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| Titel |
Plasma boundaries at Mars: a 3-D simulation study |
| VerfasserIn |
A. Bößwetter, T. Bagdonat, U. Motschmann, K. Sauer |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
0992-7689
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Annales Geophysicae ; 22, no. 12 ; Nr. 22, no. 12 (2004-12-22), S.4363-4379 |
| Datensatznummer |
250015096
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/angeo-22-4363-2004.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
The interaction of the solar wind with the ionosphere of planet Mars is
studied using a three-dimensional hybrid model. Mars has only a weak
intrinsic magnetic field, and consequently its ionosphere is directly
affected by the solar wind. The gyroradii of the solar wind protons are in
the range of several hundred kilometers and therefore comparable with the
characteristic scales of the interaction region. Different boundaries emerge
from the interaction of the solar wind with the continuously produced
ionospheric heavy-ion plasma, which could be identified as a bow shock (BS),
ion composition boundary (ICB) and magnetic pile up boundary (MPB), where
the latter both turn out to coincide. The simulation results regarding
the shape and position of these boundaries are in good agreement with the
measurements made by Phobos-2 and MGS spacecraft. It is shown that the
positions of these boundaries depend essentially on the ionospheric
production rate, the solar wind ram pressure, and the often unconsidered
electron temperature of the ionospheric heavy ion plasma. Other consequences
are rays of planetary plasma in the tail and heavy ion plasma clouds, which
are stripped off from the dayside ICB region by some instability.
Key words. Magnetospheric physics (solar wind interactions
with unmagnetized bodies) – Space plasma physics
(discontinuities; numerical simulation studies) |
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