Ionospheric Variability on Mars
Another
of our research interests is the role that solar disturbances may have
in causing variability in
the
ionosphere of Mars. Mars has a much weaker magnetic field than the
Earth's,
therefore solar
disturbances
may contribute significantly to variability in electron density on
Mars,
especially above 150 km.
The
current Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission has provided a huge database
of
electron
density height profiles
of
the Martian ionosphere. Here's an example:
Here are 7 profiles of the
Martian ionosphere during 28 December 1998, obtained from measurements
by the Radio science experiment aboatd the MGS. The inversion were
derived by the Stanford University Radio Science Group.