HR: 1340h
AN: SA13A-1117    [Abstracts]
TI: Observations from the ASPERA-3 ELS of Photoelectrons in the Tail of Mars
AU: * Frahm, R A
EM: rfrahm@swri.edu
AF: Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78228 United States
AU: Winningham, J D
EM: dwinningham@swri.edu
AF: Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78228 United States
AU: Sharber, J R
EM: jsharber@swri.edu
AF: Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78228 United States
AU: Linder, D R
EM: drl@mssl.ucl.ac.uk
AF: Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, London, RH5 6NT United Kingdom
AU: Coates, A J
EM: ajc@mssl.ucl.ac.uk
AF: Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, London, RH5 6NT United Kingdom
AU: Team, A
EM: stat@irf.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 812, Kiruna, S-981 28 Sweden
AB: The Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA-3) experiment is currently sampling plasma in the vicinity of Mars. ASPERA-3 determines the electron, ion, and neutral particle components of the plasma using four instruments: Electron Spectrometer (ELS), Ion Mass Analyzer (IMA), Neutral Particle Imager (NPI), and Neutral Particle Detector (NPD). The ELS instrument measures 128 logarithmically spaced samples of the electron spectrum between 1 eV and 20 keV every four seconds. Its 8% energy resolution is used to resolve the carbon dioxide photoelectron peaks which are a dominant feature in the Martian Ionosphere. These same photoelectron signatures from carbon dioxide are also detected at distances greater than 1000 km in the Martian tail, providing experimental observation of electron escape from Mars. Implications of atmospheric escape will be discussed based on these findings.
DE: 5729 Ionospheres (2459)
DE: 6225 Mars
DE: 2427 Ionosphere/atmosphere interactions (0335)
DE: 2760 Plasma convection
DE: 2780 Solar wind interactions with unmagnetized bodies
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting