Daniel Schmid
YOU?
Author Swipe
View article: First Detection of Deuterium in Venus's Extended Exosphere
First Detection of Deuterium in Venus's Extended Exosphere Open
Venus, Earth’s twin planet, has been explored by numerous spacecraft, yet its water inventory and implications for planetary evolution remain uncertain. The deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio is a key tracer for understanding the history of…
View article: Bow Shock Crossing Observations by MESSENGER From a Magnetic Point of View
Bow Shock Crossing Observations by MESSENGER From a Magnetic Point of View Open
Mercury possesses a weak internal magnetic field, which creates a magnetosphere and consequently a bow shock that interacts with the solar wind. Understanding the dynamics of the bow shock is essential for deepening our knowledge of Mercur…
View article: BepiColombo at Mercury: Three flybys, three magnetospheres
BepiColombo at Mercury: Three flybys, three magnetospheres Open
We examine the first three BepiColombo Mercury flybys Using data from the Miniature Ion Precipitation Analyzer (MIPA), an ion mass analyzer in the Search for Exospheric Refilling and Natural Abundances (SERENA) package on the Mercury Plane…
View article: Ion beam instability model for Mercury's upstream waves
Ion beam instability model for Mercury's upstream waves Open
An analytical model for ion beam instability is constructed in view of application to Mercury's upstream waves. Our ion beam instability model determines the frequency and wavenumber by equating the whistler dispersion relation to the beam…
View article: European Collaboration for Lunar Investigation with Planetary Seismology and Electromagnetism (ECLIPSE): A European Initiative to Strengthen the International Lunar Seismic Network
European Collaboration for Lunar Investigation with Planetary Seismology and Electromagnetism (ECLIPSE): A European Initiative to Strengthen the International Lunar Seismic Network Open
Introduction:In response to the exploratory call for missions within ESA’s science program, we propose the ECLIPSE mission to deploy a European geophysical station with seismometers and electromagnetic sensors on the lunar surface. Althoug…
View article: Waves at the local ion cyclotron frequency in the Mars extended exosphere
Waves at the local ion cyclotron frequency in the Mars extended exosphere Open
Ultra-low frequency plasma waves at a local ion gyrofrequency have been detected upstream of the bow shock at every planet with an extended atmosphere. These waves are observed as left-hand elliptically polarised propagating mostly paralle…
View article: Constraining Venus’ Water Loss History through D/H Ratio Observations from Ion Cyclotron Wave Analysis in the extended Exosphere
Constraining Venus’ Water Loss History through D/H Ratio Observations from Ion Cyclotron Wave Analysis in the extended Exosphere Open
Venus, has been studied by numerous space missions over decades, yet its past water inventory remains poorly constrained, obscuring insights into planetary evolution and the emergence of habitability. A critical factor in understanding its…
View article: Pallas Interstellar: A Dual-Purpose Mission to a Primordial Asteroid and the Local Interstellar Medium
Pallas Interstellar: A Dual-Purpose Mission to a Primordial Asteroid and the Local Interstellar Medium Open
We present “Pallas Interstellar”, an ESA M8-class mission concept with a dual scientific focus: the detailed exploration of asteroid (2) Pallas and the in-situ investigation of the local interstellar medium beyond 2 AU. By integrating a hi…
View article: Ion-kinetic modeling of Mercury’s magnetosphere: a reference for BepiColombo’s sixth flyby
Ion-kinetic modeling of Mercury’s magnetosphere: a reference for BepiColombo’s sixth flyby Open
The BepiColombo mission offers a unique opportunity to investigate Mercury’s magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. This study presents a model-based reference for ion and magnetic field observations during the sixth Mercur…
View article: Ion cyclotron waves: a tool for characterizing neutral particle profiles in extended exospheres
Ion cyclotron waves: a tool for characterizing neutral particle profiles in extended exospheres Open
Planetary exospheres are usually observed using transit spectroscopic methods, such as the Lyman- line, which is mainly limited by interstellar medium absorption and airglow contamination from the geocorona when using low-orbit space tele…
View article: Detection of lithium in the exosphere of Mercury
Detection of lithium in the exosphere of Mercury Open
Mercury's exosphere contains various neutral species, including hydrogen, helium, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, aluminum, iron, and manganese. Although lithium has been predicted to exist, it had not been detected until now. Here,…
View article: Characterization of the solar wind context during the third Mercury flyby of BepiColombo
Characterization of the solar wind context during the third Mercury flyby of BepiColombo Open
The interaction of the solar wind (SW) with the coupled magnetosphere-exosphere-surface of Mercury is complex. Charged particles released by the SW can precipitate along planetary magnetic field lines on specific areas of the surface of th…
View article: Turbulent dynamo in the terrestrial magnetosheath
Turbulent dynamo in the terrestrial magnetosheath Open
Dynamo action refers to energy exchange processes through which magnetic fields are generated or/and amplified at the expense of kinetic energy of the plasma flows in various laboratory, space and astrophysical environments. The generation…
View article: Hybrid modeling of Mercury’s magnetosphere: Assessing accuracy in ion counting statistics
Hybrid modeling of Mercury’s magnetosphere: Assessing accuracy in ion counting statistics Open
In this study, we present a method for comparing hybrid plasma simulations with spacecraft measurement data, with a focus on Mercury’s interaction with the solar wind. Utilizing the 3D global hybrid simulation model Adaptive Ion-Kinetic El…
View article: Double Beam Instability for the Mercury Upstream Waves
Double Beam Instability for the Mercury Upstream Waves Open
Mercury shock-upstream region is plasma physically of great interest, as the solar wind plasma may encounter two ion beams, forming a double-beam plasma system. Properties of the double-beam instability are studied semianalytically using t…
View article: The Hermean Helium Exosphere—Continuous and Sporadic Helium Release Processes
The Hermean Helium Exosphere—Continuous and Sporadic Helium Release Processes Open
Since its detection by Mariner 10, helium has been a key focus in studies of Mercury's exosphere. Recently, Weichbold et al. (2025), https://doi.org/10.1029/2024je008679 provided the first in situ helium measurements, inferring density fro…
View article: Helium in Mercury's Extended Exosphere Determined by Pick‐Up Generated Ion Cyclotron Waves
Helium in Mercury's Extended Exosphere Determined by Pick‐Up Generated Ion Cyclotron Waves Open
Helium (He) was first detected by remote spectroscopic observations of the Ultraviolet Visible Spectrometers (UVVS) instrument in Mercury's exosphere during the three Mariner 10 flybys in 1974 and 1975. Here, we derive the first in situ ra…
View article: Comparative Analysis of Magnetic Field Observations during BepiColombo Mercury Flybys
Comparative Analysis of Magnetic Field Observations during BepiColombo Mercury Flybys Open
The BepiColombo mission, a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), aims to explore Mercury and its space environment. This mission is the first multi-spacecraft endeavor beyo…
View article: Solar wind velocity reconstruction at Mercury using MESSENGER bow shock and magnetopause crossings. 
Solar wind velocity reconstruction at Mercury using MESSENGER bow shock and magnetopause crossings.  Open
The solar wind significantly shapes and influences planetary magnetospheres, driving their structure and dynamics. Mercury, with its weak intrinsic magnetic field and close proximity to the Sun, is particularly sensitive to solar wind vari…
View article: Statistical Survey of Ion Cyclotron Wave Signatures around Earth's Magnetotail Dipolarizations
Statistical Survey of Ion Cyclotron Wave Signatures around Earth's Magnetotail Dipolarizations Open
In the Earth’s magnetotail fast earthward plasma flows (so-called Bursty Bulk Flows) are often associated with dipolar magnetic flux bundles. The leading edges of such earthward-moving flux bundles are called dipolarization fronts (D…
View article: Turbulent small-scale kinematic dynamo in the terrestrial magnetosheath
Turbulent small-scale kinematic dynamo in the terrestrial magnetosheath Open
Space plasma turbulence incorporates multi-scale coexisting occurrences of many physical phenomena such as waves, large amplitude field and plasma fluctuations, formation of coherent structures and the large variety of associated energy tr…
View article: On the role of pickup protons in the generation of mirror modes at Mars
On the role of pickup protons in the generation of mirror modes at Mars Open
In the magnetosheath of planets, mirror modes triggered by the mirror mode instability form as large magnetic structures imprisoning dense and hot plasma in their midst. The free energy created from a large pressure anisotropy at their ori…
View article: Mercury upstream region as a natural laboratory of beam plasma experiments
Mercury upstream region as a natural laboratory of beam plasma experiments Open
Upstream region of the Mercury magnetosphere is of great interest in advancing our knowledge on the plasma waves and instabilities. The interplanetary magnetic field is nearly aligned with the solar wind stream at the distances of Mercury …
View article: Insights into Mercury's Hydrogen Exosphere: Characterization and First Detection of H₂ Molecules
Insights into Mercury's Hydrogen Exosphere: Characterization and First Detection of H₂ Molecules Open
Between 1974 and 1975, the Mariner 10 spacecraft investigated Mercury's environment during three flybys. By using its ultraviolet spectrometer, it identified helium, atomic oxygen, and hydrogen atoms in Mercury’s exosphere. Interesti…
View article: Ion species of Mercury’s 6th flyby, detected by PICAM's Hadamard mass spectrometry
Ion species of Mercury’s 6th flyby, detected by PICAM's Hadamard mass spectrometry Open
BepiColombo, the joint ESA-JAXA mission on route to the planet Mercury, was launched in 2018. After eight successful planetary flybys, the spacecraft had its final Mercury flyby on 08 Jan 2025. The PICAM (Planetary Ion Camera) instrument, …
View article: Ion Pick-up around Io in the Galileo Era
Ion Pick-up around Io in the Galileo Era Open
Ion cyclotron waves (ICWs) have shown to be a valuable tool to identify pick-up ion species around planets and moons, when plasma instruments are not sufficiently available. We investigate the high-resolution (3 Hz) Galileo magnetometer da…
View article: Ion beam instability model for the Mercury upstream waves
Ion beam instability model for the Mercury upstream waves Open
An analytic model for the ion beam instability is constructed in view of application to the Mercury upstream waves. Our ion beam instability model determines the frequency and the wavenumber by equating the whistler dispersion relation wit…
View article: Local Generation of Mirror Modes by Pickup Protons at Mars
Local Generation of Mirror Modes by Pickup Protons at Mars Open
Mirror mode structures are born from a plasma instability driven by a large temperature anisotropy and appear downstream of planetary and interplanetary shocks, in their magnetosheath. As so‐called “magnetic bottles” imprisoning dense and …