A new 3D parallel multi-species hybrid model for Solar Wind - Mars interaction

International audienceDue to the absence of strong intrinsic magnetic field, the Martian atmosphere/exosphere is directly in contact with the Solar Wind, exchanging part of its momentum and energy. This coupling occurs via ionization processes and contributes to the erosion of the neutral environment of the planet. Several space missions (past, active and future), such as Phobos-2, MGS, Mars-Express and soon MAVEN, are dedicated to reveal the Martian neutral and ionized environment properties. Many in situ observations are available and characterize the plasma (and neutral) environment in the near vicinity of the spacecraft but these observations are highly localized in space and time. With a single spacecraft it is difficult to separate spatial from temporal structures and we often resort to global simulation to set back the observation in a global context. In the frame of the HELIOSARES project (granted by the French National Agency), we have parallelized our previous hybrid model. This study presents the first simulation results with an improved 75 km spatial resolution from a 3-dimensional parallel multi-species hybrid model of the Martian interaction with the Solar Wind