Climatology of Martian Ionospheric Disturbances Deduced From MAVEN Data in 2014–2023

Abstract

AbstractWe investigate the climatology of Martian ionospheric disturbances using Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution missioN (MAVEN) data in 2014–2023. The disturbance strength is estimated by calculating residuals of in situ density from its large‐scale (filter window size ∼560 km) background and normalizing the residual with the background, as has been commonly used in terrestrial aeronomy. The disturbances are statistically stronger (a) in the local winter hemisphere than in summer and (b) on the nightside than on the dayside, with stark contrast across the terminator. The disturbances are more intense over the regions with strong radial magnetic fields (i.e., Martian crustal anomaly) than at unmagnetized regions, especially during the nighttime. Day‐to‐day variability of the Martian ionospheric disturbances does not exhibit a strong correlation with those of thermospheric CO2 disturbances or solar wind electron density/temperature at Mars.