Magnetosheath jets around Mars - a statistical study
Tara Mohammed-Amin presents her MSc thesis
Time: Wed 2023-06-28 16.15 - 17.30
Location: Ivar Herlitz
Video link: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/8789869213
Participating: Tara Mohammed-Amin
Magnetosheath jets is a relatively young research field and was first studied a
couple of decades ago on Earth. They are defined as sudden dynamic pressure
enhancements in the magnetospheric plasma, and there are multiple possible
generation mechanisms available. Moreover, many different effects the jets
have on their surroundings have been studied, although there are still questions
left unanswered which researchers are currently investigating.
As of this year (2023) a paper was published concerning the discovery
of magnetosheath jets at Mars. This meant that the phenomenon is not
exclusively coupled with Earth, but they can be found in other environments
too.
The work in this thesis will attempt to statistically describe the jets in this
new environment so that inferences about them can be drawn. It will be done
by conducting a comprehensive search in the data from the NASA MAVEN
mission using selective criteria to pull out jets so they can be analyzed. From
the results we will be able to make comparisons between Mars and Earth,
which will hopefully help fill some gaps of knowledge on the topic.
By the end of this thesis it will be seen that magnetosheath jets are, indeed,
a reoccurring happening at Mars which we are able to statistically study. It will
be evident how they behave, both in independently and in relation to their close
surroundings. Specifically distributions of some properties will be displayed,
correlations will be determined, and spatial mapping of the sample will be
presented.