HR: 1340h
AN: P43A-0945    [Abstracts]
TI: Properties of Saturn's Magnetopause: I. Magnetic Structure and Geometry
AU: Burton, M
EM: Marcia.Burton@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Arridge, C S
EM: christopher.arridge@imperial.ac.uk
AF: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College Exhibition Rd, LONDON, SW7 2AZ United Kingdom
AU: * Achilleos, N
EM: n.achilleos@imperial.ac.uk
AF: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College Exhibition Rd, LONDON, SW7 2AZ United Kingdom
AU: Bertucci, C
EM: c.bertucci@imperial.ac.uk
AF: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College Exhibition Rd, LONDON, SW7 2AZ United Kingdom
AU: Dougherty, M K
EM: m.dougherty@imperial.ac.uk
AF: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College Exhibition Rd, LONDON, SW7 2AZ United Kingdom
AU: Khurana, K K
EM: kkhuran@igpp.ucla.edu
AF: Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, 6869 Slichter, Los Angeles, CA 90095 United States
AU: Russell, C T
EM: ctrussel@igpp.ucla.edu
AF: Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, 6869 Slichter, Los Angeles, CA 90095 United States
AU: Smith, E J
EM: Edward.J.Smith@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Tsurutani, B T
EM: Bruce.Tsurutani@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AB: We present minimum variance analyses of the magnetopause crossings observed by the magnetometer on the Cassini spacecraft during the first five orbits of Saturn. The magnetopause is identified by an abrupt rotation of the magnetic field, as identified from a sliding-window nested minimum variance analysis [Sonnerup and Scheible 1998], and we associate this rotation with the magnetopause current layer (MPCL). We describe observations of magnetic structure about this current sheet which we interpret as evidence of magnetosheath waves, internal and external boundary layers, and the motion of the magnetopause in response to changes in dynamic pressure. The normal vectors to the magnetopause, as computed from our minimum variance analyses, are compared with established magnetopause surface models [Slavin et al. 1985; Maurice et al. 1996; Arridge et al. 2005]. This comparison indicates that the observed normals agree much more closely with models that have less flared geometry.
DE: 2724 Magnetopause and boundary layers
DE: 2740 Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics
DE: 2756 Planetary magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033)
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005