ASPERA/Phobos measurements of the ion outflow from the Martian ionosphere

Journal Article · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/GL017i006p00873· OSTI ID:6785265

Lundin, R; Borg, H; Hultqvist, B ^[1]; Zakharov, A; Barabasj, S W; Dubinin, E M; Pissarenko, N ^[2]; Pellinen, R; Koskinen, H; Liede, I ^[3]

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1. Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna (Sweden)
2. Space Research Institute, Moscow (USSR)
3. Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki (Finland)

This report reviews the first results on the ionospheric ion outflow in the Martian magnetosphere by the ion composition experiment ASPERA on Phobos-2. The measurements show that Mars is characterized by a strong loss of plasma from its topside ionosphere. This loss results from both ion pick-up due to mass-loading of the solar wind in the Martian boundary layer and an acceleration mechanism, quite similar to that observed above the Earth's auroral oval, providing intense ionospheric O{sup +} beams of energies up to several keV. A preliminary estimate of the ionospheric outflow from Mars indicates that the planet at present is losing oxygen at a rate of {approx} 3 {times} 10{sup 25} ions/s. This corresponds to an evacuation of its present total atmospheric oxygen content (contained in CO{sub 2} and O{sub 2}) in less than 100 million years.

• OSTI ID: 6785265
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (USA), Vol. 17:6; ISSN 0094-8276
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
MARS PLANET
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
OXYGEN
LOSSES
IONIC COMPOSITION
MASS TRANSFER
ACCELERATION
BOUNDARY LAYERS
INTERACTIONS
ION BEAMS
IONS
OXYGEN IONS
PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES
SOLAR WIND
SPACE VEHICLES
ATMOSPHERES
BEAMS
CHARGED PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
LAYERS
NONMETALS
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
PLANETS
SOLAR ACTIVITY
VEHICLES
640107* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Planetary Phenomena