MAVEN observation study of the effects of crustal magnetic fields on the
ratio of Ne/NCO2 of Martian ionosphere
Abstract
As there are strong crustal magnetic fields in some Martian concentrated
regions. it has long been a goal of Martian science to understand how
crustal magnetic field affects surrounding space environment. In the
paper, using the data measured by MAVEN, the ratio of
electron/CO2 density (
Ne/NCO2) in region with
different levels of Martian ionospheric magnetic fields are studied. It
seems that ratio of dayside
Ne/NCO2 in region with
stronger ionospheric magnetic field is larger while the altitude is more
than 260 km. On the other hand, the effect of crustal magnetic field
intensity on the nightside ratio of
Ne/NCO2 is weak. Since the
topological structure of magnetic field is very vulnerable to the solar
wind, the correlation between
Ne/NCO2
and solar wind parameters are analyzed. We find that
there is obvious negative correlation between dayside ratio of
Ne/NCO2 and solar wind
dynamic pressure in the region with strong ionospheric magnetic field,
which may imply that the ionospheric plasmas are significantly escaped
in response to enhanced solar wind dynamic pressure pulses in the
dayside region. However, the effect of solar wind on nightside ratio of
Ne/NCO2 is very little.
These results can be useful for understanding the dynamic process in the
Martian ionosphere.