<h1 class="ql-align-center"><strong style="color: rgb(230, 0, 0);">Solitary Wave</strong></h1><p class="ql-align-center"><br></p><h3><strong>Context</strong>&nbsp;</h3><ul><li class="ql-indent-1">A research team from the Indian <strong>Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG)</strong>, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has recently identified and reported the solitary waves in the Martian magnetosphere.</li><li class="ql-indent-2">It was done with the help of high-resolution electric field data recorded by <strong>Langmuir Probe and Waves instrument on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft of NASA.</strong></li></ul><h3><strong>Background&nbsp;</strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-indent-1">The study of these waves is crucial as they directly control particle energization, plasma loss, transport, etc., through wave-particle interactions.</li></ul><p><br></p><h3><strong>Solitary Wave&nbsp;</strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-indent-1">Solitary waves are distinct<strong> electric field fluctuations (bipolar or monopolar)</strong> that follow constant amplitude-phase relations. Their shape and size are less affected during their propagation.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">These pulses are dominantly seen in the dawn and afternoon dusk sectors at an altitude of 1000–3500 km around Mars.&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-indent-1">The dominant occurrence of solitary waves in the dawn and dusk sector is still a mystery and needs further investigation.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">As these waves are known to be responsible for the plasma energization and its transport in Earth’s magnetosphere, the team is further exploring their role in the particle dynamics in the Martian magnetosphere and whether such waves play any role in the loss of atmospheric ions on Mars.</li></ul><p><br></p><h3><strong>MAVEN spacecraft</strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-indent-1">The <strong>Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, </strong>which launched in 2013.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">It is the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">The goal of this&nbsp;spacecraft is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time.&nbsp;</li></ul><p class="ql-align-center"><br></p><h1 class="ql-align-center"><strong>PRELIMS NOTES:</strong><a href="https://sunyaias.in/notes/prelims-2023" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204);"><strong>CLICK HERE</strong></a></h1><p><br></p>