Title: Plasma intrusion above Mars crustal fields - Mars Express ASPERA-3 observations

Author(s): Franz M, Winningham JD, Dubinin E, Roussos E, Woch J, Barabash S, Lundin R, Holmstrom M, Andersson H, Yamauchi M, Grigoriev A, Frahm RA, Sharber JR, Scherrer JR, Coates AJ, Soobiah Y, Linder DR, Kataria DO, Kallio E, Sales T, Riihela P, Schmidt W, Koskinen HEJ, Kozyra J, Luhmann J, Roelof E, Williams D, Livi S, Curtis CC, Hsieh KC, Sandel BR, Grande M, Carter M, Sauvaud JA, Fedorov A, Thocaven JJ, McKenna-Lawler S, Orsini S, Cerulli-Irelli R, Maggi M, Wurz P, Bochsler P, Krupp N, Asamura K, Dierker C

Source: ICARUS 182 (2): 406-412 JUN 2006

Document Type: Article

Language: English

Abstract: Using data of the ASPERA-3 instrument on board the European Mars Express spacecraft we investigate the effect of the martian crustal fields on electrons intruding from the magnetosheath. For the crustal field strength we use published data obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor MAG/ER instrument for a fixed altitude of 400 km. We use statistics on 13 months of 80-100 eV electron observations to show that the electron intrusion altitude determined by a probability measure is approximately linearly dependent on the total field strength at 400 km altitude. We show that on the dayside the mean electron intrusion altitude describes the location of the Magnetic Pile-Up Boundary (MPB) such that we can quantify the effect of the crustal fields on the MPB. On the nightside we quantify the shielding of precipitating electrons by the crustal fields. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Author Keywords: Mars; magnetospheres

KeyWords Plus: SOLAR-WIND INTERACTION; MAGNETIC-FIELD; GLOBAL SURVEYOR; BOW SHOCK

Addresses: Franz M (reprint author), MPI Sonnensyst Forsch, Max Planck Str 2, Katlenburg Lindau, D-37191 Germany
MPI Sonnensyst Forsch, Katlenburg Lindau, D-37191 Germany
SW Res Inst, San Antonio, TX 78228 USA
Swedish Inst Space Phys, Kiruna, S-98128 Sweden
Univ Coll London, Mullard Space Sci Lab, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT England
Finnish Meteorol Inst, Helsinki, FIN-00101 Finland
Univ Helsinki, Dept Phys Sci, Helsinki, 00014 Finland
Univ Michigan, Space Phys Res Lab, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA
Univ Calif Berkeley, Space Sci Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
Johns Hopkins Univ, Appl Phys Lab, Laurel, MD 20723 USA
Univ Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
Rutherford Appleton Lab, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX England
Ctr Etud Spatiale Rayonnements, Toulouse, F-31028 France
Natl Univ Ireland, Space Technol Ireland, Maynooth, Kildare Ireland
Ist Fis Spazio Interplanetario, Rome, I-00133 Italy
Univ Bern, Inst Phys, Bern, CH-3012 Switzerland
Inst Space & Astronaut Sci, Sagamihara, Japan
Tech Univ Carolo Wilhelmina Braunschweig, Braunschweig, D-38106 Germany

E-mail Addresses: fraenz@mps.mpg.de

Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE, 525 B ST, STE 1900, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101-4495 USA

Subject Category: ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

IDS Number: 052JE