HR: 1340h
AN: SM13B-0341    [Abstracts]
TI: Outer Jovian Magnetosphere Plasma Densities Derived from Voyager Wideband Plasma Wave Observations
AU: * Kurth, W S
EM: william-kurth@uiowa.edu
AF: University of Iowa, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa City, IA 52242 United States
AU: Gurnett, D A
EM: donald-gurnett@uiowa.edu
AF: University of Iowa, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa City, IA 52242 United States
AU: Granroth, L J
EM: larry-granroth@uiowa.edu
AF: University of Iowa, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa City, IA 52242 United States
AU: Groene, J B
EM: joseph-groene@uiowa.edu
AF: University of Iowa, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa City, IA 52242 United States
AU: Ansher, J A
EM: ansher@phy.ilstu.edu
AF: Illinois State University, Dept. of Physics, Normal, IL 61790 United States
AB: During the Voyager flybys through the Jovian magnetosphere, a telemetry issue resulted in a windfall of plasma wave wideband data being transmitted to the ground, basically anytime imaging data were not. In the outer magnetosphere, beyond about 20 R_J, continuum radiation is trapped in the low-density magnetosphere. The low-frequency cutoff of this radio emission gives at least an upper limit, and probably in most cases a very accurate measure, of the electron plasma frequency, hence, the electron number density as a function of time. Wideband observations of this cutoff allow the determination of the plasma frequency to within 28 Hz, at best, hence, excellent accuracy for the electron density. The Outer Planet Research Program now provides an opportunity to archive in the Planetary Data System these electron densities determined every 4 seconds as the most accurate plasma density data set available from the outer Jovian magnetosphere. The data are relevant to a number of outstanding issues at Jupiter, including the structure of the plasma sheet, pressure balance, and evidence for the interchange instability.
DE: 2731 Magnetosphere: outer
DE: 2756 Planetary magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033)
DE: 5737 Magnetospheres (2756)
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005