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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 33,
L05201,
5 PP., 2006
doi:10.1029/2005GL024520
Measuring pickup ions to characterize the surfaces and exospheres of planetary bodies: Applications to the Moon
Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Astronomy Department, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
The composition and structure of neutral exospheres imbedded in the solar wind can be determined by measurements of their pickup ion progeny. Using Earth's Moon as the parent body, we consider transport of pickup ions from their birthplaces to measurement sites on possible spacecraft orbits. An ion observed to have a specific mass and velocity at a spacecraft position can be mapped back to its point of birth on the surface or in the atmosphere. Ion measurements of this type are shown to be a sensitive way to map the composition of surfaces and atmospheres of bodies with surface bound exospheres.
Received 31 August 2005; accepted 19 January 2006; published 11 March 2006.
Citation: (2006), Measuring pickup ions to characterize the surfaces and exospheres of planetary bodies: Applications to the Moon, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L05201, doi:10.1029/2005GL024520.
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