A Rotating Plasma Density Structure in Saturn's High-Latitude Auroral Regions

Details A Rotating Plasma Density Structure in Saturn's High-Latitude Auroral Regions A Rotating Plasma Density Structure in Saturn's High-Latitude Auroral Regions

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsm34a..07g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SM34A-07

Physics

5737 Magnetospheres (2756), 7867 Wave/Particle Interactions (2483, 6984)

Scientific paper

Whistler-mode auroral hiss emissions produced by upgoing electrons associated with the auroral zone current system are commonly observed in the high-latitude regions of Saturn's magnetosphere by the Cassini radio and plasma wave instrument. As the auroral hiss emissions propagate upward from a source near the planet they are driven into resonance as they reach the level where the wave frequency is equal to the local electron plasma frequency. This resonance produces a well-defined upper cutoff frequency at the local electron plasma frequency that can be used to determine the local electron density. The densities measured over the polar cap region are extremely low, typically only about 10-4 cm-3 at radial distances of about 15 RS (Saturn radii). At lower latitudes, where auroral field-aligned currents are observed, the densities are higher, about 10-3 to 10-2 cm-3. The transition between these two density regimes is often very sharp, and shows a rotational modulation that stays in step with the approximately 10.8-hour rotational modulation of the auroral current system and Saturn Kilometric Radiation (SKR). This relationship suggests that there is rotating plasma density structure in the high latitude magnetosphere that is closely associated with the rotating auroral current system. This rotating plasma density structure may play a key role in driving various rotational effects observed in Saturn's magnetosphere.

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