We investigate spatial and temporal scales at which wave-particle interaction of Alfvén waves occurs in Jupiter's magnetosphere. We consider electrons, protons, and oxygen ions and study the regions along magnetic flux tubes where the plasma is the densest, that is, the equatorial plasma sheet, and where the plasma is the most dilute, that is, above the ionosphere, where auroral particle acceleration is expected to occur. We find that within a dipole L-shell of roughly 30, the electron inertial length scale in the auroral region is the dominating scale, suggesting that electron Landau damping of kinetic Alfvén waves can play an important role in converting field energy into auroral particle acceleration. This mechanism is consistent with the broadband bidirectional electron distributions frequently observed by Juno. Due to interchange-driven mass transport in Jupiter's magnetosphere, its magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling is expected to be mostly not in local force balance. This might be a key reason for the dominant role of Alfvénically driven stochastic acceleration compared to the less frequently occurring, locally forced-balanced, and thus static mono-energetic unidirectional acceleration. Outside of approximately L = 30, the ion gyroperiod is the dominating scale suggesting that ion cyclotron damping of heavy ions plays a major role in heating magnetospheric plasma. We also present properties of the dispersion relationship and the polarization relationships of kinetic Alfvén waves including the important effects from the relativistic correction due to the displacement current in Ampère's law.
The electrodynamic coupling between Io and Jupiter gives rise to wave-particle interactions across multiple spatial scales. Here we report observations during Juno's 12th perijove (PJ) high-latitude northern crossing of the flux tube connected to Io's auroral footprint. We focus on plasma wave measurements, clearly differentiating between magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), ion, and electron scales. We find (i) evidence of Alfvén waves undergoing a turbulent cascade, suggesting Alfvénic acceleration processes together with observations of bi-directional, broadband electrons; (ii) intense ion cyclotron waves with an estimated heating rate that is consistent with the generation of ion conics reported by Clark et al. (2020,
Observations of energetic charged particles associated with Io's footprint (IFP) tail, and likely within or very near the Main Alfvén Wing, during Juno's 12th perijove (PJ) crossing show evidence of intense proton acceleration by wave-particle heating. Measurements made by Juno/JEDI reveal proton characteristics that include pitch angle distributions concentrated along the upward loss cone, broad energy distributions that span~50 keV to 1 MeV, highly structured temporal/spatial variations in the particle intensities, and energy fluxes as high as~100 mW/m 2. Simultaneous measurements of the plasma waves and magnetic field suggest the presence of ion cyclotron waves and transverse Alfvénic fluctuations. We interpret the proton observations as upgoing conics likely accelerated via resonant interactions with ion cyclotron waves. These observations represent the first measurements of ion conics associated with moon-magnetosphere interactions, suggesting energetic ion acceleration plays a more important role in the IFP tail region than previously considered. Plain Language Summary NASA's Juno spacecraft orbits Jupiter's polar region and makes direct measurements of the fields and particles that are responsible for creating Jupiter's powerful auroras. In this article, we present new observations that show intense proton acceleration occurring at altitudes near the auroral emissions created by the interaction between Jupiter's moon Io and the surrounding plasma and magnetic field environment. These unique observations provide clues on how particles are being accelerated and will help constrain particle acceleration theories.
The Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment aboard Juno observed accelerated proton populations connected to Io's footprint tail aurora. While accelerated electron populations have been previously linked with Io's auroral footprint tail aurora, we present new evidence for proton acceleration due to Io's Alfvénic interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere. Separate populations were accelerated above the Io torus and at high latitudes near Jupiter. The timing suggests the acceleration is due to Alfvén waves associated with Io's Main Alfvén Wing. The inferred high-latitude proton acceleration region spans 0.9-2.5 Jovian radii in altitude, comparable to the expected location for electron acceleration, and suggests the associated Alfvén waves are able to accelerate electrons and protons in similar locations. The proton populations magnetically connected to Io's orbit are recently perturbed, equilibrating with the nominal torus plasma population on a timescale smaller than Io's System III orbital period of~13 h, likely due to wave-particle interactions. The tail populations are split into a wake-like structure with distinct inner and outer regions, where the inner region maps to an equatorial width nearly identical to the diameter of Io. The approximately symmetric surrounding outer regions are each slightly smaller than the central region and may be related to Io's atmospheric extent. The nominal, corotational torus proton population exhibits energization throughout all regions, peaking at the anti-Jovian flank of the inner core region mapping to Io's diameter. These proton observations suggest Alfvén waves are capable of accelerating protons in multiple locations and provide further evidence that Io's Alfvénic interaction is bifurcated. Plain Language SummaryThe interaction between Jupiter's moon Io and Jupiter's rapidly rotating magnetic field produces a persistent aurora in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. The Juno spacecraft's trajectory crossed magnetic field lines connected to this aurora. We found that protons are accelerated in multiple places between Jupiter and Io. The interaction is evidenced in two distinct regions, with the central core region mapping to almost exactly the size of Io in the equatorial plane. We also find the protons that comprise the nominal "background" population are hotter in this central region.
Observations of energetic charged particles associated with Io's footprint (IFP) tail, and likely within or very near the Main Alfvén Wing, during Juno's 12th perijove (PJ) crossing show evidence of intense proton acceleration by wave-particle heating. Measurements made by Juno/JEDI reveal proton characteristics that include pitch angle distributions concentrated along the upward loss cone, broad energy distributions that span~50 keV to 1 MeV, highly structured temporal/spatial variations in the particle intensities, and energy fluxes as high as~100 mW/m 2 . Simultaneous measurements of the plasma waves and magnetic field suggest the presence of ion cyclotron waves and transverse Alfvénic fluctuations. We interpret the proton observations as upgoing conics likely accelerated via resonant interactions with ion cyclotron waves. These observations represent the first measurements of ion conics associated with moon-magnetosphere interactions, suggesting energetic ion acceleration plays a more important role in the IFP tail region than previously considered.Plain Language Summary NASA's Juno spacecraft orbits Jupiter's polar region and makes direct measurements of the fields and particles that are responsible for creating Jupiter's powerful auroras. In this article, we present new observations that show intense proton acceleration occurring at altitudes near the auroral emissions created by the interaction between Jupiter's moon Io and the surrounding plasma and magnetic field environment. These unique observations provide clues on how particles are being accelerated and will help constrain particle acceleration theories.
Transient electromagnetics (TEM) is a well-established method for mineral, groundwater, and geothermal exploration. Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID)-based magnetic-field receivers used for TEM have quantitative advantages and higher sensitivity compared with commonly used induction coils. Special applications are deep soundings with target depths [Formula: see text] and settings with conductive overburden. However, SQUIDs have rarely been applied for TEM measurements in environments with significant anthropogenic noise. We compared a low-temperature SQUID with a commercially available induction coil in an area affected by anthropogenic noise. We acquired four fixed-loop data sets with totally 61 receiver stations close to Bad Frankenhausen, Germany. The high sensitivity of the SQUID enables low noise levels, which lead to longer high-quality transient data compared with the induction coil. The effect of anthropogenic and natural noise sources is more critical for the coil than for the SQUID data. In the vicinity of the transmitter loop, systematic distortion of the coil signals occurs at early times, most probably caused by sferic interferences. We have developed 1D inversion results of both receivers that matched well in general. However, the SQUID-based models were more consistent and showed greater depths of investigation. This led to a superior resolution of deeper layers and even enabled a potential detection of thin conducting targets at up to a 500 m depth. Moreover, we find that the SQUID data inversion revealed multidimensional effects within the conductive overburden. In this regard, we applied forward modeling to analyze systematic differences between inversion results of SQUID and coil data. We determine that low-temperature SQUIDs have the potential to significantly improve the reliability of subsurface models in suburban environments. Nevertheless, we recommend combined application of both types of receivers.
We investigate the small‐scale magnetic field fluctuations and their associated turbulent nature in the Io flux tube (IFT) connected to Io's footprint tail (IFPT). Our study is based on the recent magnetic field measurements by the Juno spacecraft during the PJ12 Juno flyby. Here, we are interested in understanding what type of turbulence is consistent with the fluctuations in the quasi‐dispersionless frequency range of 0.2–800 Hz as observed by Sulaiman et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088432. Knowledge of the turbulent fluctuations is important to constrain the acceleration mechanisms for ions and electrons in the IFT. In this work, we suggest that the observed temporal fluctuations in the spacecraft frame correspond to Doppler‐shifted spatial fluctuation structured perpendicular to the background magnetic field. This would imply an alternative reinterpretation of the spectral index of the observed magnetic power spectral density to be potentially the result of weak‐MHD and sub‐ion scale kinetic Alfvén wave turbulence in the low‐frequency regime. Our theoretical modelings show that turbulence can be driven both in the torus region and at high‐latitudes rendering results in agreement with the Juno measurements. Calculated turbulence heating rates are consistent with observed energy fluxes in the IFT and represent efficient drivers for particle acceleration. Moreover, a widening of the IFPT structure with respect to the IFT extent is consistent with propagating dispersive Alfvén waves modified by kinetic effects on their group velocities.
<p>Observations by the JUNO spacecraft revealed energetic, bidirectional particle populations with broadband energy distributions in the high-latitude region of Jupiter. These measurements indicate that an acceleration mechanism of stochastic nature plays a dominant role for the generation of the intense main auroral oval. In our current work, we investigate the acceleration of energetic electrons and protons recently observed by JUNO in the Io flux tube wake near Jupiter. We try to infer on the relevant physical acceleration process by considering a resonant as well as a non-resonant wave-particle interaction mechanism, both based on Alfven waves. We focus on necessary temporal scales to drive these mechanisms efficiently and also on the released wave energy by means of the transported Poynting flux along the flux tube.</p>
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