Empirical Functions for Highly Charged Ion Abundances in Solar Wind Charge Exchange Models: Addressing Post‐2011 ACE Data Limitations
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Upcoming imaging missions—NASA's LEXI and ESA/CAS's SMILE—will target solar wind charge exchange X‐ray (SWCX) emission from Earth's magnetosheath. This emission is generated by highly charged ions colliding with neutrals in Earth's exosphere. Accurate SWCX models require data on exospheric neutral densities, as well as solar wind flux and composition. The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Solar Wind Ionic Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) provided the needed solar wind composition data from 1998 until an instrument anomaly in 2011 limited its outputs. To address this, we developed empirical functions using ion ratios () still available from ACE, partially compensating for missing composition data. The results underscore the need for a new mission to measure solar wind composition and support future SWCX analysis efforts.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2024gl114374
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales, Goddard Space Flight Center, Johns Hopkins University, University of Leicester, University of Michigan
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Awards: G1363476171, G4573223905, G5593478604
OpenAlex ID: W4409881990