Physics
Scientific paper
Jun 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009georl..3612202c&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 36, Issue 12, CiteID L12202
Physics
1
Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Europa, Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Interactions With Particles And Fields, Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Exosphere
Scientific paper
The sodium and potassium exospheres of Europa are described as well as the variations of the Na/K ratio from Europa's surface up to about 20 Europa radii. Observations carried out by M. E. Brown (2001) are used to constrain the Na and K source terms. We find that an average source rates ratio of 17 ± 2 at the surface and loss rates ratio of 26 ± 2 reproduce well the observations. These values are consistent with the conclusions by R. E. Johnson et al. (2002) on its most probable origin. Moreover, we here show that a local increase of the surface Na/K ratio by a factor 2 in a 20° × 30° wide region should induce an observable exospheric signature between 80 and 300 km above the surface. Therefore simultaneous observations of sodium and potassium from an Europa orbiter would allow one to derive important properties of the surface and subsurface of the Galilean moon.
Cipriani Fabio
Johnson Robert E.
LeBlanc Francis
Witasse Olivier
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