ALBERT

Description: The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, during the second of its Deep Dip campaigns, made comprehensive measurements of martian thermosphere and ionosphere composition, structure, and variability at altitudes down to ~130 kilometers in the subsolar region. This altitude range contains the diffusively separated upper atmosphere just above the well-mixed atmosphere, the layer of peak extreme ultraviolet heating and primary reservoir for atmospheric escape. In situ measurements of the upper atmosphere reveal previously unmeasured populations of neutral and charged particles, the homopause altitude at approximately 130 kilometers, and an unexpected level of variability both on an orbit-to-orbit basis and within individual orbits. These observations help constrain volatile escape processes controlled by thermosphere and ionosphere structure and variability.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bougher, S -- Jakosky, B -- Halekas, J -- Grebowsky, J -- Luhmann, J -- Mahaffy, P -- Connerney, J -- Eparvier, F -- Ergun, R -- Larson, D -- McFadden, J -- Mitchell, D -- Schneider, N -- Zurek, R -- Mazelle, C -- Andersson, L -- Andrews, D -- Baird, D -- Baker, D N -- Bell, J M -- Benna, M -- Brain, D -- Chaffin, M -- Chamberlin, P -- Chaufray, J-Y -- Clarke, J -- Collinson, G -- Combi, M -- Crary, F -- Cravens, T -- Crismani, M -- Curry, S -- Curtis, D -- Deighan, J -- Delory, G -- Dewey, R -- DiBraccio, G -- Dong, C -- Dong, Y -- Dunn, P -- Elrod, M -- England, S -- Eriksson, A -- Espley, J -- Evans, S -- Fang, X -- Fillingim, M -- Fortier, K -- Fowler, C M -- Fox, J -- Groller, H -- Guzewich, S -- Hara, T -- Harada, Y -- Holsclaw, G -- Jain, S K -- Jolitz, R -- Leblanc, F -- Lee, C O -- Lee, Y -- Lefevre, F -- Lillis, R -- Livi, R -- Lo, D -- Ma, Y -- Mayyasi, M -- McClintock, W -- McEnulty, T -- Modolo, R -- Montmessin, F -- Morooka, M -- Nagy, A -- Olsen, K -- Peterson, W -- Rahmati, A -- Ruhunusiri, S -- Russell, C T -- Sakai, S -- Sauvaud, J-A -- Seki, K -- Steckiewicz, M -- Stevens, M -- Stewart, A I F -- Stiepen, A -- Stone, S -- Tenishev, V -- Thiemann, E -- Tolson, R -- Toublanc, D -- Vogt, M -- Weber, T -- Withers, P -- Woods, T -- Yelle, R -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Nov 6;350(6261):aad0459. doi: 10.1126/science.aad0459.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉CLaSP Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. bougher@umich.edu. ; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University. of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. ; NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA. ; Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. ; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. ; CNRS/Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie, Toulouse, France. University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France. ; Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden. ; NASA/Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA. ; National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA, USA. ; Laboratoire Atmospheres, Milieux, Observations Spatiales /CNRS, Verrieres-le-Buisson, France. ; Department of Astronomy, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. ; CLaSP Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA. ; Computational Physics, Springfield, VA, USA. ; Department of Physics, Wright State University, Fairborn, OH, USA. ; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. ; Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ; Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. ; Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26542579" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Planetary auroras reveal the complex interplay between an atmosphere and the surrounding plasma environment. We report the discovery of low-altitude, diffuse auroras spanning much of Mars' northern hemisphere, coincident with a solar energetic particle outburst. The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph, a remote sensing instrument on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, detected auroral emission in virtually all nightside observations for ~5 days, spanning nearly all geographic longitudes. Emission extended down to ~60 kilometer (km) altitude (1 microbar), deeper than confirmed at any other planet. Solar energetic particles were observed up to 200 kilo--electron volts; these particles are capable of penetrating down to the 60 km altitude. Given minimal magnetic fields over most of the planet, Mars is likely to exhibit auroras more globally than Earth.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Schneider, N M -- Deighan, J I -- Jain, S K -- Stiepen, A -- Stewart, A I F -- Larson, D -- Mitchell, D L -- Mazelle, C -- Lee, C O -- Lillis, R J -- Evans, J S -- Brain, D -- Stevens, M H -- McClintock, W E -- Chaffin, M S -- Crismani, M -- Holsclaw, G M -- Lefevre, F -- Lo, D Y -- Clarke, J T -- Montmessin, F -- Jakosky, B M -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Nov 6;350(6261):aad0313. doi: 10.1126/science.aad0313.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA. nick.schneider@lasp.colorado.edu. ; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA. ; Space Sciences Lab, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ; Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), CNRS, Toulouse, France. University Paul Sabatier, IRAP, CNRS, Toulouse, France. ; Computational Physics, Inc, Springfield, VA 22151, USA. ; Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA. ; Laboratoire Atmospheres, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Guyancourt, France. ; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. ; Center for Space Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26542577" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Coupling between the lower and upper atmosphere, combined with loss of gas from the upper atmosphere to space, likely contributed to the thin, cold, dry atmosphere of modern Mars. To help understand ongoing ion loss to space, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft made comprehensive measurements of the Mars upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind during an interplanetary coronal mass ejection impact in March 2015. Responses include changes in the bow shock and magnetosheath, formation of widespread diffuse aurora, and enhancement of pick-up ions. Observations and models both show an enhancement in escape rate of ions to space during the event. Ion loss during solar events early in Mars history may have been a major contributor to the long-term evolution of the Mars atmosphere.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jakosky, B M -- Grebowsky, J M -- Luhmann, J G -- Connerney, J -- Eparvier, F -- Ergun, R -- Halekas, J -- Larson, D -- Mahaffy, P -- McFadden, J -- Mitchell, D F -- Schneider, N -- Zurek, R -- Bougher, S -- Brain, D -- Ma, Y J -- Mazelle, C -- Andersson, L -- Andrews, D -- Baird, D -- Baker, D -- Bell, J M -- Benna, M -- Chaffin, M -- Chamberlin, P -- Chaufray, Y-Y -- Clarke, J -- Collinson, G -- Combi, M -- Crary, F -- Cravens, T -- Crismani, M -- Curry, S -- Curtis, D -- Deighan, J -- Delory, G -- Dewey, R -- DiBraccio, G -- Dong, C -- Dong, Y -- Dunn, P -- Elrod, M -- England, S -- Eriksson, A -- Espley, J -- Evans, S -- Fang, X -- Fillingim, M -- Fortier, K -- Fowler, C M -- Fox, J -- Groller, H -- Guzewich, S -- Hara, T -- Harada, Y -- Holsclaw, G -- Jain, S K -- Jolitz, R -- Leblanc, F -- Lee, C O -- Lee, Y -- Lefevre, F -- Lillis, R -- Livi, R -- Lo, D -- Mayyasi, M -- McClintock, W -- McEnulty, T -- Modolo, R -- Montmessin, F -- Morooka, M -- Nagy, A -- Olsen, K -- Peterson, W -- Rahmati, A -- Ruhunusiri, S -- Russell, C T -- Sakai, S -- Sauvaud, J-A -- Seki, K -- Steckiewicz, M -- Stevens, M -- Stewart, A I F -- Stiepen, A -- Stone, S -- Tenishev, V -- Thiemann, E -- Tolson, R -- Toublanc, D -- Vogt, M -- Weber, T -- Withers, P -- Woods, T -- Yelle, R -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Nov 6;350(6261):aad0210. doi: 10.1126/science.aad0210.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. bruce.jakosky@lasp.colorado.edu. ; NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA. ; University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. ; University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. ; University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. ; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. ; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. ; University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ; CNRS-Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Toulouse, France. University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France. ; Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden. ; NASA/Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA. ; National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA, USA. ; Laboratoire atmospheres, milieux et observations spatiales (LATMOS)-CNRS, Paris, France. ; Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. ; University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA. ; Computational Physics, Inc., Boulder, CO, USA. ; Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA. ; University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. ; Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan. ; Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA. ; North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26542576" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jain, S K -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1978 Jul 21;201(4352):246-7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17778652" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: We report the response of the Martian upper atmosphere to a strong X-class flare on 10 September 2017 as observed by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument aboard the Mars Atmosphere Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. The solar flare peaked at 16:24 hr UT, and IUVS dayglow observations were taken about an hour after the flare peak. Retrieved temperatures from IUVS dayglow observations show a significant increase during the flare orbit, with a mean value of ∼270 K and a maximum value of ∼310 K. The retrieved temperatures during the flare orbit also show a strong latitudinal gradient, indicating that the flare-induced heating is limited between low and middle latitudes. During this event IUVS observed an ∼70% increase in the observed brightness of CO+ 2 ultraviolet doublet and CO Cameron band emission at 90 km, where high-energy photons (〈 10 nm) deposit most of their energy. ©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Description: We report the detection of bright aurora spanning Mars' nightside during the space weather event occurring in September 2017. The phenomenon was similar to diffuse aurora detected previously at Mars, but 25 times brighter and detectable over the entire visible nightside. The observations were made with the Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph, a remote sensing instrument on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft orbiting Mars. Images show that the emission was brightest around the limb of the planet, with a fairly uniform faint glow against the disk itself. Spectra identified four molecular emissions associated with aurora, and limb scans show the emission originated from an altitude of ~60 km in the atmosphere. Both are consistent with very high energy particle precipitation. The auroral brightening peaked around 13 September, when the flux of solar energetic electrons and protons both peaked. During the declining phase of the event, faint but statistically significant auroral emissions briefly appeared against the disk of the planet in the form of narrow wisps and small patches. These features are approximately aligned with predicted open field lines in the region of strong crustal magnetic fields in Mars' southern hemisphere. ©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Description: On 10 September 2017, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission observed a particularly strong X-class flare. This paper will focus on observations made by Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) and the flare response detected by extreme ultraviolet monitor. We focus the data to the region of the upper atmosphere from 160 to 300 km and to 10 orbits before and after the flare. The flare peaked near 16:12 UTC with the closest periapsis pass from 17:30 to 17:54 UTC (Lee et al., https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079162). NGIMS measured a significant enhancement in the neutral densities above 195 km for the flare. This enhancement stands out for the major species measured by NGIMS (Ar, CO2, CO, O, and N2). The correlation of the flare and the enhancement in density and temperature in the upper atmosphere indicates that solar flare heating is most likely the main driver and has important implications for the effects of space weather events on terrestrial atmospheres. ©2018. The Authors.