Journal
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS
Volume 124, Issue 3, Pages 1823-1842Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2018JA026366
Keywords
magnetic topology; Mars; MAVEN; pitch angle distribution; photoelectrons
Categories
Funding
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) [NNH10CC04C]
- NASA through the Mars Exploration Program
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Magnetic topology is important for understanding the Martian plasma environment, including particle precipitation, energy transport, cold ion escape, and wave-particle interaction. In this study, we combine two independent but complementary methods in order to determine magnetic topology based on superthermal electron energy and pitch angle distributions. This approach removes ambiguities that result from using either energy or pitch angle alone, providing a more accurate and comprehensive determination of magnetic topology than previous studies. By applying this combined technique, we are able to identify seven magnetic topologies, including four types of closed field lines, two types of open field lines, and draped. All seven topologies are present in the Mars environment and are mapped in longitude, latitude, solar zenith angle, and altitude with the combined technique near the terminator. We find that closed field lines with double-sided loss cones are frequently present over stronger crustal field regions at higher altitudes. We also show that the cross-terminator closed field lines are more spatially confined over strong crustal regions, likely connecting nearby magnetic crustal patches. In contrast, cross-terminator closed loops over weak crustal regions have more distantly separated foot points, most likely connecting distant crustal patches.
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