Jupiter's polar ionospheric flows: Theoretical interpretation

By S. Cowley, E. Bunce, T. Stallard, Steve Miller. 2003

161 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Prompted by recent observations of ion flows from Doppler measurements of infrared auroras, we here discuss the nature of the plasma flow in Jupiter's high‐latitude ionosphere. The physical picture is based on a combination of three elements, namely an inner Hill‐type sub‐corotating region containing outward‐diffusing iogenic plasma, an outer sub‐corotating region where iogenic plasma is lost down the tail, principally in the dusk and midnight sector via the reconnection‐related Vasyliunas‐cycle, and finally an outermost boundary region located principally in the dawn‐side magnetosphere which is associated with solar wind interaction and the Dungey‐cycle. The nature of the ionospheric flow and currents resulting from the combined action of these processes is outlined. In particular, we point out that the region of open field lines associated with the Dungey‐cycle should be a region of near‐stagnation in the ionosphere in the rest frame of the dipole, compared with surrounding regions of few‐km s−1 sub‐corotational flow.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f1f234229d034733e420e65abb0cfcf3101b9be0

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. S. Cowley
2. Fran Bagenal
3. P. Delamere
4. D. Grodent
5. E. Bunce
6. J. Clarke
7. J. Waite
8. M. Kivelson

Citations in the corpus

• Jupiter's polar auroral emissions (2003, methodology): “Cowley et al. [2003] suggested that the location and the stagnant nature of the f-DPR may be associated with the”
• Saturn's polar ionospheric flows and their relation to the main auroral oval (2003, background): “In reality, the process is probably highly time-dependent, as recent evidence suggests it to be at Jupiter (Woch et al., 2002).”
• Solar wind interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere (2009, background): “These two Ulysses observations, combined with ground‐based Doppler‐shifted H3 emissions from the polar regions of Jupiter by Stallard et al. [2001], led Cowley et al. [2003] to conclude that the outer magnetospheric flows are indeed governed by the solar wind through a single cell Dungey cycle.”
• Jupiter's main auroral oval observed with HST-STIS (2003, result): “Subsequent work has indeed shown that this model is close to that determined from self-consistent calculations [Cowley et al., 2002].”
• Dynamical consequences of two modes of centrifugal instability in Jupiter's outer magnetosphere (2004, background): “for reconnection is 1 MV [Cowley et al., 2003], well below the tens of MV across the region in the morning sector.”
• Simultaneous Chandra X ray, Hubble Space Telescope Ultraviolet, and Ulysses Radio Observations of Jupiter's Aurora (2005, methodology): “ Cowley et al. [2003a, 2003b] suggested a picture in which, in addition to the current system associated with a departure from corotation (the subcorotating Hill region [Hill, 1979]), there is a solar wind-driven Dungey-type plasma convection and associated current system.”