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Detailed Reference Information
Crider et al. 2002
Crider, D.H., Acuña, M.H., Connerney, J.E.P., Vignes, D., Ness, N.F., Krymskii, A.M., Breus, T.K., Rème, H., Mazelle, C., Mitchell, D.L., Lin, R.P., Cloutier, P.A. and Winterhalter, D. (2002). Observations of the latitude dependence of the location of the martian magnetic pileup boundary. Geophysical Research Letters 29: doi: 10.1029/2001GL013860. issn: 0094-8276.

We report observations that show the dependence of the altitude of the magnetic pileup boundary (MPB) at Mars on planetary latitude. As seen by the Mars Global Surveyor Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer instrument, the MPB is further away from Mars on average at southern latitudes than at northern latitudes. The data are consistent with a MPB distance mapped to the terminator plane that does not vary with latitude in the northern hemisphere, but increases with increasing southern latitude in the southern hemisphere. We also report increased variability in the MPB distance within the longitude range 90--270¿ E. longitude in the southern hemisphere which is the region that contains the strongest crustal magnetic fields. These trends are most obvious in a planet-fixed coordinate system, indicating a planet-fixed driver of the MPB location. The proposed mechanism is the local diversion of shocked solar wind flow by crustal magnetic fields.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Magnetospheric Physics, Solar wind interactions with unmagnetized bodies, Planetology, Solar System Objects, Mars, Planetary Sciences, Magnetospheres, Ionosphere, Planetary ionospheres (5435, 5729, 6026, 6027, 6028)
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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