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withers

HR: 11:10h
AN: U52A-02
TI: Effects of Solar Flares on Earth and Mars
AU: * Mendillo, M
EM: mendillo@bu.edu
AF: Boston University Center for Space Physics, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 United States
AU: Withers, P
EM: withers@bu.edu
AF: Boston University Center for Space Physics, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 United States
AB: Flares on the Sun have long been known to cause changes in the Earth's ionosphere. At other planets, ionospheric observations are far less common, and certainly not continuous, making the detection of short-lived flare effects not easy to demonstrate. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) radio science experiment has now made 4896 measurements of the electron density profiles at Mars since 1998; recent analyses have shown large electron density enhancements to be due unambiguously to flares. In this paper, we will review briefly the types of flare effects seen in the Earth's ionosphere, and relate them to the EUV and X-ray flare emissions that cause enhancements to the F-layer's total electron content (TEC) and to the E-layer's peak density, respectively. We will contrast these with effects now being seen at Mars, assessing both TEC variations and changes in Mars' secondary ionospheric layer. The different roles of ionization by photo-electrons at the two planets are major factors in understanding solar-terrestrial-martian relationships.
DE: 6207 Comparative planetology
DE: 6225 Mars
DE: 2400 IONOSPHERE (6929)
DE: 2435 Ionospheric disturbances
DE: 2479 Solar radiation and cosmic ray effects
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2006 Joint Assembly