Europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : Development of Alfvén winglets within the Alfvén wings
We apply a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to study the influence of inhomogeneities in Europa's atmosphere, as, for example, water vapor plumes, on Europa's plasma interaction with the Jovian magnetosphere. In our model we have included electromagnetic induction in a sub...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics |
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KTH, Rymd- och plasmafysik
2016
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Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-201781 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022479 |
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ftkthstockholm:oai:DiVA.org:kth-201781 2023-05-15T18:22:53+02:00 Europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : Development of Alfvén winglets within the Alfvén wings Blöcker, A. Saur, J. Roth, Lorenz 2016 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-201781 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022479 eng eng KTH, Rymd- och plasmafysik Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics, 2169-9380, 2016, 121:10, s. 9794-9828 orcid:0000-0003-0554-4691 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-201781 doi:10.1002/2016JA022479 ISI:000388965900032 Scopus 2-s2.0-84995804151 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Europa MHD plasma interaction Physical Sciences Fysik Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2016 ftkthstockholm https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022479 2022-08-11T12:41:35Z We apply a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to study the influence of inhomogeneities in Europa's atmosphere, as, for example, water vapor plumes, on Europa's plasma interaction with the Jovian magnetosphere. In our model we have included electromagnetic induction in a subsurface water ocean, collisions between ions and neutrals, plasma production and loss due to electron impact ionization, and dissociative recombination. We present a systematic study of the plasma interaction when a local inhomogeneity in the neutral density is present within a global sputtering generated atmosphere. We show that an inhomogeneity near the north or south pole affects the plasma interaction in a way that a pronounced north-south asymmetry is generated. We find that an Alfvén winglet develops within Europa's main Alfvén wing on that side where the inhomogeneity is located. In addition to the MHD model we apply an analytic model based on the model of Saur et al. (2007) to understand the role of steep gradients and discontinuities in the interaction. We compare our model results with the measured magnetic field data from three flybys of the Galileo spacecraft at Europa which included Alfvén wing crossings. Our analysis suggests that the magnetic field might be influenced by atmospheric inhomogeneities during the E26 flyby. The findings of this work will aid in the search for plumes at Europa in future plasma and field observations. QC 20170217 Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm: KTHs Publication Database DiVA South Pole Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 121 10 9794 9828 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm: KTHs Publication Database DiVA |
op_collection_id |
ftkthstockholm |
language |
English |
topic |
Europa MHD plasma interaction Physical Sciences Fysik |
spellingShingle |
Europa MHD plasma interaction Physical Sciences Fysik Blöcker, A. Saur, J. Roth, Lorenz Europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : Development of Alfvén winglets within the Alfvén wings |
topic_facet |
Europa MHD plasma interaction Physical Sciences Fysik |
description |
We apply a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to study the influence of inhomogeneities in Europa's atmosphere, as, for example, water vapor plumes, on Europa's plasma interaction with the Jovian magnetosphere. In our model we have included electromagnetic induction in a subsurface water ocean, collisions between ions and neutrals, plasma production and loss due to electron impact ionization, and dissociative recombination. We present a systematic study of the plasma interaction when a local inhomogeneity in the neutral density is present within a global sputtering generated atmosphere. We show that an inhomogeneity near the north or south pole affects the plasma interaction in a way that a pronounced north-south asymmetry is generated. We find that an Alfvén winglet develops within Europa's main Alfvén wing on that side where the inhomogeneity is located. In addition to the MHD model we apply an analytic model based on the model of Saur et al. (2007) to understand the role of steep gradients and discontinuities in the interaction. We compare our model results with the measured magnetic field data from three flybys of the Galileo spacecraft at Europa which included Alfvén wing crossings. Our analysis suggests that the magnetic field might be influenced by atmospheric inhomogeneities during the E26 flyby. The findings of this work will aid in the search for plumes at Europa in future plasma and field observations. QC 20170217 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Blöcker, A. Saur, J. Roth, Lorenz |
author_facet |
Blöcker, A. Saur, J. Roth, Lorenz |
author_sort |
Blöcker, A. |
title |
Europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : Development of Alfvén winglets within the Alfvén wings |
title_short |
Europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : Development of Alfvén winglets within the Alfvén wings |
title_full |
Europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : Development of Alfvén winglets within the Alfvén wings |
title_fullStr |
Europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : Development of Alfvén winglets within the Alfvén wings |
title_full_unstemmed |
Europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : Development of Alfvén winglets within the Alfvén wings |
title_sort |
europa's plasma interaction with an inhomogeneous atmosphere : development of alfvén winglets within the alfvén wings |
publisher |
KTH, Rymd- och plasmafysik |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-201781 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022479 |
geographic |
South Pole |
geographic_facet |
South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_relation |
Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics, 2169-9380, 2016, 121:10, s. 9794-9828 orcid:0000-0003-0554-4691 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-201781 doi:10.1002/2016JA022479 ISI:000388965900032 Scopus 2-s2.0-84995804151 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022479 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics |
container_volume |
121 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
9794 |
op_container_end_page |
9828 |
_version_ |
1766202301465231360 |