Universität zu Köln

Bloecker, Aljona, Saur, Joachim ORCID: 0000-0003-1413-1231, Roth, Lorenz ORCID: 0000-0003-0554-4691 and Strobel, Darrell F. (2018). MHD Modeling of the Plasma Interaction With Io's Asymmetric Atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res-Space Phys., 123 (11). S. 9286 - 9312. WASHINGTON: AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. ISSN 2169-9402

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Abstract

Io's atmosphere, with an average equatorial column density of >= 10(20) m(-2), exhibits significant density variations with latitude and longitude. We apply a 3-D magnetohydrodynamic model to investigate the effects of atmospheric asymmetries, both locally from volcanic plumes and globally, on the plasma and magnetic field environment of Io. The model takes into account collisions between ions and neutrals, plasma production and loss due to electron impact ionization and dissociative recombination, and the ionospheric Hall effect. Our simulation results show that volcanic plumes influence the plasma interaction locally, generating Alfven winglets within Io's global Alfven wing. Signals from individual plumes can however barely be probed by magnetic field measurements during spacecraft flybys at Io. In contrast, the surface number density, scale height, the longitudinal and latitudinal variations of the global atmosphere are crucial factors for modeling and understanding magnetic field and plasma perturbations. Comparing our model results with the magnetic field data from the 124 and 127 flybys of the Galileo spacecraft, we find that the measured perturbations can be primarily caused by the plasma interaction with the longitudinally asymmetric atmosphere. This implies that a significant magnetic induction signal from a partially molten magma ocean is not necessarily required to explain the Galileo magnetometer data.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Bloecker, Aljona UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Saur, Joachim UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-1413-1231 UNSPECIFIED Roth, Lorenz UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-0554-4691 UNSPECIFIED Strobel, Darrell F. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-167089
DOI:	10.1029/2018JA025747
Journal or Publication Title:	J. Geophys. Res-Space Phys.
Volume:	123
Number:	11
Page Range:	S. 9286 - 9312
Date:	2018
Publisher:	AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
Place of Publication:	WASHINGTON
ISSN:	2169-9402
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language SULFUR-DIOXIDE; ELECTRON-BEAMS; MAGMA OCEAN; SO2; SIMULATION; SUBLIMATION; ALFVEN; FLOW; ENVIRONMENT; TORUS Multiple languages Astronomy & Astrophysics Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/16708