Co-Leads: Shane Stone, Diego Janches

Apply existing and develop improved kinetic and fluid modeling tools to study the coupling between planetary exospheres, ionospheres and magnetospheres throughout the Solar System.

Three sub-objectives:

• Model atmospheric loss, including ion outflow, from the upper atmospheres of Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Titan. Validate with data
• Extend dynamical models of dust transport in our Solar System; evaluate the influx of asteroidal and cometary material to planetary atmospheres and the space weathering of airless bodies by meteoroid impacts; and calibrate with data from the outer to the inner Solar System (Jupiter/Saturn system to Mercury)
• Compare planetary magnetospheres and their interactions with exospheres and surfaces. Targeting Jovian and Saturnian plasma interactions with Icy Moons, solar wind interactions with Mercury’s regolith.