Sources of Ionospheric Variability at Mars

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Abstract

Abstract During the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission's deep‐dip #2 campaign of 17–22 April 2015, spacecraft instruments observed all of the physical parameters needed to assess the photo‐chemical‐equilibrium (PCE) explanation for ionospheric variability at a fixed altitude (135 km) near the peak of the Martian ionosphere. MAVEN measurements of electron density, electron temperature, neutral CO 2 density, and solar irradiance were collected during 28 orbits. When inserted into the PCE equation, the measurements of varying PCE drivers correlated with the observed electron density variations to within instrumental uncertainty levels. The dominant source of this positive correlation was the variability of CO 2 densities associated with the longitudinal wave‐2 component of nonmigrating tides in the Martian thermosphere.

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