Upstream proton cyclotron waves at Mars during the passage of solar wind stream interaction regions

Generation of Electron Plasma Waves in the Upstream Solar Wind

Electron plasma waves with amplitudes as high as 10 mV/m have been measured in the electron foreshock region of the earth's bow shock. It is shown that a population of stable suprathermal electrons of the type observed can produce the measured level of enhanced fluctuations without becoming unstable. The steady state wave level is given by the balancing between emission and absorption. The appa...

Resonance Absorption of Alfv•n Waves at Comet-solar Wind Interaction Regions

he interaction of the low frequency (10 -• Hz) MHD waves, observed upstream of comets, with the structured plasma near the cometary bow wave is examined. It is suggested that the waves undergo resonant absorption due to either ambient density gradients or localized shear in the background magnetic field. The absorption process can give rise to rapid heating of the solar wind protons, in agreeme...

Proton cyclotron waves at Mars: Exosphere structure and evidence for a fast neutral disk

[1] Mars is an unmagnetized planet whose hydrogen exosphere extends into the solar wind, creating proton cyclotron waves. Mars Global Surveyor data reveal the occurrence of waves to be extensive and often intermittent at large distance, indicating that the exosphere is time varying or non-spherical. When the region of wave occurrence is examined in a magnetic-electric coordinate system, a stron...

Mars Global Surveyor Measurements of the Martian Solar Wind Interaction

The solar wind at Mars interacts with the extended atmosphere and small-scale crustal magnetic fields. This interaction shares elements with a variety of solar system bodies, and has direct bearing on studies of the long-term evolution of the Martian atmosphere, the structure of the upper atmosphere, and fundamental plasma processes. The magnetometer (MAG) and electron reflectometer (ER) on Mar...

Understanding the Solar Wind-Mars Interaction with Global Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling