Solar cycle variations in the ionosphere of Mars
- Beatriz Sánchez-Cano
- Mark Lester
- Olivier Witasse
- Pierre-Louis Blelly
- Marco Cartacci
- Sandro M. Radicella
- Miguel Herráiz
ISSN: 0214-4557
Year of publication: 2016
Issue: 28
Pages: 97-110
Type: Article
More publications in: Física de la tierra
Abstract
Solar cycle variations in solar radiation create notable changes in the Martian ionosphere, which have been analysed with Mars Express plasma datasets in this paper. In general, lower densities and temperatures of the ionosphere are found during the low solar activity phase, while higher densities and temperatures are found during the high solar activity phase. In this paper, we assess the degree of influence of the long term solar flux variations in the ionosphere of Mars.