Electrostatic Phenomena on Planetary Surfaces

Description

The diverse planetary environments in the solar system react in somewhat different ways to the encompassing influence of the Sun. These different interactions define the electrostatic phenomena that take place on and near planetary surfaces. The desire to understand the electrostatic environments of planetary surfaces goes beyond scientific inquiry. These environments have enormous implications for both human and robotic exploration of the solar system. This book describes in some detail what is known about the electrostatic environment of the solar system from early and current experiments on Earth as well as what is being learned from the instrumentation on the space exploration missions (NASA, European Space Agency, and the Japanese Space Agency) of the last few decades. It begins with a brief review of the basic principles of electrostatics. PRELIMS.pdf Preface Acknowledgements Author biography Carlos I Calle CH001.pdf Chapter 1 Introduction CH002.pdf Chapter 2 Electrostatics principles 2.1 Coulomb’s law and the principle of superposition 2.2 The electric field 2.3 Gauss’s law 2.4 Electric potential 2.5 Conductors in electrostatic fields 2.6 Capacitance 2.7 Electrostatic breakdown 2.8 Dielectrics in electric fields 2.9 Plasmas References CH003.pdf Chapter 3 Electrical breakdown and charge decay in planetary atmospheres 3.1 Electrical breakdown in planetary atmospheres 3.2 Glow discharges and ion wind 3.3 Charge mobility 3.4 Charge decay in planetary atmospheres References CH004.pdf Chapter 4 The terrestrial electrostatic environment 4.1 The Earth’s atmosphere 4.2 Electrical breakdown in the terrestrial atmosphere 4.3 Radiation from the Sun: the solar wind 4.4 Radiation belts 4.5 Auroras References CH005.pdf Chapter 5 Spacecraft and satellites in the electrostatic environment of the Earth 5.1 Spacecraft and satellite orbits 5.2 Spacecraft charging 5.3 Spacecraft charging in LEO 5.4 Charging of the ISS 5.5 Spacecraft charging in MEO 5.6 Spacecraft charging in GEO 5.7 Mitigation techniques References CH006.pdf Chapter 6 The electrostatic environment of the Moon 6.1 The lunar surface environment 6.2 The lunar electrostatic environment 6.3 Electrostatic charging of the lunar regolith 6.4 Triboelectric charging on the lunar surface References CH007.pdf Chapter 7 The electrostatic environment of asteroids 7.1 The asteroid electrostatic environment 7.2 Electrostatic dust transport 7.3 Cohesive forces in asteroids References CH008.pdf Chapter 8 The Martian electrostatic environment 8.1 The Martian atmosphere 8.2 Electrical breakdown in the Martian atmosphere 8.3 Electrostatic charge and size of Martian atmospheric dust particles References CH009.pdf Chapter 9 The electrostatic environments of Venus and Mercury 9.1 Electrical phenomena in the Venusian atmosphere 9.2 The electrostatic environment of Mercury References CH010.pdf Chapter 10 The electrostatic environments of the giant planets 10.1 The electrostatic and magnetic environments of Jupiter 10.2 Lightning on Jupiter 10.3 The electrostatic environment of Saturn 10.4 The electrostatic environments of Uranus and Neptune 10.5 The electrostatic environment of Saturn’s moon Titan References