Mars Upper Atmospheric Responses to the 10 September 2017 Solar Flare: A Global, Time-Dependent Simulation

Fang, Xiaohua; Pawlowski, David; Ma, Yingjuan; Bougher, Stephen; Thiemann, Edward; Eparvier, Francis; Wang, Wenbin; Dong, Chuanfei; Lee, Christina O.; Dong, Yaxue; Benna, Mehdi; Elrod, Meredith; Chamberlin, Phillip; Mahaffy, Paul; Jakosky, Bruce

doi:10.1029/2019gl084515

Title: Mars Upper Atmospheric Responses to the 10 September 2017 Solar Flare: A Global, Time-Dependent Simulation

Journal Article · 05 August 2019 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl084515 · OSTI ID:1648113

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Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Eastern Michigan Univ., Ypsilanti, MI (United States)
Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)
Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)

Here, we report the first global, time-dependent simulation of the Mars upper atmospheric responses to a realistic solar flare event, an X8.2 eruption on 10 September 2017. The Mars Global Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model runs with realistically specified flare irradiance, giving results in reasonably good agreement with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft measurements. It is found that the ionized and neutral regimes of the upper atmosphere are significantly disturbed by the flare but react differently. The ionospheric electron density enhancement is concentrated below ~110-km altitude due to enhanced solar X-rays, closely following the time evolution of the flare. The neutral atmospheric perturbation increases with altitude and is important above ~150-km altitude, in association with atmospheric upwelling driven by solar extreme ultraviolet heating. It takes ~2.5 hr past the flare peak to reach the maximum disturbance and then additional ~10 hr to generally settle down to preflare levels.

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Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

OSTI ID:: 1648113

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 16 Vol. 46; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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