Model insights into energetic photoelectrons measured by MAVEN Shotaro Sakai 1 Collaborators: A. Rahmati 1, D. L. Mitchell 2, T. E. Cravens 1, S. W. Bougher 3, C. Mazelle 4,5, W. K. Peterson 6, F. G. Eparvier 6, J. M. Fontenla 7, B. M. Jakosky 6 1: University of Kansas, 2: SSL, University of California, 3: University of Michigan, 4: Université de Toulouse, 5: IRAP, MAVEN PFP ICDR, May 23 25, 2011 6: LASP, University of Colorado Boulder, 7: NWRA 13-1
Introduction Energy deposition from solar EUV and X-ray in the upper atmosphere Contribution to ionization and heating Discovery of X-ray on the disk of Mars in 2001 [Dennerl, 2002] Imply existence of energetic (>500 ev) electrons X-ray emitted by ionization from K-shell of C, O and N Soft X-ray image of Mars made by Chandra [Dennerl, 2002] Almost all ionization from K-shells produces Auger electrons!! Branching ratio of ~99%
Model description Photon energy deposition code (photon code) Generates production rates of suprathermal electrons as a function of altitude and energy. Inputs: Solar irradiances, background neutral densities, cross-sections. Two-stream electron transport code (two-stream code) Calculates up and down fluxes of suprathermal electrons. Inputs: Primary production rates, neutral densities and thermal electron densities, electron impact cross-sections, external electron fluxes (boundary condition).
Solar flux model Heliospheric Environment Solar Spectrum Radiation (HESSR) model Based on Solar Irradiance Physical Modeling (SRPM) system. e.g., Fontenla et al., [2011] http://www.galactitech.net/hessrdata/mars/spectra/ Solar irradiances are calculated based on the snapshot daily image. We used wavelength intervals: 0.05-6.0 nm for dl = 0.05 nm 6.0-160.0 nm for dl = 1.0 nm
Background atmosphere 500 450 Neutral and thermal electron density a N 2 10 16 Total photoionization cross section CO + hν 2 b Altitude [km] 400 350 300 250 200 electrons O CO Cross section [cm 2 ] 10 17 10 18 10 19 Oxygen K shell Carbon K shell 150 CO 2 100 10 2 10 4 10 6 10 8 10 10 10 12 Density [cm 3 ] CO 2, CO, N 2, and O 10 20 10 0 10 1 10 2 Wavelength [nm] Based on Bougher [2012] and Bougher et al., [2009 & 2014] Background densities & total photoionization cross sections [Sakai et al., 2015]
Two-stream model Suprathermal electron transport model Photoionization, electron elastic and inelastic impact crosssections are taken from Gan et al. [1990] CO 2, CO, N 2 and O cos a: pitch angle, s a k : total inelastic collision cross-section for a neutral species k, p s k and s: electron backscatter probability and the cross-section, p e k and s e k : elastic collision probability and the cross-section, q: photoelectron production rate due to direct photoionization, q ± : electron production ratedue to cascading from higher energy by inelastic collisions
Results Energy flux [ev cm 2 s 1 sr 1 ev 1 ] 10 9 10 8 10 7 10 6 10 5 a 3 Ne, F 0 Electron energy spectrum Ne/3, F 0 EUV Ne, F 0 Alt. = 183 km SZA = 40 deg. Lat. = 0 deg. HESSR model 2015 04 01 00:00:00 Soft X ray Ne, 10 F 0 (λ < 10 nm) Altitude [km] 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 b Electron energy flux, E = 25 ev HESSR on 2015 04 01 Draped B field Up Down 10 4 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 Energy [ev] 100 10 4 10 5 10 6 10 7 10 8 Energy flux [ev cm 2 s 1 sr 1 ev 1 ] The thermal electron density affects the electron fluxes at low energies. Soft solar X-rays affect the high energy electron flux. Transport affects electron fluxes above 200 km. Examples of photoelectron energy fluxes [Sakai et al., 2015]
Comparison with SWEA Quiet solar condition (no flare) Agrees with SWEA observations at high energies. Does not agree with SWEA data at low energies on 1 April. Note: Electron and neutral densities for SZA of 60 not 40. Note: FISM fluxes are lower than the HESSR solar flux. Energy flux [ev cm 2 s 1 sr 1 ev 1 ] 10 9 10 8 10 7 10 6 10 5 a SWEA/MAVEN 2015 04 01 01:31:44 SWEA Model HESSR model 2015 04 01 00:00:00 Alt. = 183 km SZA = 40 deg. Lat. = 0 deg. 10 4 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 Energy [ev] Comparison of models with SWEA [Sakai et al., 2015]
Comparison with SWEA Quiet solar condition (no flare) Model agrees with SWEA observations at all energies. Energy flux [ev cm 2 s 1 sr 1 ev 1 ] 10 9 10 8 10 7 10 6 10 5 b MAVEN/SWEA 2015 03 03 02:32:56 SWEA Model HESSR model 2015 03 03 00:00:00 Alt. = 200 km SZA = 72 deg. Case (1) 10 4 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 Energy [ev] Comparison of models with SWEA [Sakai et al., 2015]
Comparison with SWEA Enhanced magnetosheath (tail) electrons are included in our model (0.5 cm -3 & 50 ev). Agrees with SWEA observations at low energies. Agrees with SWEA at high energies if tail electron is included. Energy flux [ev cm 2 s 1 sr 1 ev 1 ] 10 9 10 8 10 7 10 6 10 5 a SWEA/MAVEN 2014 10 15 14:28:49 SWEA Φ = Maxwellian Φ = 0 HESSR model 2014 10 15 00:00:00 Alt. = 250 km SZA = 63 deg. Lat. = 44 deg. 10 4 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 Energy [ev] External electrons affect the ionospheric suprathermal electron distribution! Comparison of models with SWEA [Sakai et al., 2015]
Comparison with SWEA Flare and CME case Model agrees with SWEA observations at low energies. Agrees with SWEA at high (flare) energies with high solar flux (l < 5.0 nm). EUVM in this case shows high X-ray flux. Not in HESSR. Energy flux [ev cm 2 s 1 sr 1 ev 1 ] 10 9 10 8 10 7 10 6 10 5 b SWEA/MAVEN 2014 10 19 06:06:00 SWEA F = 10F 0 F = F 0 HESSR model 2014 10 19 00:00:00 Alt. = 189 km SZA = 70 deg. Lat. = 61 deg. 10 4 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 Energy [ev] Solar activity also affects the ionospheric suprathermal electron in the Martian ionosphere!! Comparison of models with SWEA [Sakai et al., 2015]
Summary We investigated suprathermal electrons in the Martian upper atmosphere. Model and SWEA spectra have Auger electrons. Suprathermal electron distributions depend on several factors. External electron conditions (e.g., magnetosheath or tail distributions) Solar activity Neutral and electron densities in the atmosphere.
References Bougher, S. W. (2012), Coupled MGCM-MTGCM Mars thermosphere simulations and resulting data products in support of the MAVEN mission, JPL/CDP report, pp. 1-9, 6 August. Bougher, S. W., A. Valeille, M. R. Combi, and V. Tenishev (2009), Solar cycle and seasonal variability of the Martian thermosphere-ionosphere and associated impacts upon atmospheric escape, SAE Int. J. Aerosp., 4(1), 227-237. Bougher, S. W., T. E. Cravens, J. Grebowsky, and J. Luhmann (2014), The aeronomy of Mars: Characterization by MAVEN of the upper atmosphere reservoir that regulates volatile escape, Space Sci. Rev., 195, 423-456. Dennerl, K. (2002), Discovery of X-rays from Mars with Chandra, Astron. Astrophys., 394, 1119-1128. Fontenla, J. M., J. Harder, W. Livingston, M. Snow, and T. Woods (2011), High-resolution solar spectral irradiance from extreme ultraviolet to far infrared, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D20108. Gan, L. T. E. Cravens, and M. Horanyi (1990), Electrons in the ionopause boundary layer of Venus, J. Geophys. Res., 95, 19023-19035. Sakai, S., A. Rahmati, D. L. Mitchell, T. E. Cravens, S. W. Bougher, C. Mazelle, W. K. Peterson, F. G. Epavier, J. M. Fontenla, and B. M. Jakosky (2015), Model insights into energetic photoelectrons measured at Mars by MAVEN, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 8894-8900.