A comparison of the consequences of thermospheric inertia on Saturn and Earth

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

ABSTRACT The ionosphere should react near-instantaneously to magnetospheric control via electric fields and particle precipitation. The neutral gas of the thermosphere becomes stirred up through collisions and momentum transfer with the ionospheric plasma, although with a time lag in response because of its much larger population mass [1]. The thermosphere thus responds to magnetospheric drivers with a modulating influence owing to its inertia. This study investigates the effect of thermospheric inertia on the energy drawn from the magnetosphere and redistributed as Joule heating and acceleration of the neutral gas. The decay of ionospheric currents and consequent magnetic perturbations are also studied. The UCL Saturn model [2] and CTIP Earth [3] model will each be used for 2 simulations: the first a steadystate 'quiet' simulation and the second including the representation of a geomagnetic storm lasting for an extended period that is then turned off. For each planet, comparisons will be made between these two simulations for the period immediately following the storm, when the electric field and particle precipitation drivers of the 'storm' simulations have returned to values in accordance with the 'quiet' models. The differences between the steady state and previously active simulations will be purely due to thermospheric inertia [4]. It is anticipated that the response of the Gas Giant will be very different from the Earth due to differences in the size, rotational speed, flow timescales [5] [6] and composition of the respective planetary environments. References [1] Schunk, R. W., 1987, Physica Scripta, T18, pp. 256- 275, doi: 10.1088/0031-8949/1987/T18/026. [2] Smith, C. G. A. and Aylward, A. D. and Millward, G. H. and Miller, S. and Moore, L. E., 2007, Nature, 445 (7126), pp. 399-401. [3] Millward, G. H. and Moffett, R. J. and Quegan, S. and Fuller-Rowell, T. J., 1996, in The STEP Handbook of Ionospheric Models, R.W. Schunk ed., Utah State University. [4] Aruliah, A.L. and Mueller-Wodarg, I.C.F. and Schoendorf, J., 1999, J. Geophys. Res., 104, pp. 28073-28088. [5] Cowley, S. W. H. and Lockwood, M., 1992, Annales Geophysicae, 10 (1-2) pp. 103-115. [6] Badman, S. V. and Bunce, E. J. and Clarke, J. T. and Cowley, S. W. H. and Ǵerard, J.-C. and Grodent, D. and Milan, S. E., 2005, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A11216, doi:10.1029/2005JA011240.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

A comparison of the consequences of thermospheric inertia on Saturn and Earth does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with A comparison of the consequences of thermospheric inertia on Saturn and Earth, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A comparison of the consequences of thermospheric inertia on Saturn and Earth will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1794336

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.