Modeling of Venus, Mars, and Titan

Esa Kallio (1) , Jean-Yves Chaufray (2) , Ronan Modolo (3) , Darci Snowden (4) , Robert Winglee (5)

1 FMI - Finnish Meteorological Institute
2 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
3 HELIOS - LATMOS
4 LPL - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson]
5 Department of Earth and Space Sciences [Seattle]

Increased computer capacity has made it possible to model the global plasma and neutral dynamics near Venus, Mars and Saturn's moon Titan. The plasma interactions at Venus, Mars, and Titan are similar because each possess a substantial atmosphere but lacks a global internally generated magnetic field. In this article three self-consistent plasma models are described: the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model, the hybrid model and the fully kinetic plasma model. Chamberlain and Monte Carlo models of the Martian exosphere are also described. In particular, we describe the pros and cons of each model approach. Results from simulations are presented to demonstrate the ability of the models to capture the known plasma and neutral dynamics near the three objects.

Mots clés: Numerical modeling; Full kinetic model; Hybrid model; Magnetohydrodynamic model; Exosphere model; Venus; Mars; Titan; Planetary magnetospheres; Planetary exospheres

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

Esa Kallio, Jean-Yves Chaufray, Ronan Modolo, Darci Snowden, Robert Winglee. Modeling of Venus, Mars, and Titan. Space Science Reviews, 2011, 162 (1-4), pp.267-307. ⟨10.1007/s11214-011-9814-8⟩. ⟨hal-00631053⟩