资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Flux ropes are a magnetic field phenomenon characterized by a filament of twisted, helical magnetic field around an axial core. They form in the Martian ionosphere via three distinct mechanisms: boundary wave instabilities (BWI), external reconnection (ER) between the interplanetary magnetic field and the crustal anomalies, and internal reconnection (IR) of the crustal anomalies themselves. We have identified 121 magnetic flux ropes from 1900 orbits using plasma and magnetic field measurements measured by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, and separate flux ropes into categories based on formation mechanism by analyzing electron signatures. We find evidence for flux ropes formed via BWI, ER, and IR mechanisms which comprise 9%, 34%, and 57% of our dataset, respectively. Flux ropes formed via different mechanisms exhibit differences in location and force‐free radius, indicating the formation mechanism of a flux rope impacts their influence on the Martian plasma environment.