9816237 Paxton A research team led by Dr. Larry Paxton will investigate the processes which populate the exospheres of Mars, Venus, and Earth and which can lead to significant escape of atomic oxygen from the Mars atmosphere. The group will produce model distributions of the exospheric atomic oxygen and validate the model by comparing it to existing observational data sets. The result will be a comparison of the mechanisms at work in each of the three planets' exospheres and a first order look at how they have varied over time. The main area of concentration will be the processes at work in the Martian atmosphere and the implications for atmospheric evolution. Funding for this project is shared among the Division of Astronomical Sciences, the Division of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.
