Impact of Plasma Chemistry on Io's Atmosphere

Details Impact of Plasma Chemistry on Io's Atmosphere Impact of Plasma Chemistry on Io's Atmosphere

Oct 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.3204m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #32.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.1012

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We present results of an investigation of the jovian plasma torus’ interaction with Io's sublimation atmosphere using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method which is appropriate for solving rarefied flows such as Io's atmosphere. Accurate simulation of Io's atmosphere is critical for modeling the supply of material to the torus and understanding the morphology and intensity of the electron excited aurora on Io. The plasma sweeps past Io at 57 km/s and the resultant energetic collisions with Io's neutral atmosphere create an inflated, mixed atmosphere of SO2 and its daughter products. In the present work, the plasma interaction is modeled by a flux of ions and electrons which flow around and through Io's atmosphere along pre-computed perturbed magnetic field lines. Since the Debye length is everywhere much less than the size of the DSMC computational cells (which scale with the neutral mean free path), we assume the plasma is quasi-neutral. A two time-step method is used in which the neutrals move and then are stationary while the ions and electrons move with a much smaller time-step. Ions can undergo non-reactive collisions and charge exchange collisions with the neutral species. Fast neutrals produced via charge exchange have sufficient energy to dissociate the neutral molecular species; these interaction cross sections have been computed using MD/QCT simulations. The electron interactions with the neutral species are functions of the collision energy and are based on measured reaction cross sections (elastic, excitation, ionization, and dissociation). The effect of the plasma on the circumplanetary winds, the escape rate of neutrals from Io, and the composition and structure of Io's atmosphere is investigated and compared with previous continuum simulations by Smyth and Wong. Future work will investigate the resultant auroral emissions and their implications on volcanic activity and the upstream electron temperature.

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