The Saturnian plasma sheet as revealed by energetic particle measurements

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Read Full Article (file size: 954126 bytes) Cited by GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 32, L20S03, doi:10.1029/2005GL022829, 2005 The Saturnian plasma sheet as revealed by energetic particle measurements N. Krupp Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany A. Lagg Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany J. Woch Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany S. M. Krimigis Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA S. Livi Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA D. G. Mitchell Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA E. C. Roelof Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA C. Paranicas Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA B. H. Mauk Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA D. C. Hamilton Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA T. P. Armstrong Fundamental Technologies, Lawrence, Kansas, USA M. K. Dougherty Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, UK Abstract Since July 2004 Cassini is in orbit around Saturn providing in-situ measurements of the Saturnian magnetosphere. One of the three sensors of the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) is the Low Energy Magnetospheric Measurement System (LEMMS) that responds to energetic particles which can serve as indicators of key regions (Krimigis et al., 2005) and ongoing plasma processes in the magnetosphere. In this paper we identify and characterize, based on energetic particle and magnetic field measurements, the radiation belts, the plasma sheet, and the lobe region. The transition between plasma sheet and lobe region sometimes occurs very rapidly, and sometimes occurs with the period of Saturn's rotation. We explain the highly variable nature of the Saturnian plasma sheet as a combination of the geometry of the Cassini trajectory, together with the variable location of the boundary between open and closed field lines caused by a strong localized magnetic anomaly in the Saturnian field. Received 25 February 2005; accepted 24 May 2005; published 7 July 2005. Index Terms: 2720 Magnetospheric Physics: Energetic particles: trapped; 2740 Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics; 2756 Magnetospheric Physics: Planetary magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033); 2764 Magnetospheric Physics: Plasma sheet. Read Full Article (file size: 954126 bytes) Cited by Citation: Krupp, N., et al. (2005), The Saturnian plasma sheet as revealed by energetic particle measurements, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L20S03, doi:10.1029/2005GL022829. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

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