Factors controlling the location of the Bow Shock at Mars

Abstract

During the first year of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission, 553 shock crossings have been identified from a total of 363 orbits. The shape of the shock has been determined by examining the MGS spacecraft Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer (MAG/ER) data. The location of the shock was found highly variable. The present study shows that the high crustal magnetic sources, found in the southern hemisphere, do not seem responsible for the Bow Shock (BS) variability. The present study shows that contrary to many expectations there is no obvious strong one to one correlation between the location of the highest crustal sources and the variability of the shock position. On the other hand, the shock appears farthest from Mars in the hemisphere of locally upward interplanetary electric field consistent with the idea that mass loading play a role in controlling the BS location, which confirms previous results.