A Kinetic Model for Precipitation of Solar-Wind Protons into the Martian Atmosphere

Abstract—

We present the kinetic Monte-Carlo model, which was developed to describe the influence of a proton flux from the undisturbed solar wind on the daytime atmosphere of Mars. For the first time, the degradation of the solar-wind proton spectrum in the cascade charge-exchange process in the extended hydrogen corona of Mars has been self-consistently modeled; and the energy fluxes and energy spectra of hydrogen atoms penetrating into the daytime upper atmosphere through the boundary of the induced magnetosphere have been determined. The obtained characteristics make it possible to model numerically the proton auroral phenomena observed in the upper atmosphere of Mars with the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer onboard the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft. In our future studies, we plan to compare the results of these calculations to those of observations, which will provide a unique opportunity to determine more accurately the properties of the atmosphere and the magnetic field of Mars, as well as will improve the techniques for determining the solar wind parameters.