Observations and Modeling of the Mars Low-Altitude Ionospheric Response to the 10 September 2017 X-Class Solar Flare - INSU - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers Access content directly
Journal Articles Geophysical Research Letters Year : 2018

Observations and Modeling of the Mars Low-Altitude Ionospheric Response to the 10 September 2017 X-Class Solar Flare

Shaosui Xu
  • Function : Author
Ed Thiemann
  • Function : Author
David Mitchell
Frank Eparvier
  • Function : Author
David Pawlowski
  • Function : Author
Mehdi Benna
Laila Andersson
  • Function : Author
Michael W. Liemohn
  • Function : Author
Stephen Bougher

Abstract

Solar extreme ultraviolet and X-ray photons are the main sources of ionization in the Martian ionosphere and can be enhanced significantly during a solar flare. On 10 September 2017, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN orbiter observed an X8.2 solar flare, the largest it has encountered to date. Here we investigate the ionospheric response before, during, and after this event with the SuperThermal Electron Transport model. We find good agreement between modeled and measured photoelectron spectra. In addition, the high photoelectron fluxes during the flare provide adequate statistics to allow us to clearly and repeatedly identify the carbon Auger peak in the ionospheric photoelectron energy spectra at Mars for the first time. By applying photochemical equilibrium, O2+ and CO2+ densities are obtained and compared with Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN observations. The variations in ion densities during this event due to the solar irradiance enhancement and the neutral atmosphere expansion are discussed.
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insu-03678187 , version 1 (25-05-2022)

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Shaosui Xu, Ed Thiemann, David Mitchell, Frank Eparvier, David Pawlowski, et al.. Observations and Modeling of the Mars Low-Altitude Ionospheric Response to the 10 September 2017 X-Class Solar Flare. Geophysical Research Letters, 2018, 45, pp.7382-7390. ⟨10.1029/2018GL078524⟩. ⟨insu-03678187⟩
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