Survey of magnetosheath plasma properties at Saturn and inference of upstream flow conditions
Survey of magnetosheath plasma properties at Saturn and inference of upstream flow conditions
A new Cassini magnetosheath data set is introduced that is based on a comprehensive survey of intervals in which the observed magnetosheath flow was encompassed within the plasma analyzer field of view and for which the computed numerical moments are therefore expected to be accurate. The data extend from 2004 day 299 to 2012 day 151 and comprise 19,155 416 s measurements. In addition to the plasma ion moments (density, temperature, and flow velocity), merged values of the plasma electron density and temperature, the energetic particle pressure, and the magnetic field vector are included in the data set. Statistical properties of various magnetosheath parameters, including dependence on local time, are presented. The magnetosheath field and flow are found to be only weakly aligned, primarily because of a relatively large z component of the magnetic field, attributable to the field being pulled out of the equatorial orientation by flows at higher latitudes. A new procedure for using magnetosheath properties to estimate the upstream solar wind speed is proposed and used to determine that the amount of electron heating at Saturn's high Mach-number bow shock is ~4% of the dissipated flow energy. The data set is available as supporting information to this paper.
Bow shock, Magnetosheath, Saturn
Thomsen, M.F.
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Coates, A.J.
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Jackman, C.M.
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Sergis, N.
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Jia, X.
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Hansen, K.C.
992a66ab-34d3-4cda-bc0c-816b899a4025
Thomsen, M.F.
710c64ce-779f-4088-8e50-f9e450232f5f
Coates, A.J.
04f7e558-21ff-4b0e-9586-78c946babc90
Jackman, C.M.
9bc3456c-b254-48f1-ade0-912c5b8b4529
Sergis, N.
4f763399-5901-4bdc-9bc7-2a57140a9f80
Jia, X.
d4c719a7-fb60-480f-82b5-bbdd0f4ee6ca
Hansen, K.C.
992a66ab-34d3-4cda-bc0c-816b899a4025
Thomsen, M.F., Coates, A.J., Jackman, C.M., Sergis, N., Jia, X. and Hansen, K.C.
(2018)
Survey of magnetosheath plasma properties at Saturn and inference of upstream flow conditions.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
(doi:10.1002/2018JA025214).
Abstract
A new Cassini magnetosheath data set is introduced that is based on a comprehensive survey of intervals in which the observed magnetosheath flow was encompassed within the plasma analyzer field of view and for which the computed numerical moments are therefore expected to be accurate. The data extend from 2004 day 299 to 2012 day 151 and comprise 19,155 416 s measurements. In addition to the plasma ion moments (density, temperature, and flow velocity), merged values of the plasma electron density and temperature, the energetic particle pressure, and the magnetic field vector are included in the data set. Statistical properties of various magnetosheath parameters, including dependence on local time, are presented. The magnetosheath field and flow are found to be only weakly aligned, primarily because of a relatively large z component of the magnetic field, attributable to the field being pulled out of the equatorial orientation by flows at higher latitudes. A new procedure for using magnetosheath properties to estimate the upstream solar wind speed is proposed and used to determine that the amount of electron heating at Saturn's high Mach-number bow shock is ~4% of the dissipated flow energy. The data set is available as supporting information to this paper.
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Survey of Magnetosheath Plasma Properties at Saturn 1 and Inference of Upstream Flow
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Accepted/In Press date: 24 February 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 30 March 2018
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Copyright (2018) American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted.
Keywords:
Bow shock, Magnetosheath, Saturn
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 420507
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/420507
ISSN: 2169-9380
PURE UUID: d31a09a2-0066-4c39-86d5-2ab4249d21e0
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Date deposited: 09 May 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:27
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Contributors
Author:
M.F. Thomsen
Author:
A.J. Coates
Author:
N. Sergis
Author:
X. Jia
Author:
K.C. Hansen
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