Plasma channels in the Venus upper ionosphere
The structure of the Venus nightside ionosphere is modeled in terms of a flow configuration derived from the position of theintermediate transition along the flanks of the ionosheath downstream from the magnetic polar regions. It is suggested that theshocked solar wind erodes more strongly the polar...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2001 |
| País: | México |
| Institución: | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |
| Repositorio: | Redalyc-UNAM |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:redalyc.org:56840104 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=56840104 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Ciencias de la Tierra plasma channels Venus ionosphere ionospheric holes |
| Sumario: | The structure of the Venus nightside ionosphere is modeled in terms of a flow configuration derived from the position of theintermediate transition along the flanks of the ionosheath downstream from the magnetic polar regions. It is suggested that theshocked solar wind erodes more strongly the polar ionosphere producing plasma channels that extend downstream from themagnetic polar regions. Such features represent the main source of mass loss along the plasma tail and imply a small overall solarwind-induced depletion of the planetary ionosphere. The plasma channels can account for the observation of ionospheric holes inPVO passes through the Venus wake. The expected flow distribution within the wake is consistent with the entry of plasma fluxesfrom the magnetic polar regions that was suggested earlier to account for geometry of the nightside ionopause (Pérez de Tejada,1980). |
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