Fig. 5: Neutral wind field pattern inferred from ionospheric current and the MGCM model.
From: Two distinct current systems in the ionosphere of Mars
a The horizontal wind field estimated from the ionospheric current at the altitude of 150 km. The neutral wind velocity \({{{{\bf{v}}}}}_{{{{\rm{n}}}}}\) is calculated using the formula \({{{{\bf{v}}}}}_{{{{\rm{n}}}}}={{{\bf{J}}}}/{n}_{e}q\), where \({{{\bf{J}}}}\) is the ionospheric current, \({n}_{e}\) is the electron density, and \(q\) is the elementary charge. The X-axis represents the East-West direction, and the Y-axis represents the North-South direction. Black arrows indicate the direction and the magnitude of the wind field in the horizontal plane. The shaded area denotes the nightside regions. The contour map displays the intensity of the wind field. The green arrows indicate the dawn-to-dusk wind field flow in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. b The horizontal wind field at 130 km altitude predicted by Mars Global Circulation Model. The wind field is averaged across all Martian seasons and geographic longitudes22. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
