M. Fränz

The loss of ions from Venus through the plasma wake

Venus, unlike Earth, is an extremely dry planet although both began with similar masses, distances from the Sun, and presumably water inventories. The high deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in the venusian atmosphere relative to Earth’s also indicates that the atmosphere has undergone significantly different evolution over the age of the Solar System. Present-day thermal escape is low for all atmospheric species. However, hydrogen can escape by means of collisions with hot atoms from ionospheric photochemistry, and although the bulk of O and O2 are gravitationally bound, heavy ions have been observed to escape through interaction with the solar wind. Nevertheless, their relative rates of escape, spatial distribution, and composition could not be determined from these previous measurements. Here we report Venus Express measurements showing that the dominant escaping ions are O+, He+ and H+. The escaping ions leave Venus through the plasma sheet (a central portion of the plasma wake) and in a boundary layer of the induced magnetosphere. The escape rate ratios are Q(H+)/Q(O+) = 1.9; Q(He+)/Q(O+) = 0.07. The first of these implies that the escape of H+ and O+, together with the estimated escape of neutral hydrogen and oxygen, currently takes place near the stoichometric ratio corresponding to water.

Magnetic field depressions in the solar wind

Depressions in the interplanetary magnetic field strength occur on a wide range of temporal scales, starting with magnetic holes with a duration of several seconds and extending to larger-scale structures of more than 30 min duration. Using the magnetic field measurements of the Ulysses spacecraft, we quantify the statistical significance of the occurrence rate of depressions in the magnetic field compared to a lognormal distribution. On this basis we introduce measures for the length and depth of magnetic depressions. There is a weak indication for a change in the character of the length distribution at 20–40 s in the high-speed solar wind. An analysis of 115 depressions with a length > 2 min showed that (1) they are bounded by tangential discontinuities in 78% of all cases, (2) normals to the structure boundaries have no strong orientation with respect to background field or global geometry, and (3) an increased proton temperature anisotropy is the only bulk ion parameter correlating with the depressions.

A solar storm observed from the Sun to Venus using the STEREO, Venus Express, and MESSENGER spacecraft

The suite of SECCHI optical imaging instruments on the STEREO-A spacecraft is used to track a solar storm, consisting of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and other coronal loops, as it propagates from the Sun into the heliosphere during May 2007. The 3-D propagation path of the largest interplanetary CME (ICME) is determined from the observations made by the SECCHI Heliospheric Imager (HI) on STEREO-A (HI-1/2A). Two parts of the CME are tracked through the SECCHI images, a bright loop and a V-shaped feature located at the rear of the event. We show that these two structures could be the result of line-of-sight integration of the light scattered by electrons located on a single flux rope. In addition to being imaged by HI, the CME is observed simultaneously by the plasma and magnetic field experiments on the Venus Express and MESSENGER spacecraft. The imaged loop and V-shaped structure bound, as expected, the flux rope observed in situ. The SECCHI images reveal that the leading loop-like structure propagated faster than the V-shaped structure, and a decrease in in situ CME speed occurred during the passage of the flux rope. We interpret this as the result of the continuous radial expansion of the flux rope as it progressed outward through the interplanetary medium. An expansion speed in the radial direction of similar to 30 km s(-1) is obtained directly from the SECCHI-HI images and is in agreement with the difference in speed of the two structures observed in situ. This paper shows that the flux rope location can be determined from white light images, which could have important space weather applications.

Effects of a strong ICME on the Martian ionosphere as detected by Mars Express and Mars Odyssey

We present evidence of a substantial ionospheric response to a strong interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) detected by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) on board the Mars Express (MEX) spacecraft. A powerful ICME impacted the Martian ionosphere beginning on 5 June 2011, peaking on 6 June, and trailing off over about a week. This event caused a strong response in the charged particle detector of the High-Energy Neutron Detector (HEND) on board the Odyssey spacecraft. The ion mass spectrometer of the Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms instrument on MEX detected an increase in background counts, simultaneous with the increase seen by HEND, due to the flux of solar energetic particles (SEPs) associated with the ICME. Local densities and magnetic field strengths measured by MARSIS and enhancements of 100 eV electrons denote the passing of an intense space weather event. Local density and magnetosheath electron measurements and remote soundings show compression of ionospheric plasma to lower altitudes due to increased solar wind dynamic pressure. MARSIS topside sounding of the ionosphere indicates that it is extended well beyond the terminator, to about 116° solar zenith angle, in a highly disturbed state. This extension may be due to increased ionization due to SEPs and magnetosheath electrons or to plasma transport across the terminator. The surface reflection from both ionospheric sounding and subsurface modes of the MARSIS radar was attenuated, indicating increased electron content in the Mars ionosphere at low altitudes, where the atmosphere is dense.

On the ionospheric source region of cold ion outflow

Recent studies have shown that low energy ions constitute a significant part of the total ion population in the Earths magnetosphere. In this study, we have used a comprehensive data set with measurements of cold (total energy less than 70 eV) ion velocity and density to determine their source. This data set is derived from Cluster satellite measurements combined with solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field measurements and geomagnetic indices. By using the guiding center equation of motion, we were able to calculate the trajectories and thus determine the source region of the cold ions. Our results show that the polar cap region is the primary source for cold ions. We also found that the expansion and contraction of the polar cap as a consequence of changes in solar wind parameters were correlated with the source region size and intensity of the cold ion outflow. Elevated outflow fluxes near the nightside auroral zone and the dayside cusps during disturbed conditions suggest that energy and particle precipitation from the magnetosphere or directly from the solar wind can enhance the outflow of cold ions from the ionosphere. Citation: Li, K., et al. (2012), On the ionospheric source region of cold ion outflow, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L18102, doi:10.1029/2012GL053297.

Heliospheric Coordinate Systems

This article gives an overview and reference to the most common coordinate systems currently used in space science. While coordinate systems used in near-Earth space physics have been described in previous work we extend that description to systems used for physical observations of the Sun and the planets and to systems based on spacecraft location. For all systems we define the corresponding transformation in terms of Eulerian rotation matrices. We also give first order Keplerian elements for planetary orbits and determine their precision for the period 1950-2050 and describe methods to improve that precision. We also determine the Keplerian orbital elements for most major interplanetary missions and discuss their precision. We also give reference to a large set of web-sources relevant to the subject. Discipline: b. Celestial Mechanics.

Origin, Injection, and Acceleration of CIR Particles: Observations

This report emphasizes new observational aspects of CIR ions revealed by advanced instruments launched on the Ulysses, WIND, SOHO, and ACE spacecraft, and by the unique vantage point of Ulysses which carried out the first survey of Corotating Interaction Region (CIR) properties over a very wide range of heliolatitudes. With this more complete observational picture established, this review is the basis to consider the status of theoretical models on origin, injection, and acceleration of CIR particles reported by Scholer, Mann et al. (1999) in this volume.

Magnetosonic Mach number effect of the position of the bow shock at Mars in comparison to Venus

We study the effect of the magnetosonic Mach number on the position of the bow shock (BS) at Mars. The magnetosonic Mach number is calculated from solar wind data obtained by the ACE satellite upstream of Earth and extrapolated to Mars during two intervals, starting in 2005 and 2007, when Mars and Earth were close to opposition. An increased Mach number is observed to cause the Martian BS to move to lower altitudes and the variation in the terminator altitude is proportional to the Mach number change. When the Mach number is lowered, the BS flares more. We also compare our results to previous studies at Venus. The variation in BS altitude with magnetosonic Mach number is found to be very similar to the variation of the Venusian BS, which has previously been shown to decrease linearly in altitude with increasing Mach number.

Shear driven waves in the induced magnetosphere of Mars

We present measurements of oscillations in the electron density, ion density and ion velocity in the induced magnetosphere of Mars. The fundamental frequency of the oscillations is a few millihertz, but higher harmonics are present in the spectrum. The oscillations are observed in a region where there is a velocity shear in the plasma flow. The fundamental frequency is in agreement with computational results from an ideal-MHD model. An interpretation based on velocity-shear instabilities is described.

Direct Measurements of Energetic Neutral Hydrogen in the Interplanetary Medium

We present an analysis of hydrogen energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) measured by the ASPERA-3 instrument on boardMars Express. We focus on ENAs that have no Martian origin. The energy spectra of these ENAs are all very similar and can be fitted well by a two-component power law. The fluxes, integrated from 0.2 to 10 keV, vary between 5 ; 10 3 and10 5 cm � 2 sr � 1 s � 1 .Wecheckedfor possiblesourcesfor theseENAs,but wecanruleoutaplanetaryorigin, a solar wind origin, contamination by UV from UV bright stars, and contamination by high-energy protons. With our present knowledge we conclude that the heliospheric termination shock is the most plausible source region. Subject headingg acceleration of particles — instrumentation: detectors — interplanetary medium — methods: data analysis — plasmas — solar wind