Abstract
A review of the experimental evidence of planeta y plasma flows in the Venus and Mars ionospheres is presented. It is argued that similar processes are responsible for the plasma flows observed in both planets and that they are related to the transfer of momentum of the shocked solar wind to the planetary ionospheres. Pickup ions born in the solar wind and scattered into the latter region through momentum scattering interactions with local turbulent wave fields are assumed to be the carriers of that momentum. Calculations of a balance condition between the height-integrated momentum flux of the planetary plasma flow and the height-integrated deficiency of momentum flux exhibited by the shocked solar wind that streams around both planets lead to flow speeds in good agreement with measurements.
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