible observational evidence in electron density profiles of a magnetic field in the Martian ionosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 3721–3730, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGary, J. E. and D. H. Pontius, Jr., MHD simulations of boundary layer formation along the dayside Venus ionopause due to mass loading, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 2289–2300, 1994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murawski, K. and R. S. Steinolfson, Numerical simulations of mass loading in the solar wind interaction with Venus, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 2547–2560, 1996a.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murawski, K. and R. S. Steinolfson, Numerical modeling of the solar wind interaction with Venus, Planet. Space Sci., 44, 243–252, 1996b.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwingenschuh, K., W. Riedler, H. Lichtennegger, Ye. Yeroshenko, K. Sauer, J. G. Luhmann, M. Ong, and C. T. Russell, Martian bow shock: Phobos observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 17, 889–892, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shinagawa, H., A two-dimensional MHD model of the solar wind interaction with the Venus ionosphere, COSPAR Colloq. Ser., 4, 199–202, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shinagawa, H., A two-dimensional model of the Venus ionosphere: 2. Magnetized ionosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 26921–26930, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shinagawa, H. and T. E. Cravens, A one-dimensional multi-species magne-tohydrodynamic model of the dayside ionosphere of Mars, J. Geophys. Res., 94, 6506–6516, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shinagawa, H. and T. E. Cravens, The ionospheric effects of a weak intrinsic magnetic field at Mars, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 1027–1035, 1992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slavin, J. A. and R. E. Holzer, The solar wind interaction with Mars revisited, J. Geophys. Res., 87, 10285–10296, 1982.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, T., Effects of decreasing ionospheric pressure on the solar wind interaction with non-magnetized planets, Earth Planets Space, 50, 259–268, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, T. and K. Murawski, Three-dimensional MHD simulations of the solar wind interaction with the ionosphere of Venus: Results of two-component reacting plasma simulation, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 19805–19821, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, M. H. G., J. G. Luhmann, A. J. Kliore, and J. Kim, A post-Pioneer Venus reassessment of the Martian dayside ionosphere as observed by radio occultation methods, J. Geophys. Res., 95, 14829–14839, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to H. Shinagawa.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shinagawa, H., Bougher, S.W. A two-dimensional MHD model of the solar wind interaction with Mars. Earth Planet Sp 51, 55–60 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352209

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352209

Keywords