Time‐Dependent Hybrid Plasma Simulations of Lunar Electromagnetic Induction in the Solar Wind

Abstract

AbstractUnderstanding the structure and composition of the lunar interior is fundamental to furthering our knowledge of the formation and subsequent evolution of the Earth‐Moon system. Among various methods, electromagnetic sounding is a valuable approach to constraining lunar interior structure. While Apollo‐era electromagnetic sounding analyses of lunar magnetometer observations reported constraints on the lunar interior structure, the presence of perturbing plasma currents and magnetic fields was often regarded as a second‐order correction. Here, we use AMITIS, a three‐dimensional, time‐dependent hybrid plasma model with a conducting lunar interior to demonstrate that electromagnetic fields from the lunar wake and from the lunar interior interact and thereby alter geophysically induced electromagnetic fields. Our results indicate that electromagnetic sounding of airless bodies interacting with a conductive plasma and exposed to a time‐varying magnetic field must be interpreted via plasma models in order to untangle plasma and induced field contributions.