The Latitudinal Structure of Saturn's Ionosphere: Cassini Observations and Model Comparisons

Details The Latitudinal Structure of Saturn's Ionosphere: Cassini Observations and Model Comparisons The Latitudinal Structure of Saturn's Ionosphere: Cassini Observations and Model Comparisons

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.1404m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #14.04

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Radio occultation observations of Saturn's ionosphere by Cassini's Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) reveal a curious latitudinal trend in the electron density profiles: the density (NMAX) and the altitude (hMAX) of the electron density peak both increase with latitude (Kliore et al., 2009). Using the Saturn Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Model (STIM), a global model of Saturn's upper atmosphere, we are able to reproduce such a latitudinal trend with chemical loss processes enhanced near the equator and reduced elsewhere. An influx of neutral water from Saturn's rings and icy satellites could fill the role of this required loss process. However, there remains a slight shortfall in the modeled electron density magnitudes at mid- and high-latitude compared with observations, possibly indicating an ionization source is not currently included in the model; consequently modeled conductances are also low relative to observed values at mid-latitude. Measurements of H3+ infrared emission have previously identified a similar ionization shortfall in Jupiter's ionosphere (e.g., Miller et al., 1997).
Kliore, A.J., A.F. Nagy, E.A. Marouf, A. Anabtawi, E. Barbinis, D.U. Fleischman, and D.S. Kahan, Midlatitude and high-latitude electron density profiles in the ionosphere of Saturn obtained by Cassini radio occultation observations, J. Geophys. Res., 114, A04315, doi:10.1029/2008JA013900, 2009.
Miller, S., N. Achilleos, G.E. Ballester, H.A. Lam, J. Tennyson, T.R. Geballe, and L.M. Trafton, Mid-to-Low Laitutde H3+ Emission from Jupiter, Icarus, 130, 57-67, 1997.

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