The Role of Intense Upper Hybrid Resonance Emissions in the Generation of Saturn Narrowband Emission

Twenty high-inclination ring-grazing orbits occurred in the final period of the Cassini mission. These orbits intercepted a region of intense Z-mode and narrowband (NB) emission (Ye et al., 2010, ) along with isolated, intense upper hybrid resonance (UHR) emissions that are often associated with NB source regions. We have singled out such UHR emission seen on earlier Cassini orbits that also lie near the region crossed by the ring-grazing orbits. These previous orbits are important because Cassini electron phase-space distributions are available and dispersion analysis can be performed to better understand the free energy source and instability of the UHR emission. We present an example of UHR emission on a previous orbit that is similar to that observed during the ring-grazing orbits. Analysis of the observed plasma distribution of the previous orbit leads us to conclude that episodes of UHR emission and NB radiation observed during the ring-grazing orbits are likely due to plasma distributions containing loss cones, temperature anisotropies, and strong density gradients near the ring plane. Z-mode emissions associated with UHR and NB emission can be in Landau resonance with electrons to produce scattering or acceleration (Woodfield et al., 2018, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07549-4)

Interactions between energetic electrons and realistic whistler mode waves in the Jovian magnetosphere

The role of plasma waves in shaping the intense Jovian radiation belts is not well understood. In this study we use a realistic wave model based on an extensive survey from the Plasma Wave Investigation on the Galileo spacecraft to calculate the effect of pitch angle and energy diffusion on Jovian energetic electrons due to upper and lower band chorus. Two Earth-based models, the Full Diffusion Code and the Versatile Electron Radiation Belt code, are adapted to the case of the Jovian magnetosphere and used to resolve the interaction between chorus and electrons at L = 10. We also present a study of the sensitivity to the latitudinal wave coverage and initial electron distribution. Our analysis shows that the contribution to the electron dynamics from upper band chorus is almost negligible compared to that from lower band chorus. For 100 keV electrons, we observe that diffusion leads to redistribution of particles toward lower pitch angles with some particle loss, which could indicate that radial diffusion or interchange instabilities are important. For energies above >500 keV, an initial electron distribution based on observations is only weakly affected by chorus waves. Ideally, we would require the initial electron phase space density before transport takes place to assess the importance of wave acceleration, but this is not available. It is clear from this study that the shape of the electron phase space density and the latitudinal extent of the waves are important for both electron acceleration and loss

Acceleration of electrons by whistler-mode hiss waves at Saturn

Plasmaspheric hiss waves at the Earth are well known for causing losses of electrons from the radiation belts through wave particle interactions. At Saturn, however, we show that the different plasma density environment leads to acceleration of the electrons rather than loss. The ratio of plasma frequency to electron gyrofrequency frequently falls below one creating conditions for hiss to accelerate electrons. The location of hiss at high latitudes ( > 25°) coincides very well with this region of very low density. The interaction between electrons and hiss only occurs at these higher latitudes, therefore the acceleration is limited to mid to low pitch angles leading to butterfly pitch angle distributions. The hiss is typically an order of magnitude stronger than chorus at Saturn and the resulting acceleration is rapid, approaching steady state in one day at 0.4 MeV at L=7 and the effect is stronger with increasing L-shell

Rapid electron acceleration in low density regions of Saturn's radiation belt by whistler mode chorus waves

Electron acceleration at Saturn due to whistler mode chorus waves has previously been assumed to be ineffective; new data closer to the planet shows it can be very rapid (factor of 104 flux increase at 1 MeV in 10 days compared to factor of 2). A full survey of chorus waves at Saturn is combined with an improved plasma density model to show that where the plasma frequency falls below the gyrofrequency additional strong resonances are observed favoring electron acceleration. This results in strong chorus acceleration between approximately 2.5 RS and 5.5 RS outside which adiabatic transport may dominate. Strong pitch angle dependence results in butterfly pitch angle distributions that flatten over a few days at 100s keV, tens of days at MeV energies which may explain observations of butterfly distributions of MeV electrons near L=3. Including cross terms in the simulations increases the tendency towards butterfly distributions

Juno Plasma Wave Observations at Ganymede.

The Juno Waves instrument measured plasma waves associated with Ganymede's magnetosphere during its flyby on 7 June, day 158, 2021. Three distinct regions were identified including a wake, and nightside and dayside regions in the magnetosphere distinguished by their electron densities and associated variability. The magnetosphere includes electron cyclotron harmonic emissions including a band at the upper hybrid frequency, as well as whistler-mode chorus and hiss. These waves likely interact with energetic electrons in Ganymede's magnetosphere by pitch angle scattering and/or accelerating the electrons. The wake is accentuated by low-frequency turbulence and electrostatic solitary waves. Radio emissions observed before and after the flyby likely have their source in Ganymede's magnetosphere.884711 - European Research Council; 699041X - Southwest Research Institute; Q99064JAR - Southwest Research Institute; 80NSSC20K0557 - NASAPublished versio

Vertical evolution of auroral acceleration at substorm onset

This study describes the onset process of auroral substorms in connection with the vertical evolution of auroral particle acceleration, on the basis of auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) dynamics. We show that the auroral acceleration process at substorm onset basically consists of two stages: (1) appearance/intensification of a low-altitude acceleration region at 4000–5000 km accompanied by initial brightening and (2) breakout of high-altitude field-aligned acceleration above the pre-existing low-altitude acceleration region at 6000–12 000 km, which is followed by auroral breakup and poleward expansion. It is also revealed that this two-stage evolution of auroral acceleration corresponds to the two-step reinforcement of field-aligned current

AKR breakup and auroral particle acceleration at substorm onset

The dynamical behavior of auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) is investigated in connection with auroral particle acceleration at substorm onsets using high-time-resolution wave spectrograms provided by Polar/PWI electric field observations. AKR develops explosively at altitudes above a preexisting low-altitude AKR source at substorm onsets. This “AKR breakup” suggests an abrupt formation of a new field-aligned acceleration region above the preexisting acceleration region. The formation of the new acceleration region is completed in a very short time (amplitude increases 10,000 times in 30 seconds), suggesting that the explosive development is confined to a localized region. AKR breakups are usually preceded (1–3 minutes) by the appearance and/or gradual enhancement of the low-altitude AKR. This means that the explosive formation of the high-altitude electric field takes place in the course of the growing low-altitude acceleration. The development of the low-altitude acceleration region is thus a necessary condition for the ignition of the high-altitude bursty acceleration. The dH/dt component from a search-coil magnetometer at ground shows that a few minutes prior to substorm onsets, the quasi-DC component begins a negative excursion that is nearly synchronized with the start of the gradual enhancement of the low-altitude AKR, indicating a precursor-like behavior for the substorm. This negative variation of dH/dt suggests an exponentially increasing ionospheric current induced by the upward field-aligned current. At substorm onsets, the decrease in the quasi-DC variation of dH/dt further accelerates, indicating a sudden reinforcement of the field-aligned current

A survey of Galileo plasma wave instrument observations of Jovian whistler-mode chorus

A survey of plasma wave observations at Jupiter obtained by the plasma wave instrument on board the Galileo spacecraft is presented. The observations indicate that chorus emissions are observed commonly in the Jovian magnetosphere near the magnetic equator in the approximate radial range 6 < r < 10 R-J. The survey includes almost all local times but not equally sampled in radial distance due to the spacecraft trajectory. The data suggest that chorus emissions are somewhat more intense on the dayside, but this may be a result of insufficient nightside observations. The orbit of Galileo is also restricted to +/-3 degrees of the Jovigraphic equator, but the tilt of the magnetic field permits coverage of a range of magnetic latitudes of -13 degrees < lambda(mag) < +13 degrees. The similarities of chorus emissions to terrestrial observations are a good reason to speculate that Jovian chorus emission may play a significant role in the stochastic acceleration of electrons in the radial range 6-10 R-J as recent studies indicate. These electrons may then be transported inward by radial diffusion where they are additionally accelerated to form the synchrotron radiation belt source