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Equatorial electron density measurements in Saturn's inner magnetosphere
Author(s) -
Persoon A. M.,
Gurnett D. A.,
Kurth W. S.,
Hospodarsky G. B.,
Groene J. B.,
Canu P.,
Dougherty M. K.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl024294
Subject(s) - saturn , physics , magnetosphere , electron density , enceladus , electron , plasma , radial velocity , waves in plasmas , astrophysics , astronomy , atomic physics , planet , quantum mechanics , stars
Upper hybrid resonance emissions detected by the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument on the Cassini spacecraft are used to obtain electron densities on five equatorial orbits of Saturn at radial distances ranging from 3 to 9 saturnian radii (R S ). The electron density profiles for these orbits show a highly repeatable radial dependence beyond 5 R S , decreasing with increasing radial distance approximately as (1/R) 3.63 . Inside 5 R S , the electron density profiles are highly variable. We show that these radial variations are consistent with a centrifugally‐driven outward transport of plasma from a source inside 5 R S .