1. Temporal variability of waves at the proton cyclotron frequency upstream from Mars: Implications for Mars distant hydrogen exosphere
- Author
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Bertucci, Cesar, Romanelli, Norberto, Chaufray, Jean-Yves, Gomez, Daniel, Mazelle, Christian, Delva, Magda, Modolo, Ronan, Gonzalez-Galindo, Francisco, Brain, David Andrew, Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio [Buenos Aires] (IAFE), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas [Buenos Aires] (CONICET)-Universidad de Buenos Aires [Buenos Aires] (UBA), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales [Buenos Aires] (FCEyN), Universidad de Buenos Aires [Buenos Aires] (UBA), HELIOS - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie (IRAP), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Space Research Institute of Austrian Academy of Sciences (IWF), Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), University of Colorado [Boulder], Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), and Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
EXOSPHERE ,[PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP] ,Ciencias Físicas ,[SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP] ,FOS: Physical sciences ,MARS ,Mars ,purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3 [https] ,Pick-up ,Space Physics (physics.space-ph) ,Astronomía ,purl.org/becyt/ford/1 [https] ,Physics - Space Physics ,Waves ,PICK UP ,Thermosphere ,CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS ,Exosphere ,Hydrogen - Abstract
We report on the temporal variability of the occurrence of waves at the local proton cyclotron frequency upstream from the Martian bow shock from Mars Global Surveyor observations during the first aerobraking and science phasing orbit periods. Observations at high southern latitudes during minimum-to-mean solar activity show that the wave occurrence rate is significantly higher around perihelion southern summer solstice and lower around the same hemisphere's spring and autumn equinoxes. A similar trend is observed in the hydrogen (H) exospheric density profiles over the Martian South Pole obtained from a model including UV thermospheric heating effects. In spite of the complexity in the ion pick-up and plasma wave generation and evolution processes, these results support the idea that variations in the occurrence of waves could be used to study the temporal evolution of the distant Martian H corona and its coupling with the thermosphere at altitudes currently inaccessible to direct measurements., 16 pages, 2 figures, Submitted to Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2013