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Hartle & Killen 2006
Hartle, R.E. and Killen, R. (2006). Measuring pickup ions to characterize the surfaces and exospheres of planetary bodies: Applications to the Moon. Geophysical Research Letters 33: doi: 10.1029/2005GL024520. issn: 0094-8276.

The composition and structure of neutral exospheres imbedded in the solar wind can be determined by measurements of their pickup ion progeny. Using Earth's Moon as the parent body, we consider transport of pickup ions from their birthplaces to measurement sites on possible spacecraft orbits. An ion observed to have a specific mass and velocity at a spacecraft position can be mapped back to its point of birth on the surface or in the atmosphere. Ion measurements of this type are shown to be a sensitive way to map the composition of surfaces and atmospheres of bodies with surface bound exospheres.

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Abstract

Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Exosphere, Planetary Sciences, Solid Surface Planets, Atmospheres (0343, 1060), Planetary Sciences, Solar System Objects, Moon, Planetary Sciences, Comets and Small Bodies, Surfaces, Planetary Sciences, Comets and Small Bodies, Atmospheres
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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