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Speaker: Christopher Gerekos, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics

Host: Cyril Grima

Title: Observation of type-II and type-III solar burst events in orbital Martian radar sounder data

Abstract: Multi-spacecraft and multiwavelength observations of solar eruptions such as flares and coronal mass ejections are essential to understand the complex processes behind these events. The study of solar burst events in the radio-frequency spectrum has relied almost exclusively on data from ground-based radiotelescopes and dedicated heliophysics missions such as STEREO, Wind, or Parker Solar Probe. Reanalysing existing data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Shallow Radar (SHARAD) and Mars Express Mars Advanced Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounder (MARSIS) instruments, both Martian planetary radar sounders, we have detected a number of solar burst events with a correlated observation by at least one dedicated solar mission. The very high resolution of the instruments, both in temporal and frequency directions, its bandwidth, and its position in the solar system enable SHARAD and MARSIS to make significant contributions to heliophysics; it could inform on plasma processes on the site of the burst generation and also along the propagation path of associated fast electron beams.