A new model of the crustal magnetic field of Mars using MGS and MAVEN.

Abstract

While devoid of an active magnetic field today, Mars possesses a remanent magnetic field which may reach several thousand nT locally. The exact origin, and the events which have shaped the crustal magnetization remain largely enigmatic. Three magnetic field datasets from two spacecraft collected over 13 cumulative years have sampled the martian magnetic field over a range of altitudes from 90 km up to 6000 km: a- Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) magnetometer (1997-2006); b- MGS Electron Reflectometer (1999-2006); c- MAVEN magnetometer (2014-today). In this paper we combine these complementary datasets for the first time to build a new model of the martian internal magnetic field. This new model improves upon previous ones in several aspects: comprehensive data coverage; refined data selection scheme; modified modeling scheme; discrete-to-continuous transformation of the model; increased model resolution. The new model has a spatial resolution of ~ 160 km at the surface, corresponding to spherical harmonic degree 134. It shows small scales and well defined features, which can now be associated with geological signatures.