Modulational Instability of Electromagnetic Waves on Mars Associated with Dust Acoustic Mode

Abstract

It is assumed that the low-frequency noise recorded on the surface of Mars may be associated with a charged dust component in its atmosphere and the occurrence of sound perturbations in such a dust system that modulate the electromagnetic wave from the Sun. It is also shown that it can be associated with plasma-dust processes in meteoroid tails. The mechanism for the excitation of modulational instability of an electromagnetic wave associated with a dust acoustic mode in the Martian atmosphere, namely in dust clouds at an altitude of 60 and 100 km, where the dusty plasma with particles of frozen carbon dioxide is detected, is described. It is shown that the development of modulational instability is due to the influence of high-frequency electromagnetic waves on the dusty plasma in the Martian atmosphere from both natural sources (solar radiation, lightning discharges) and anthropogenic nature (from equipment from space satellites and from stations on the surface of the planet). The parameters of electromagnetic pump waves, at which the active development of modulational instability of electromagnetic waves associated with the dust acoustic mode is expected, and the modulational instability growth rates are found. The development of the modulational instability in the dusty plasma of Martian clouds, in turn, can explain the occurrence of low-frequency noise recorded by equipment on the surface of Mars. The relation between observed radio noise in the range of 3 Hz–3 kHz and plasma-dust processes in the Martian atmosphere, in particular, in dust clouds at 60 and 100 km, as well as in dusty plasma meteroid tails, where the dust concentration is high, is discussed.