Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Effect Of H-2 On The Martian Ionosphere: Implications For Atmospheric Evolution, Jane L. Fox

Physics Faculty Publications

Because H₂ reacts efficiently with O⁺, CO₂ ⁺, CO⁺, and N₂ ⁺, the molecular hydrogen abundance assumed in models of the Martian ionosphere greatly affects the high altitude density profiles of these ions. We have found that models of the low solar activity Martian ionosphere exhibit much smaller O⁺ densities than the measured values if the adopted H₂ abundance is of the order of 40 ppm, the value proposed in a 1998 model of the Martian atmosphere. For a model based on the recently measured H₂ abundance of …