Some Characteristic Features of the Ionospheres of Near-Earth Planets

Abstract

The atmosphere of a planet is largely responsible for the degree of influence solar radiation exerts on the planet’s surface. It determines the type of interaction of the interplanetary medium with a planet and it is upon this that the physical characteristics of the circumplanetary space depend. The ionospheres of planets, being the substantial parts of their atmospheres, interact with these by the ionization-recombination cycle as well as by the dynamical processes of heat and mass transfer and by energy exchange between charged and neutral particles. It is very difficult to understand the heat balance in the atmospheres and their dynamics without knowing the structure of the ionospheres and the processes involved in their formation. In addition, this structure of the ionosphere determines the propagation of radio waves near the planet.