Seasonal Variation of the Martian Dayside Ionosphere

Abstract The Martian ionosphere has many similarities and differences compared to Earth, attracting significant attention. This paper utilizes radio occultation data from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN), and ESA Mars Express mission (MEX), associated with the measurements from Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) aboard MEX, to investigate the seasonal variation of the Martian dayside ionosphere. Data preprocessing is performed first to isolate the influence of solar zenith angle and solar radiation, the seasonal variation of the Martian dayside ionosphere explored in this study. The results suggest that the peak electron density reaches its minimum and maximum at LS = 70.2° and LS = 250.2°, respectively, with an amplitude of 16.5% concerning the average (LS is referred to as the solar longitude of Mars). The peak altitude experiences its minimum at LS = 78.4° and maximum at LS = 258.4°, and its relative amplitude is 12.1%. The outcomes suggest that the seasonal variations in the Martian ionosphere are primarily attributed to the Mars‐Sun distance change, which is different from the situation on Earth. This study will benefit both Martian ionosphere modeling and Earth’s ionosphere understanding in the future.