Reappraising the Distributions of Energetic Electrons at Jupiter, Saturn
and Uranus from Data Analyses and Physics-based Models
Abstract
The in-situ magnetospheric exploration of the four large planets of our
solar system had started with Pioneer 10’s flyby of Jupiter in Dec.
1973. The second collection of field, particle and radio data of the gas
giant was carried out by Pioneer 11 in Dec. 1974, before this spacecraft
made its closest approach to Saturn in Sep. 1979. Around the same
period, Voyager 1 (2) flew by Jupiter in Mar. (Jul.) 1979 then Saturn in
Nov. (Aug.) 1980 (1981). As of today, only Voyager 2 visited the
magnetospheres of Uranus (Jan. 1986) and Neptune (Aug. 1989). Galileo
had remained the only spacecraft to orbit an outer planet for several
years (1995 - 2003) until the arrival of Juno at Jupiter in 2016.
Between 2004 and 2017, the Cassini mission had provided a wealth of
in-situ data pertinent to the study of magnetospheric particles at
Saturn. In this paper, we present our current understanding of the
processes that shape the spatial distributions of energetic electrons
trapped in the magnetospheres of Jupiter (L < 6), Saturn (L
< 15) and Uranus (L < 15) obtained by combining
multi-instrument analyses of data from past missions (Pioneer, Voyager,
Galileo, Cassini) and computational models of charged particle fluxes.
To determine what controls the energy and spatial distributions
throughout the different magnetospheres, we compute the time evolution
of particle distributions with the help of a diffusion theory particle
transport code that solves the governing 3-D Fokker-Planck equation.
Particle, field and wave datasets are either used to provide model
constraints, assist in modeling physical processes, or validate our
simulation results. We first emphasize our latest results regarding the
relative (or coupled) role of mechanisms at Saturn, including the radial
transport and interactions of electrons with Saturn’s
dust/neutral/plasma environments and waves, as well as particle sources
from high-latitudes, interchange injections, and outer magnetospheric
region. The lessons learned from our modeling of electron distributions
at Saturn are used to identify the processes that may be missing in our
modeling of Jupiter’s energetic electron environment or those in need to
be implemented using new modeling concepts. Our first physics-based
modeling of electron populations at Uranus is also assessed with our
data-model comparison approach.