MARSIS observations of field-aligned irregularities and ducted radio propagation in the Martian ionosphere

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electric fields influence plasma irregularities and radio wave ducting in Mars's ionosphere, revealing a relationship between radar signatures and magnetic field interactions.

Contribution

It proposes a novel explanation linking high electric fields to different plasma behaviors at various altitudes, affecting radar signatures and ducting phenomena in the Martian ionosphere.

Findings

Localized plasma density increases linked to radial magnetic fields.

Radar ducting occurs on closed magnetic field lines due to plasma density decreases.

Electric fields cause different effects at low and high altitudes, influencing plasma irregularities.

Abstract

Knowledge of Mars's ionosphere has been significantly advanced in recent years by observations from Mars Express (MEX) and lately MAVEN. A topic of particular interest are the interactions between the planet's ionospheric plasma and its highly structured crustal magnetic fields, and how these lead to the redistribution of plasma and affect the propagation of radio waves in the system. In this paper, we elucidate a possible relationship between two anomalous radar signatures previously reported in observations from the MARSIS instrument on MEX. Relatively uncommon observations of localized, extreme increases in the ionospheric peak density in regions of radial (cusp-like) magnetic fields and spread-echo radar signatures are shown to be coincident with ducting of the same radar pulses at higher altitudes on the same field lines. We suggest that these two observations are both caused by a high electric field (perpendicular to $\mathbf{B}$) having distinctly different effects in two altitude regimes. At lower altitudes, where ions are demagnetized and electrons magnetized, and recombination dominantes, a high electric field causes irregularities, plasma turbulence, electron heating, slower recombination and ultimately enhanced plasma densities. However, at higher altitudes, where both ions and electrons are magnetized and atomic oxygen ions cannot recombine directly, the high electric field instead causes frictional heating, a faster production of molecular ions by charge exchange, and so a density decrease. The latter enables ducting of radar pulses on closed field lines, in an analogous fashion to inter-hemispheric ducting in the Earth's ionosphere.