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| Titel |
The surface conductivity effects on the structure of Mercury's magnetosphere: a 3D hybrid simulation study |
| VerfasserIn |
Yung-Ching Wang, Wing-Huen Ip, Joachim Mueller, Uwe Motschmann |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250034945
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Mercury’s magnetosphere is a poor known system which couples directly to the surface but is
hardly affected by the tenuous ionosphere. As a terrestrial moon-like body, the closure
of the field-aligned currents (FACs) remains a critical issue for the study of the
magnetosphere. We performed a 3D hybrid model to simulate the Hermean system without
injecting any planetary ions and treated the surface of Mercury with small resisitivity
(10-3 S/m) and large resistivity (10-7 S/m) for comparison. While the surface
conductivity has equivalent functions as a substantial ionosphere, the magnetosphere could
be taken as a mini-size of Earth-like structure. However, as the surface resistivity
increases to avoid the FACs from completion, the plasma flow would be modified as a
feedback. The plasma environment and the magnetic distribution around Mercury
were examined and the effect of the surface conductivity on the morphology of
Mercury’s magnetosphere could be acquainted more closely through the inspection. |
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