Modeling the Diurnally Processing Jovian Magnetospheric Field
Abstract
A functional representation of the magnetic field contribution of the solar-wind-driven electric, currents on the magnetopause of Jupiter is presented. The representation accounts for the precession of the magnetic axis and the consequential diurnal variation of the shape of the magnetopause. Existing models of the two interior field sources (planetary dipole and currents of trapped plasma) were incorporated into a set of eight three-dimensional static models. Each model assumed a 10 deg tilt of the magnetic axis with respect to Jupiter's rotation axis. This set includes representations published for a tilt toward (Alpha = 0 deg) and away from (Alpha = 180 deg) the Sun in the noon-midnight meridian plane, as well as six complementary analogous models for azimuthal angles of 450 deg, 900 deg, 1350 deg, 2250 deg, 2700 deg, and 3150 deg. The representations were connected by replacing expansion coefficients with continuous functions which replicated each of the eight original static models and interpolated between them. The result is a time-dependent functional representation of the magnetic potential of the magnetopause surface currents in terms of an expansion in associated Legendre functions. This model yields predicted magnetic field components for any location within the magnetosphere as Jupiter's magnetic axis processes during the course of a Jovian day (9h 55m 41s) . Magnetosphere, Jupiter, Modeling, Planetary, Solar wind, Voyager
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 19, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA284857
Entities
People
- Todd D. Bode
Organizations
- United States Naval Academy