Ducted electromagnetic waves in the Martian ionosphere detected by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding radar

Abstract

AbstractIn the data of the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding on board the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Mars Express (MEX), a distinctive type of signals (called the “epsilon signature”), which is similar to that previously detected during radio sounding of the terrestrial F region ionosphere, is found. The signature is interpreted to originate from multiple reflections of electromagnetic waves propagating along sounder pulse‐created, crustal magnetic field‐aligned plasma bubbles (waveguides). The signatures have a low (below 0.5%) occurrence rate and apparent cutoff frequencies 3–5 times higher than the theoretical one for an ordinary mode wave. These properties are explained by the influence of the perpendicular ionospheric plasma density gradient and the sounder pulse frequency on the formation of waveguides.