THIS PROJECT INVOLVES COUPLING EXISTING DATA FROM THE NASA MARS ATMOSPHERE AND VOLATILE EVOLUTION (MAVEN) MISSION SPACECRAFT S NEUTRAL GAS AND ION MASS SPECTROMETER (NGIMS) INSTRUMENT WITH THE BOSTON UNIVERSITY MARS IONOSPHERE MODEL (BU-MIM). THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK IS TO INTERPRET THE OBSERVATIONS BY ELUCIDATING THE PHYSICAL DRIVING MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE AND IONOSPHERE OF MARS. THESE EFFORTS WILL IMPROVE THE DETERMINATIONS OF THE PROCESSES THAT INFLUENCE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERIC ESCAPE AND WILL ENHANCE THE SCIENTIFIC YIELD OF THE MAVEN MISSION.