DOI: 10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4q8
title: Advancing Mars space weather forecasting: multi-point validation during a major solar storm

description: As Mars becomes a key target for sustained robotic and future human
 missions, reliable space weather forecasting is increasingly critical.
 This study presents the first practical, validated predictive plasma
 modeling at Mars, using simultaneous multi-point observations during both
 an extreme solar storm and a relatively quiet period. The physics based
 global model accurately reproduces the key plasma and magnetic features of
 the near-Mars environment, from the magnetosheath to the ionosphere, with
 unprecedented agreement to MAVEN and Tianwen-1 magnetometer data
 (normalized root mean square error &lt;15%). It also captures the
 dynamic Martian current system, shaped by the interplanetary magnetic
 field and the rotating crustal fields, which particularly affects the tail
 current configuration. This work marks a crucial step toward practical
 space weather forecasting at Mars.
description: # Advancing Mars space weather forecasting: multi-point validation during
 a major solar storm Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4q8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4q8)
 **Description of the data and file structure** **File:
 Fig1_2_sat_TW20240517_18_n000000.sat** **Description:** ascii file for MHD
 model results along Tianwen-1 orbit for Event1. VARIABLES="it"
 "Year" "mn" "day" "hour"
 "min" "Sec" "ms" "X [R]" "Y
 [R]" "Z [R]" "`r [amu/cm^3]"  "`r^H^p
 [amu/cm^3]" "`r^O^2^p [amu/cm^3]" "`r^O^p
 [amu/cm^3]" "`r^C^O^2^p [amu/cm^3]" "U_x [km/s]"
 "U_y [km/s]" "U_z [km/s]""B_x [nT]"
 "B_y [nT]" "B_z [nT]" "p [nPa]" "B1_x
 [nT]" "B1_y [nT]" "B1_z [nT]" "e"
 "J_x [`mA/m^2]" "J_y [`mA/m^2]" "J_z
 [`mA/m^2]" Of these variables: * **it** — iteration number * **Year,
 mn, day, hour, min, Sec, ms** — date and time (year, month, day, hour,
 minute, second, millisecond) - **X [R], Y [R], Z [R]** — position in the
 MSO coordinate system - **r [amu/cm³]** — total mass density -
 "`r^H^p [amu/cm^3]" "`r^O^2^p [amu/cm^3]" "`r^O^p
 [amu/cm^3]" "`r^C^O^2^p [amu/cm^3]": density of H⁺, O2+, O+
 and CO2+ - **U_x [km/s], U_y [km/s], U_z [km/s]** — plasma velocity
 components - **B_x [nT], B_y [nT], B_z [nT]** — total magnetic field
 components - **p [nPa]** —plasma thermal pressure - **B1_x [nT], B1_y
 [nT], B1_z [nT]** — induced magnetic field components - **E [J/m³]** —
 electric field - **J_x [uA/m²], J_y [uA/m²], J_z [uA/m²]** — current
 density components in the MSO coordinate system   **File:
 Fig1_2_sat_MVN2024_05_17_19_sat_n000000.sat** **Description:** ascii file
 for MHD model results along MAVEN orbit for Event1. File format is the
 same as **Fig1_2_sat_TW20240517_18_n000000.sat** **Files:**
 **Fig3a_3d__ful_6_t00020000_n1370706r.dat.gz**
 **Fig3b_3d__ful_6_t00030600_n2171638r.dat.gz** **Description:** 3D output
 from the MHD model in ascii format at time 22:00 and 23:06.  The outputs
 are stored in **ascii format**, and each file contains the following
 plasma variables in order: "X [R]" "Y [R]" "Z
 [R]" “H+” "U_x [km/s]" "U_y [km/s]" "U_z
 [km/s]" "B_x [nT]" "B_y [nT]" "B_z
 [nT]" "B1_x [nT]" "B1_y [nT]" "B1_z
 [nT]" "J_x [uA/m^2^]" "J_y [uA/m^2^]" "J_z
 [uA/m^2^]" Of those variables, X, Y, Z: location in MSO coordinate;
 U_x, U_y, U_z: plasma velocity vector, B_x, B_y, B_z: total magnetic field
 vector, B1_x, B1_y, B1_z: induced magnetic field, and J_x, J_y, J_z:
 current density vector in MSO. The crustal magnetic field is given by the
 vector subtraction of the induced field from the total field.    **File:
 Fig4_5_sat_TW2021_12_02_n000000.sat** **Description:** ascii file for MHD
 model results along Tianwen-1 orbit for Event2. File format is the same as
 **Fig1_2_sat_TW20240517_18_n000000.sat**   **File:
 Fig4_5_sat_MVN2021_12_02_12_03_sat_n000000.sat** **Description:** ascii
 file for MHD model results along MAVEN orbit for Event2. File format is
 the same as **Fig1_2_sat_TW20240517_18_n000000.sat** **Files:**
 **FigS3_FigS3_case1_dr10_sat_MVN2024_05_17_19_sat_n000000.dat**
 **FigS3_FigS3_case2_dr5_sat_MVN2024_05_17_19_sat_n000000.dat**
 **FigS3_FigS3_case3_dr2p5_sat_MVN2024_05_17_19_sat_n000000.dat**
 **Description:** ascii file for MHD model results along MAVEN orbit for
 Event1 for three different steady-state cases with different grid
 resolutions. File format is the same as
 **Fig1_2_sat_TWsat_20240517_18_n000000.sat** **File:
 FigS2_sw_all_20240517_21_00_dt10n17MVTW2s.dat** **Description:** Solar
 wind input parameters used for MHD model for event
  VARIABLES="Year" "mn" "day"
 "hour" "min" "Sec" "ms" “bx” “by”
 “bz” “ux” “uy” “uz”  "hp" "T" Of these variables: *
 **Year, mn, day, hour, min, Sec, ms** — date and time (year, month, day,
 hour, minute, second, millisecond) * **bx, by, bz** — magnetic field
 components in MSO [nT] * **hp, T** — density and temperature of protons
 (H⁺ ions) [amu/cm³] * **ux, uy, uz** —solar wind flow speed in MSO [km/s]
 **File: FigS4_sw_all_20211202_00_08_dt10MVTWs.dat** **Description:** Solar
 wind input parameters used for MHD model for event 2. File format is the
 same as **FigS2_sw_all_20240517_21_00_dt10n17MVTW2s.dat** **File:
 MovieS1.tgz** **Description:** 3D MHD model outputs from 22:00 - 23:59 on
 2024-05-17 with files saved at one-minute intervals. Each file name
 encodes the time information in the format:\ t000hhmm00_nxxxxxxxr.dat
 Where hhmm are simulation time. The start of the simulation is at 20 UT.
 The outputs are stored in **ascii format**, and each file contains the
 following plasma variables in order: "X [R]" "Y [R]"
 "Z [R]" “H+” "U_x [km/s]" "U_y [km/s]"
 "U_z [km/s]" "B_x [nT]" "B_y [nT]" "B_z
 [nT]" "B1_x [nT]" "B1_y [nT]" "B1_z
 [nT]" "J_x [uA/m^2^]" "J_y [uA/m^2^]" "J_z
 [uA/m^2^]" Of those variables, X, Y, Z: location in MSO coordinate;
 U_x, U_y, U_z: plasma velocity vector, B_x, B_y, B_z: total magnetic field
 vector, B1_x, B1_y, B1_z: induced magnetic field, and J_x, J_y, J_z:
 current density vector in MSO. The crustal magnetic field is given by the
 vector subtraction of the induced field from the total field.