SHARAD Mapping of Mars Dayside Ionosphere Patterns: Relationship to Regional Geology and the Magnetic Field
The electron density of the Martian ionosphere is modulated by solar wind forcing and crustal magnetic fields. Sounding observations from the orbital Shallow Radar (SHARAD) map the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) at a spatial resolution of ∼35 km. Averaging over a 250‐km diameter window from data collected weeks to years apart yields the first map of long‐term stable dayside martian TEC features. An extensive region of suppressed TEC in the southern highlands correlates with strong radial magnetic fields, but in other areas no simple correlation is observed. The TEC maps do follow the outlines of exposed Noachian crust and patches of magnetization in Tharsis not reset by volcanic activity. SHARAD TEC mapping may capture magnetic field strength at an intermediate height between the surface and the altitudes of orbital measurements underlying spherical harmonic models. Existing and future data will allow SHARAD TEC mapping to ∼100 km spatial resolution.
Funding
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Grant Numbers: 1456630, 1593870
Solar wind influence on terrestrial planets' upper atmospheres: unveiling their close interaction
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Find out more...National Aeronautics and Space Administration
History
Author affiliation
College of Science & Engineering/Physics & AstronomyVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Published in
Geophysical Research LettersVolume
51Issue
4Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)issn
0094-8276eissn
1944-8007Copyright date
2024Available date
2024-03-15Publisher DOI
Language
enPublisher version
Deposited by
Ms Beatriz Sanchez-CanoDeposit date
2024-03-14Rights Retention Statement
- No