Bonn 2010 – scientific programme
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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik
EP 9: Planets and Small Bodies II
EP 9.4: Talk
Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 09:30–09:45, AKM
Meteor layers in the Martian ionosphere: Observations and Modelling — •Kerstin Peter1, Gregorio Molina Cuberos2, Olivier Witasse3, and Martin Pätzold1 — 1Rhenish Institute for Environmental Research, Dept. Planetary Research, Cologne, Germany — 2Universidad de Murcia, Dep. Física, Facultad de Quimica, Murcia, Spain — 3Research and Scientific Support Division of ESA, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
There are two main sources of the meteoric flux into planetary atmospheres: the meteoroid stream component and the sporadic meteoroid component. Models of the evolution of meteoroid streams show that they can be created by parent comets, when particles are removed from the comet's surface by nongravitational forces. The gravity influence of the sun and planets acts as a forming factor over long periods of time. The sporadic meteoroid component is the dominant source of the meteoric flux into planetary atmospheres. Interplanetary dust, i.e. from collisions in the Kuiper belt or the asteroid belt, contributes most to this component.
Observations by the radio science experiments MaRS and VeRa on Mars Express and Venus Express revealed the sporadic as well as the expected (from cometary orbit plane crossings) appearance of meteor layers in the Martian and Venusian ionosphere below the common secondary layers.
This paper will present the status of the detection of the Martian meteor layer in MaRS electron density profiles and the first steps towards the modelling of these meteor layers.