Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufm.p43a1011c&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P43A-1011
Physics
0343 Planetary Atmospheres (5210, 5405, 5704), 2455 Particle Precipitation, 2459 Planetary Ionospheres (5435, 5729, 6026), 2716 Energetic Particles: Precipitating, 2732 Magnetosphere Interactions With Satellites And Rings
Scientific paper
Energetic protons and oxygen ions have been observed in Saturn's outer magnetosphere and can precipitate into Titan's atmosphere where they deposit energy and drive ionospheric chemistry. A simple model is used to estimate ion production rates caused by the magnetospheric ion precipitation. Using an incident proton flux in the 27 keV to 4 MeV energy interval measured by the Cassini MIMI instrument we find that significant ion production rates exist in the 500 km to 1000 km altitude range. The electron density associated with the ion production is estimated to be 200 - 2000 cm-3 between 500 km and 1000 km. For comparison, solar radiation produces a dayside ionosphere with peak electron densities between about 2000 cm-3 and 6000 cm-3 . We find that energetic oxygen ions do not penetrate below about 650 km. We suggest that a few percent of the oxygen flux is converted to negative O ions as a consequence of charge exchange collisions, which might help to explain the negative ions observed near 1000 km by the Cassini CAPS instrument.
Cravens Thomas E.
Krimigis Stamatios M.
Ledvina Stephen A.
Mitchell Donald G.
Robertson Ina P.
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