Magnetospheric Physics
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A diffusive equilibrium model for the plasma density in Saturn's magnetosphere

A. M. Persoon

E-mail address:ann-persoon@uiowa.edu

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

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D. A. Gurnett

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

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O. Santolik

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Prague, Czech Republic

Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

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W. S. Kurth

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

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J. B. Faden

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

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J. B. Groene

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

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G. R. Lewis

Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK

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A. J. Coates

Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK

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R. J. Wilson

Space and Atmospheric Science Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

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R. L. Tokar

Space and Atmospheric Science Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

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J.‐E. Wahlund

Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden

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M. Moncuquet

Laboratoire d'Etudies Spatiales et Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France

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First published: 28 April 2009
Cited by: 62

Abstract

[1] Electron density measurements have been obtained by the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument for more than 50 passes through Saturn's inner magnetosphere from 30 June 2004 to 30 September 2007. The electron densities are derived from RPWS measurements of the upper hybrid resonance frequency and span latitudes up to 35° and L values from 3.6 to 10. The electron density measurements are combined with ion anisotropy measurements from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) and electron temperature measurements from the RPWS and CAPS to develop a diffusive equilibrium model for the distribution of water group ions, hydrogen ions, and electrons in the inner region of Saturn's magnetosphere. The model uses an analytical solution of the field‐aligned force equation, including the ambipolar electric field, to determine the equatorial ion densities and scale heights as a function of L. Density contour plots for water group ions, hydrogen ions, and electrons are presented.

Number of times cited: 62

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