The dayside structures of the ionospheres of Mars and Venus: Comparison and interpretation of results from a fast and flexible model with actual day-to-day observations
Atmospheric Science
Final Report Abstract
In the original and extended time frame of the proposal, 14 years of MEX-MaRS and 9 years of VEX-VeRa radio science observations were combined with derived environmental parameters, a developed 1-D time-stepping photochemical model IonA and the MSDM meteoroid model to investigate the basic and specific formation processes in the main ionospheric region of Mars and Venus. The conducted work results in a throurough analysis of the basic and anomalous features in the dayside ionospheres of Mars and Venus. For the first time, the effect of atmospheric dust on the altitude of the M1 region was determined. The analysis of potential Mm/Vm origins indicates an formation process based on the ionization of the local atmospheric component by X-ray < 1 nm and only partly by meteoric Mg+, which is in contrast to earlier findings. The development of the timestepping NIA/IonA-2 model provides, despite several setbacks, the basis for determining the neutral atmospheric density and Tn at ionospheric altitudes from radio science observations. The coupled NIA/IonA-2/MSDM-2 models are easily adapted, if new information about the photochemical processes of Mg in a CO2 dominated neutral atmosphere become available. The implementation of the chlorine compounds for Venus will result in more realistic O3 densities, which will yield a good base for future meteoroid modelling.
Publications
- (2021) The lower dayside ionosphere of Mars from 14 years of MaRS radio science observations. Icarus 359 114213
Peter, Kerstin; Pätzold, Martin; Molina-Cuberos, Gregorio J.; González-Galindo, Francisco; Witasse, Olivier; Tellmann, Silvia; Häusler, Bernd; Bird, Michael K.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114213) - (2014): The dayside ionospheres of Mars and Venus. Comparing a one-dimensional photochemical model with MaRS (Mars Express) and VeRa (Venus Express) observations. In: Icarus 233, S. 66–82
Peter, Kerstin; Pätzold, M. and et al.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2014.01.028)
