High resolution measurements of density structures in the Jovian plasma sheet

Ansher, J. A.; Kurth, W. S.; Gurnett, D. A.; Goertz, C. K.

A recent effort to digitize the plasma density by using the low frequency cutoff of trapped continuum radiation in the vicinity of the Jovian plasma sheet has revealed the existence of sharply defined density structures in the plasma sheet. These structures typically have a plasma density which is relatively constant but of order 50 percent greater or less than in the surrounding plasma. At the boundaries of these structures, the transitions from low to high density occur on time scales of about ten seconds, which correspond to spatial dimensions on the order of a few ion Larmor radii. The structures themselves last for intervals from less than a minute to more than five minutes, corresponding to size scales from a fraction of a Jovian radius to more than a Jovian radius, depending of the velocity of the structure relative to the spacecraft. In view of the importance of near corotation plasma flows, these structures are likely to be limited in both the longitudinal and radial dimensions and, therefore, could represent flux tubes with greatly varying plasma content. These observations are presented as among the first to directly address the theoretically proposed interchange instability.

Document ID

19910023729

Acquisition Source

Legacy CDMS

Document Type

Contractor Report (CR)

Authors

Date Acquired

September 6, 2013

Publication Date

July 1, 1991

Subject Category

Report/Patent Number

Accession Number

91N33043

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Public

Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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