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We present observations from five Mars Express (MEX) orbits in September 2016 while the spacecraft passed through the Martian induced magnetotail at altitudes up to 3,500 km. On these orbits, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) instrument was operated in Active Ionospheric Sounding (AIS) mode at much higher altitude than normal, acting as a local sounder and detecting cold plasma structures in this region. In this paper we combine MARSIS tail measurements with solar wind data from the Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA) instrument and the Magnetometer (MAG) from Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) in order to investigate possible factors affecting plasma transport from the dayside and through the terminator. MARSIS observed structured cold ionospheric plasma along its trajectory, at all altitudes and solar zenith angles (SZAs). Isolated regions of cold plasma were also observed on each orbit as the spacecraft crossed the terminator, even at high altitudes. We conclude that the variability of plasma seen in the tail results from a multifactorial transport process, the development of which cannot be attributed to a sole parameter influencing it, despite the availability of simultaneous high quality solar wind measurements.

This is a two-spacecraft study, in which we investigate the effects of the upstream solar wind conditions on the Martian induced magnetosphere and upper ionosphere. We use Mars Express (MEX) magnetic field magnitude data together with interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), solar wind density, and velocity measurements from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission, from November 2014 to November 2018. We compare simultaneous observations of the magnetic field magnitude in the induced magnetosphere of Mars (|B|(IM)) with the IMF magnitude (|B|(IMF)), and we examine variations in the ratio |B|(IM)/|B|(IMF) with solar wind dynamic pressure, speed and density. We find that the |B|(IM)/|B|(IMF) ratio in the induced magnetosphere generally decreases with increased dynamic pressure and that a more structured interaction is seen when comparing induced fields to the instantaneous IMF, where reductions in the relative fields at the magnetic pile up boundary (MPB) are more evident than in the field strength itself, along with enhancements in the immediate vicinity of the optical shadow of Mars. We interpret these results as evidence that while the induced magnetosphere is indeed compressed and induced field strengths are higher during periods of high dynamic pressure, a relatively larger amount of magnetic flux threads the region compared to that available from the unperturbed IMF during low dynamic pressure intervals.

Mars Express and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) observations have demonstrated the influence of Mars's spatially variable crustal magnetic fields upon the configuration of the plasma in the ionosphere. This influence furthermore leads to variations in ionospheric escape, conceivably in part through the modification of the plasma density and electron temperature in the upper ionosphere. In this study, we examine MAVEN Langmuir Probe and Waves data, finding a clear correspondence between the structure of the crustal fields and both the measured electron temperatures and densities, by first constructing an "average " profile from which departures can be quantified. Electron temperatures are shown to be lower in regions of strong crustal fields over a wide altitude range. We extend previous analyses to cover the nightside ionosphere, finding the same effects present to a lesser degree, in contrast to previous studies where the opposite relationship was found between densities and crustal fields. We further determine the altitude range over which this coupling between both plasma density (and temperature) and crustal fields is effective and use measurements made by MAVEN in the solar wind to explore the dependence of this crustal field control on the coupling to the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Based on this, there is some suggestion that variations in the solar wind dynamic pressure are associated with modulation of the effects of the crustal fields on plasma density, whereas the strength of the IMF modulates the crustal fields effects on both electron densities and temperatures.

We investigate the structure of the Venusian magnetotail utilizing magnetic field and electron density measurements that cover a wide range of distances from the planet, from the first two Solar Orbiter Venus flybys. We examine the magnetic field components along the spacecraft trajectory up to 80 Venus radii down the tail. Even though the magnetic field behavior differs considerably between the two cases, we see extended electron density enhancements covering distances greater than ∼20 R_V in both flybys. We compare the magnetic field measurements with a global hybrid model of the induced magnetosphere and magnetotail of Venus, to examine to what degree the observations can be understood with the simulation. The model upstream conditions are stationary and the solution encloses a large volume of 83 R_V × 60 R_V × 60 R_V in which we look for spatial magnetic field and plasma variations. We rotate the simulation solution to describe different stationary upstream IMF clock angle cases with a 10° step and find the clock angle for which the agreement between observations and model is maximized along Solar Orbiter's trajectory in 1-min steps. We find that in both flybys there is better agreement with the observations when we rotate the model for some intervals, while there are parts that cannot be well reproduced by the model irrespective of how we vary the IMF clock angle, suggesting the presence of non-stationary features in  the Venus-solar wind interaction not accounted for in the hybrid model.