| 1. |
- Carlsson, Ella, et al.
(författare)
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Mass composition of the escaping plasma at Mars
- 2006
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Ingår i: Icarus. - : Elsevier BV. - 0019-1035 .- 1090-2643. ; 182:2, s. 320-328
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Data from the Ion Mass Analyzer (IMA) sensor of the ASPERA-3 instrument suite on Mars Express have been analyzed to determine the mass composition of the escaping ion species at Mars. We have examined 77 different ion-beam events and we present the results in terms of flux ratios between the following ion species: CO2+/O+ and O-2(+)/O+. The following ratios averaged over all events and energies were identified: CO2+/O+ = 0.2 and O-2(+)/O+ = 0.9. The values measured are significantly higher, by a factor of 10 for O-2(+)/O+, than a contemporary modeled ratio for the maximum fluxes which the martian ionosphere can supply. The most abundant ion species was found to be O+, followed by O-2(+) and CO2+. We estimate the loss of CO2+ to be 4.0 x 10(24) s(-1) (0.29 kg s(-1)) by using the previous measurements of Phobos-2 in our calculations. The dependence of the ion ratios in relation to their energy ranges we studied, 0.3-3.0 keV, indicated that no clear correlation was found.
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| 2. |
- Cumnock, J. A., et al.
(författare)
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Interplanetary magnetic field control of theta aurora development
- 2002
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 107:A7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- [1] We ascertain the influence of the B-y component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) on theta aurora evolution. During most cases where a transpolar arc is observed to move across the polar region, and form a theta aurora, there are brief (minutes) southward excursions of IMF B-z, however northward IMF is required prior to theta aurora formation. Observations show that theta aurora can form during strictly northward IMF with its motion consistent with a change in sign of IMF B-y. It is important to note that since transpolar arcs can persist for 20-30 min after the IMF turns southward, errors will occur in assigning instantaneous IMF conditions to snapshots'' of particular auroral patterns. We consider the entire evolution of the theta aurora and the changing IMF conditions. The influence of IMF B-y is best illustrated by examples which occur during steady northward IMF as compared to times when the IMF is northward on average. We show examples, provided by the Polar UV imager, when the IMF is steady northward. For one case, DMSP F13 and F14 provide in situ measurements of precipitating particles, ionospheric plasma flows and ion density. This unique data set enables us to analyze in detail the evolution of a theta aurora, in one case crossing the entire polar region. No sign change in B-z is needed for theta aurora formation.
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| 3. |
- Cumnock, Judy, et al.
(författare)
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Evolution of the global aurora during positive IMF B-z and varying IMF B-y conditions
- 1997
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Ingår i: JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS. ; 102, s. 17489-17497
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The DE 1 imaging instrumentation provides a full view of the entire amoral oval every 12 min for several hours during each orbit. We examined five examples of global evolution of the aurora that occurred during the northern hemisphere winter of 1981-1982 when the a component of the interplanetary magnetic field was positive and the y component was changing sign. Evolution of an expanded amoral emission region into a theta aurora appears to require a change in the sign of B-y during northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Theta aurora are formed both from expanded duskside emission regions (B-y changes from positive to negative) and dawnside emission regions (B-y changes from negative to positive), however the dawnside-originating and duskside-originating evolutions are not mirror images. The persistence of a theta aurora after its formation suggests that there may be no clear relationship between the theta aurora pattern and the instantaneous configuration of the IMF.
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