Absorption of Whistler Mode Waves in the Ionosphere of Venus

It is shown that whistler mode waves from the ionosheath of Venus are absorbed by Landau damping at the dayside ionosphere boundary. This process heats the ionospheric electrons and it may provide an important energy input into the dayside ionosphere. Cyclotron damping of the waves does not occur in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1979-07, Vol.205 (4401), p.112-114
Main Authors: Taylor, W. W. L., Scarf, F. L., Russell, C. T., Brace, L. H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmosphere
Cyclotron resonance
Cyclotrons
Damping
Electric fields
Electrons
Energy
Ionosphere
Ionospheres
Magnetic fields
Observations
Particle resonance
Space probes
Venus
Venus (Planet)
Venusian atmosphere
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Summary:It is shown that whistler mode waves from the ionosheath of Venus are absorbed by Landau damping at the dayside ionosphere boundary. This process heats the ionospheric electrons and it may provide an important energy input into the dayside ionosphere. Cyclotron damping of the waves does not occur in the same region. However, Landau damping of ionosheath waves is apparently not an important energy source in the nightside ionosphere. Impulsive events in the nightside ionosphere seem to fall into two classes: (i) lightning signals (near periapsis) and (ii) noise, which may be caused by gradient or current instabilities.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.205.4401.112