Iowa Space Grant Consortium

Dani Lipman

Student: Dani Lipman, Undergraduate Student in Physics & Astronomy, University of Iowa
Research Mentor: Jasper Halekas

Characterizing the structure of the Martian bow shock

This project focuses on characterizing the structure of the Martian bow shock using data from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission (MAVEN). I am investigating the structure of the density, velocity, and magnetic field across the shock, as observed by MAVEN
and fitting simple functions to the profile of the shock. The end goal of the project is to develop a computer algorithm to fit simple functions to bow shock profiles.

dani-lipman-maven-1

The top picture shows a simple step function on top of a density vs. time profile of the bow shock as the MAVEN spacecraft passes through the Martian shock. Below that is a residual plot of the actual bow shock densities and the step function. The goal is to use the residuals in order to make an automated program to fit many profiles very quickly before finding other functions that could help characterize the bow shock.
The top picture shows a simple step function on top of a density vs. time profile of the bow shock as the MAVEN spacecraft passes through the Martian shock. Below that is a residual plot of the actual bow shock densities and the step function. The goal is to use the residuals in order to make an automated program to fit many profiles very quickly before finding other functions that could help characterize the bow shock.