MHD simulations of the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn: Application to the Cassini mission

Details MHD simulations of the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn: Application to the Cassini mission MHD simulations of the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn: Application to the Cassini mission

Aug 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001phdt........68h&link_type=abstract

Thesis (PhD). UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Source DAI-B 62/10, p. 4432, Apr 2002, 236 pages.

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We have developed global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models of the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn motivated by the need to better understand the global structure and dynamics of the magnetospheres, their interaction with the solar wind and the plasma sources internal to them. The models are also used both as planning tools for the Cassini mission to Saturn and to give a global perspective to the measurements. Our model of Jupiter's magnetosphere is the first to include the Io mass loading region and to solve for the plasma flow in the inner magnetosphere. With the model we study the bow shock and magnetopause crossings made by Cassini and Galileo. In addition, we examine the field- aligned currents in Jupiter's inner magnetosphere with a height integrated ionospheric model coupled to the magnetosphere at the inner boundary. We find that the model describes the state of the magnetosphere at the time of Cassini quite well. The models of Saturn's magnetosphere that we present represent the first and only global models of the Kronian magnetosphere to date. With the models we study the effects of different source terms and different solar wind conditions on the configuration of the magnetosphere. Although simpler models are useful for understanding the relative roles of the icy satellite and Titan plasma sources and the configuration for different solar wind conditions, these models cannot fully account for the plasma in the inner magnetosphere of Saturn. The higher source rate gives good agreement with the mass densities measured by Voyager. For this case, we study the general structure of the magnetosphere as well as some applications of the model to the Cassini mission. We have examined the plasma environment at the satellites of Saturn, provided information about the plasma ram direction and extracted data from the model along the Cassini tour. We have carried out two simulations of the two-body, coupled Saturn-Titan system with Titan in super-fast magnetosonic flow. In each case, a fast-magnetosonic bow shock as well as a tail shock form at Titan. When Titan is located just outside Saturn's bow shock in the solar wind, the interaction between the bow shocks of the two bodies is quite complicated. A dominating feature is the sunward flow in the magnetosheath which results in a tangential discontinuity forming at Titan.

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