Abstract
Orbiter ion mass spectrometer measurements, as available in the UADS data files are used to study the response of dayside Venus ions at various altitudes to solar wind dynamic pressure, P sw. Ion densities below about 200 km are not affected by changes in P sw. At altitudes above 200 km the ions get abruptly depleted with increase in P sw, and this abrupt depletion occurs at lower altitudes when P sw is high. At lower P sw, the depletion occurs at higher altitudes. The effect is similar for all ions. These results are also compared with the empirical relationship observed by Brace et al. (1980) between the ionopause altitude and P sw from electron density measurements on orbiter electron temperature probe.
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Upadhyay, H.O., Mahajan, K.K. Response of Venus ions to solar wind dynamic pressure. Earth Moon Planet 74, 215–222 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00055187
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00055187