Imperial College London

ProfessorMicheleDougherty

Faculty of Natural SciencesDepartment of Physics

Head of Department of Physics, Professor of Space Physics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7770m.dougherty Website

 
 
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Assistant

 

Ms Lida Mnatsakanian +44 (0)20 7594 7503

 
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Location

 

Blackett 900aBlackett LaboratorySouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Publication Type
Year
to

403 results found

Dougherty M, 2024, Using magnetic field observations from the Galilean moons to diagnose ocean properties

<jats:p>One of the most important realizations that planetary scientists have come to in the last 20 years is that in the search for potential habitability in our solar system, the focus need not only be on planetary bodies close to the Sun, where water on the surface is in liquid state. Based on Galileo and Cassini observations in the Jupiter and Saturn systems, there are many potential places in our solar system where sub-surface liquid water oceans may exist.JUICE magnetometer (J-MAG) measurements (such as those made by the magnetometers on the Galileo and Cassini spacecraft) enable an understanding to be gained of the interior structure of the icy moons of Jupiter, specifically those of Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Of particular interest are knowledge of the depth at which the liquid oceans reside beneath their icy surfaces, the strength of any internal magnetic fields such as at Ganymede and the strength of any induced magnetic fields arising within these oceans.The primary science objectives of JUICE which will be constrained by the magnetic field observations and which drove the performance requirements of the J-MAG instrument include:At Ganymede:Characterization of the extent of the ocean and its relation to the deeper interiorCharacterization of the ice shellCharacterization of the local environment and its interactions with the Jovian magnetosphereDescription of the deep interior and magnetic field generationAt Europa, further constrain the depth of the liquid ocean and its conductivityAt Callisto, characterize the outer shells, including the ocean&amp;#160;</jats:p>

Other

Sharan S, Bunce E, Dougherty M, Jia X, Kivelson Met al., 2024, Understanding the interior magnetic fields of Ganymede using flybys of the Europa Clipper and JUICE missions

<jats:p>The interiors of the icy moons of Jupiter hold a key to understanding habitability in the Solar System and beyond. They could serve as prototypes to comprehend similar bodies that might have the potential to sustain life. The magnetic field observations from the Galileo mission between 1996 and 2003 suggest large oceans below the icy crusts of Europa and Callisto and a probable subsurface ocean at Ganymede. It also discovered that Ganymede has an intrinsic magnetic field and a dynamic magnetosphere.NASA&amp;#8217;s Europa Clipper and ESA&amp;#8217;s Jupiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) missions have been designed to better understand and characterise these icy moons. They aim to confirm the existence of a subsurface ocean at the three moons, in particular, Ganymede and Europa, and constrain their internal structure. The missions would also explore the magnetosphere of Jupiter and its interactions within the Jovian system. Ganymede is the largest moon of our Solar System, capable of producing its own dynamo field and possibly possessing an ocean beneath its surface. However, separating the intrinsic field from the induced field is a difficult problem. Galileo measurements provided two models for Ganymede&amp;#8217;s overall internal field- a dipole and quadrupole model or a dipole and induction model. Both the quadrupole and induction signals are quite small and well represent the observations together with the dipole field.Latest trajectory information for Europa Clipper assuming an October 2024 launch, and the predicted JUICE trajectory following the successful launch in April 2023 show initial close Ganymede flybys. In this study, we use them to understand their trajectories and highlight their importance in confirming the induced signal and thereby the ocean as well as for modelling the dynamo field. The first 2 Clipper and the first 3 JUICE flybys occur within an altitude of 500 km from Ganymede&amp;#8217;s surface and are hence usefu

Other

Amtmann C, Pollinger A, Ellmeier M, Dougherty M, Brown P, Lammegger R, Betzler A, Agú M, Hagen C, Jernej I, Wilfinger J, Baughen R, Strickland A, Magnes Wet al., 2024, Accuracy of the Scalar Magnetometer aboard ESA's JUICE Mission

<jats:p>The presentation discusses the accuracy of the scalar Coupled Dark State Magnetometer on board the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) mission of the European Space Agency. The scalar magnetometer MAGSCA is part of the J-MAG instrument.MAGSCA is an optical, omni-directional scalar magnetometer based on coherent population trapping, a quantum interference effect, within the hyperfine manifold of the 87Rb D1 line. The measurement principle is only based on natural constants and therefore, it is in principle drift free and no calibration is required. However, the technical realisation can influence the measurement accuracy.The most dominating effects are heading characteristics, which are deviations of the magnetic field strength measurements from the ambient magnetic field strength.The verification of the accuracy and precision of the instrument is required to ensure its compliance with the performance requirement of the mission: 0.2 nT (1-&amp;#963;).The verification is carried out with four dedicated sensor orientations in a Merritt coil system, which is located in the geomagnetic Conrad observatory. The coil system is used to compensate the Earth&amp;#8217;s magnetic field and to apply appropriate test fields to the sensor.&amp;#160;A novel method is presented which separates the heading characteristics of the instrument from residual (offset) fields within the coil system by fitting a mathematical model to the measured data. It allows verifying that the MAGSCA sensor unit does not have a measurable remanent magnetisation as well as that the desired accuracy of 0.2 nT (1-&amp;#963;) is achieved by the MAGSCA flight hardware for the JUICE Mission.</jats:p>

Other

Fletcher LN, Cavalié T, Grassi D, Hueso R, Lara LM, Kaspi Y, Galanti E, Greathouse TK, Molyneux PM, Galand M, Vallat C, Witasse O, Lorente R, Hartogh P, Poulet F, Langevin Y, Palumbo P, Gladstone GR, Retherford KD, Dougherty MK, Wahlund J-E, Barabash S, Iess L, Bruzzone L, Hussmann H, Gurvits LI, Santolik O, Kolmasova I, Fischer G, Müller-Wodarg I, Piccioni G, Fouchet T, Gérard J-C, Sánchez-Lavega A, Irwin PGJ, Grodent D, Altieri F, Mura A, Drossart P, Kammer J, Giles R, Cazaux S, Jones G, Smirnova M, Lellouch E, Medvedev AS, Moreno R, Rezac L, Coustenis A, Costa Met al., 2023, Jupiter science Enabled by ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Space Science Reviews, Vol: 219, ISSN: 0038-6308

ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will provide a detailed investigation of the Jovian system in the 2030s, combining a suite of state-of-the-art instruments with an orbital tour tailored to maximise observing opportunities. We review the Jupiter science enabled by the JUICE mission, building on the legacy of discoveries from the Galileo, Cassini, and Juno missions, alongside ground- and space-based observatories. We focus on remote sensing of the climate, meteorology, and chemistry of the atmosphere and auroras from the cloud-forming weather layer, through the upper troposphere, into the stratosphere and ionosphere. The Jupiter orbital tour provides a wealth of opportunities for atmospheric and auroral science: global perspectives with its near-equatorial and inclined phases, sampling all phase angles from dayside to nightside, and investigating phenomena evolving on timescales from minutes to months. The remote sensing payload spans far-UV spectroscopy (50-210 nm), visible imaging (340-1080 nm), visible/near-infrared spectroscopy (0.49-5.56 μm), and sub-millimetre sounding (near 530-625 GHz and 1067-1275 GHz). This is coupled to radio, stellar, and solar occultation opportunities to explore the atmosphere at high vertical resolution; and radio and plasma wave measurements of electric discharges in the Jovian atmosphere and auroras. Cross-disciplinary scientific investigations enable JUICE to explore coupling processes in giant planet atmospheres, to show how the atmosphere is connected to (i) the deep circulation and composition of the hydrogen-dominated interior; and (ii) to the currents and charged particle environments of the external magnetosphere. JUICE will provide a comprehensive characterisation of the atmosphere and auroras of this archetypal giant planet.

Journal article

Hunt GJ, Provan G, Bradley TJ, Cowley SWH, Dougherty MK, Roussos Eet al., 2022, The response of Saturn's dawn field-aligned currents to magnetospheric and ring current conditions during Cassini's proximal orbits: evidence for a Region 2 response at Saturn, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol: 127, Pages: 1-15, ISSN: 2169-9380

Cassini's 2017 proximal orbits provided the opportunity to examine the auroral field-aligned currents in the northern hemisphere dawn sector in relation to wider magnetospheric conditions. We combine three recent studies to examine the response of the dawn region auroral field-aligned currents and the azimuthal ring currents to compressions and expansions of the Saturnian magnetosphere. For compressions of Saturn's magnetosphere resulting in tail reconnection, the currents within the downward current sheet, located equatorward of the main auroral oval, increases in strength with increasing total ring current and location of the peak downwards current moves inwards toward Saturn. While the inverse relation occurs during intervals of quiet or expanded magnetospheric conditions. During compression events there is an increase in the energetic particle intensities, in particular in the protons (35–506 keV), within the downward current region. This current system is akin to an Earth-like “region 2” field aligned current within Saturn's magnetosphere, with tail reconnection occurring when the magnetosphere is compressed resulting in a partial nightside ring current closed by a downward current near to dawn. Within the upward current sheet, mapping to Saturn's main auroral oval, both non-rotating subcorotating current and the rotating Planetary Period Oscillations (PPOs) currents flow. The upward current is strongly modulated by the PPOs but also increases in strength, with enhanced high-energy protons, during intervals of magnetospheric compressions and tail reconnection. We conclude that the enhanced plasma injected into the midnight-dawn sector during tail reconnection events results in an enhanced subcorotation current system.

Journal article

Agiwal O, Masters A, Hunt G, Dougherty Met al., 2022, The contribution of planetary period oscillations towards circulation and mass loss in Saturn’s magnetosphere, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol: 127, Pages: 1-17, ISSN: 2169-9380

Magnetic reconnection is a process during which magnetic energy is released as kinetic energy. It is considered a crucial driver of energy transport and mass loss within Saturn's magnetosphere. On long-term timescales, is thought to be predominantly driven by the rapid rotation of equatorially mass-loaded flux tubes (i.e., the Vasyliunas cycle), but there is some non-negligible driving from the solar wind as well (i.e., the Dungey cycle). In this study, we investigate an atmospheric driven phenomenon that modulates Saturn's magnetosphere every ∼10.6–10.8 hr, known as planetary period oscillations (PPOs), as an additional driver of magnetic reconnection at Saturn. Using an empirical model of PPO dynamics and Cassini magnetic field and plasma measurements, we find that PPO-driven magnetic reconnection is likely to occur in Saturn's magnetosphere, however, the occurrence of the phenomenon depends on temporally variable characteristics of the PPO systems and spatial asymmetries within Saturn's equatorial magnetosphere. Thus, it is not expected to be an on-going process. On year-long timescales, we find that PPOs are expected to be on par with the Dungey Cycle in driving circulation within Saturn's magnetosphere. However, on ∼1–2 weeks-long timescales, under specific conditions where PPO-driven reconnection is expected to be active, this phenomenon can become more significant than the Vasyliunas cycle, and thus dominate circulation within Saturn's magnetosphere. On year-long timescales, this process is estimated to remove upwards of ∼20% of the mass loaded into the magnetosphere by Enceladus.

Journal article

Shebanits O, Wahlund J-E, Waite JH, Dougherty MKet al., 2022, Conductivities of Titan's Dusty Ionosphere, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, Vol: 127, ISSN: 2169-9380

Journal article

Stephan K, Roatsch T, Tosi F, Matz K-D, Kersten E, Wagner R, Molyneux P, Palumbo P, Poulet F, Hussmann H, Barabash S, Bruzzone L, Dougherty M, Gladstone R, Gurvits LI, Hartogh P, Iess L, Wahlund J-E, Wurz P, Witasse O, Grasset O, Altobelli N, Carter J, Cavalie T, d'Aversa E, Della Corte V, Filacchione G, Galli A, Galluzzi V, Gwinner K, Hauber E, Jaumann R, Krohn K, Langevin Y, Lucchetti A, Migliorini A, Piccioni G, Solomonidou A, Stark A, Tobie G, Tubiana C, Vallat C, Van Hoolst Tet al., 2021, Regions of interest on Ganymede's and Callisto's surfaces as potential targets for ESA's JUICE mission, PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCE, Vol: 208, ISSN: 0032-0633

Journal article

Lai, Jia, Russell, Jia X, Masters A, Dougherty M, Cuiet al., 2021, Magnetic flux circulation in the Saturnian magnetosphere as constrained by Cassini observations in the inner magnetosphere, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol: 126, Pages: 1-9, ISSN: 2169-9380

In steady state, magnetic flux conservation must be maintained in Saturn’s magnetosphere. The Enceladus plumes add mass to magnetic flux tubes in the inner magnetosphere, and centrifugal force pulls the mass-loaded flux tubes outward. Those flux tubes are carried outward to the magnetotail where they deposit their mass and return to the mass loading region. It may take days for the magnetic flux to be carried outward to the tail, but the return of the nearly empty flux tubes can last only several hours, with speeds of inward motion around 200 km/s. Using time sequences of Cassini particle count rate, the difference in curvature drift and gradient drift is accounted for to determine the return speed, age, and starting dipole L-shell of return flux tubes. Determination of this flux-return process improves our understanding of the magnetic flux circulation at Saturn and provides insight into how other giant planets remove the mass added by their moons.

Journal article

Guo RL, Yao ZH, Dunn WR, Palmaerts B, Sergis N, Grodent D, Badman SV, Ye SY, Pu ZY, Mitchell DG, Zhang BZ, Achilleos N, Coates AJ, Wei Y, Waite JH, Krupp N, Dougherty MKet al., 2021, A Rotating Azimuthally Distributed Auroral Current System on Saturn Revealed by the Cassini Spacecraft, ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS, Vol: 919, ISSN: 2041-8205

Journal article

Moore KMM, Bolton B, Cao H, Dougherty MK, Bloxham Jet al., 2021, No Evidence for Time Variation in Saturn's Internal Magnetic Field, PLANETARY SCIENCE JOURNAL, Vol: 2

Journal article

Shebanits O, Wahlund J-E, Waite JH, Dougherty MKet al., 2021, Conductivities of Titan's dusty ionosphere

Journal article

Heyner, Auster, Fornacon, Carr C, Richter, Mieth, Kolhey, Exner, Motschmann, Baumjohann, Matsuoka, Magnes, Berghofer, Fischer, Plaschke, Nakamura, Narita, Delta, Volwerk, Balogh A, Dougherty M, Horbury T, Langlais, Mandea, Masters A, Oliveira, Sanchez-Cano, Slavin, Vennerstrøm, Vogt, Wicht, Glassmeieret al., 2021, The BepiColombo Planetary Magnetometer MPO-MAG: what can we Learn from the Hermean magnetic field?, Space Science Reviews, Vol: 217, ISSN: 0038-6308

The magnetometer instrument MPO-MAG on-board the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) of the BepiColombo mission en-route to Mercury is introduced, with its instrument design, its calibration and scientific targets. The instrument is comprised of two tri-axial fluxgate magnetometers mounted on a 2.9 m boom and are 0.8 m apart. They monitor the magnetic field with up to 128 Hz in a ±2048 nT range. The MPO will be injected into an initial 480×1500 km polar orbit (2.3 h orbital period). At Mercury, we will map the planetary magnetic field and determine the dynamo generated field and constrain the secular variation. In this paper, we also discuss the effect of the instrument calibration on the ability to improve the knowledge on the internal field. Furthermore, the study of induced magnetic fields and field-aligned currents will help to constrain the interior structure in concert with other geophysical instruments. The orbit is also well-suited to study dynamical phenomena at the Hermean magnetopause and magnetospheric cusps. Together with its sister instrument Mio-MGF on-board the second satellite of the BepiColombo mission, the magnetometers at Mercury will study the reaction of the highly dynamic magnetosphere to changes in the solar wind. In the extreme case, the solar wind might even collapse the entire dayside magnetosphere. During cruise, MPO-MAG will contribute to studies of solar wind turbulence and transient phenomena.

Journal article

Staniland NR, Dougherty MK, Masters A, Achilleos Net al., 2021, The cushion region and dayside magnetodisc structure at Saturn, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol: 48, Pages: 1-9, ISSN: 0094-8276

A sustained quasi‐dipolar magnetic field between the current sheet outer edge and the magnetopause, known as a cushion region, has previously been observed at Jupiter, but not yet at Saturn. Using the complete Cassini magnetometer data, the first evidence of a cushion region forming at Saturn is shown. Only five examples of a sustained cushion are found, revealing this phenomenon to be rare. Four of the cushion regions are identified at dusk and one pre‐noon. It is suggested that greater heating of plasma post‐noon coupled with the expansion of the field through the afternoon sector makes the disc more unstable in this region. These results highlight a key difference between the Saturn and Jupiter systems.

Journal article

Provan G, Bradley TJ, Bunce EJ, Cowley SWH, Cao H, Dougherty M, Hunt GJ, Roussos E, Staniland NR, Tao Cet al., 2021, Saturn's Nightside Ring Current During Cassini's Grand Finale, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, Vol: 126, ISSN: 2169-9380

Journal article

Southwood DJ, Cao H, Shebanits O, Elsden T, Hunt GJ, Dougherty MKet al., 2021, Discovery of Alfven waves planetward of Saturn's rings, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol: 126, Pages: 1-18, ISSN: 2169-9380

Between April and September 2017 in the final stages of the Cassini Saturn Orbiter mission the spacecraft executed 22 orbits passing planetward of the innermost ring, the D-ring. During all periapsis passes oscillations were detected in the azimuthal magnetic field components on typical time scales of a few minutes. We argue that these time-varying magnetic signals detected on the spacecraft are also primarily time-varying in the plasma frame. Furthermore, we show that nearly all signals exhibit a spatial feature, namely a magnetic node near the effective field line equator. We propose that the oscillations are associated with Alfvén waves excited in local field line resonances, most likely driven from global sources.

Journal article

Agiwal O, Cao H, Cowley SWH, Dougherty MK, Hunt GJ, Muller-Wodarg I, Achilleos Net al., 2021, Constraining the Temporal Variability of Neutral Winds in Saturn's Low-Latitude Ionosphere Using Magnetic Field Measurements, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS, Vol: 126, ISSN: 2169-9097

Journal article

Staniland NR, Dougherty MK, Masters A, Achilleos Net al., 2020, The cushion region and dayside magnetodisc structure at Saturn, Publisher: ESSOAr

A sustained dipolar magnetic field between the current sheet outer edge and the magnetopause, known as a cushion region, has yet to be observed at Saturn. Whilst some signatures of reconnection occurring in the dayside magnetodisc have been identified, the presence of this large-scale structure has not been seen. Using the complete Cassini magnetometer data, the first evidence of a cushion region forming at Saturn is shown. Only five potential examples of a sustained cushion are found, revealing this phenomenon to be rare. This feature more commonly occurs at dusk compared to dawn, where it is found at Jupiter. It is suggested that due to greater heating and expansion of the field through the afternoon sector the disc is more unstable in this region. We show that magnetodisc breakdown is more likely to occur within the magnetosphere of Jupiter compared to Saturn.

Working paper

Bunce EJ, Martindale A, Lindsay S, Muinonen K, Rothery DA, Pearson J, McDonnell I, Thomas C, Thornhill J, Tikkanen T, Feldman C, Huovelin J, Korpela S, Esko E, Lehtolainen A, Treis J, Majewski P, Hilchenbach M, Vaisanen T, Luttinen A, Kohout T, Penttila A, Bridges J, Joy KH, Alcacera-Gil MA, Alibert G, Anand M, Bannister N, Barcelo-Garcia C, Bicknell C, Blake O, Bland P, Butcher G, Cheney A, Christensen U, Crawford T, Crawford IA, Dennerl K, Dougherty M, Drumm P, Fairbend R, Genzer M, Grande M, Hall GP, Hodnett R, Houghton P, Imber S, Kallio E, Lara ML, Balado Margeli A, Mas-Hesse MJ, Maurice S, Milan S, Millington-Hotze P, Nenonen S, Nittler L, Okada T, Ormo J, Perez-Mercader J, Poyner R, Robert E, Ross D, Pajas-Sanz M, Schyns E, Seguy J, Struder L, Vaudon N, Viceira-Martin J, Williams H, Willingale D, Yeoman Tet al., 2020, The BepiColombo Mercury Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer: Science Goals, Instrument Performance and Operations, SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS, Vol: 216, ISSN: 0038-6308

Journal article

Baumjohann W, Matsuoka A, Narita Y, Magnes W, Heyner D, Glassmeier K-H, Nakamura R, Fischer D, Plaschke F, Volwerk M, Zhang TL, Auster H-U, Richter I, Balogh A, Carr CM, Dougherty M, Horbury TS, Tsunakawa H, Matsushima M, Shinohara M, Shibuya H, Nakagawa T, Hoshino M, Tanaka Y, Anderson BJ, Russell CT, Motschmann U, Takahashi F, Fujimoto Aet al., 2020, The BepiColombo-Mio magnetometer en route to Mercury, Space Science Reviews, Vol: 216, Pages: 1-33, ISSN: 0038-6308

The fluxgate magnetometer MGF on board the Mio spacecraft of the BepiColombo mission is introduced with its science targets, instrument design, calibration report, and scientific expectations. The MGF instrument consists of two tri-axial fluxgate magnetometers. Both sensors are mounted on a 4.8-m long mast to measure the magnetic field around Mercury at distances from near surface (initial peri-center altitude is 590 km) to 6 planetary radii (11640 km). The two sensors of MGF are operated in a fully redundant way, each with its own electronics, data processing and power supply units. The MGF instrument samples the magnetic field at a rate of up to 128 Hz to reveal rapidly-evolving magnetospheric dynamics, among them magnetic reconnection causing substorm-like disturbances, field-aligned currents, and ultra-low-frequency waves. The high time resolution of MGF is also helpful to study solar wind processes (through measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field) in the inner heliosphere. The MGF instrument firmly corroborates measurements of its companion, the MPO magnetometer, by performing multi-point observations to determine the planetary internal field at higher multi-pole orders and to separate temporal fluctuations from spatial variations.

Journal article

Bradley TJ, Cowley SWH, Bunce EJ, Melin H, Provan G, Nichols JD, Dougherty MK, Roussos E, Krupp N, Tao C, Lamy L, Pryor WR, Hunt GJet al., 2020, Saturn's Nightside Dynamics During Cassini's F Ring and Proximal Orbits: Response to Solar Wind and Planetary Period Oscillation Modulations, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, Vol: 125, ISSN: 2169-9380

Journal article

Cao H, Dougherty MK, Hunt GJ, Provan G, Cowley SWH, Bunce EJ, Kellock S, Stevenson DJet al., 2020, The landscape of Saturn's internal magnetic field from the Cassini Grand Finale, ICARUS, Vol: 344, ISSN: 0019-1035

Journal article

Shebanits O, Hadid LZ, Cao H, Morooka MW, Hunt G, Dougherty MK, Wahlund J-E, Waite Jr JH, Mueller-Wodarg Iet al., 2020, Saturn’s near-equatorial ionospheric conductivities from in situ measurements, Scientific Reports, Vol: 10, ISSN: 2045-2322

Cassini’s Grand Finale orbits provided for the first time in-situ measurements of Saturn’s topside ionosphere. We present the Pedersen and Hall conductivities of the top near-equatorial dayside ionosphere, derived from the in-situ measurements by the Cassini Radio and Wave Plasma Science Langmuir Probe, the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer and the fluxgate magnetometer. The Pedersen and Hall conductivities are constrained to at least 10−5–10−4 S/m at (or close to) the ionospheric peak, a factor 10–100 higher than estimated previously. We show that this is due to the presence of dusty plasma in the near-equatorial ionosphere. We also show the conductive ionospheric region to be extensive, with thickness of 300–800 km. Furthermore, our results suggest a temporal variation (decrease) of the plasma densities, mean ion masses and consequently the conductivities from orbit 288 to 292.

Journal article

Hunt GJ, Bunce EJ, Cao H, Cowley SWH, Dougherty MK, Provan G, Southwood DJet al., 2020, Saturn's auroral field-aligned currents: observations from the Northern Hemisphere dawn sector during cassini's proximal orbits, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol: 125, ISSN: 2169-9380

We examine the azimuthal magnetic field signatures associated with Saturn's northern hemisphere auroral field‐aligned currents observed in the dawn sector during Cassini's Proximal orbits (April 2017 and September 2017). We compare these currents with observations of the auroral currents from near noon taken during the F‐ring orbits prior to the Proximal orbits. First, we show that the position of the main auroral upward current is displaced poleward between the two local times (LT). This is consistent with the statistical position of the ultraviolet auroral oval for the same time interval. Second, we show the overall average ionospheric meridional current profile differs significantly on the equatorward boundary of the upward current with a swept‐forward configuration with respect to planetary rotation present at dawn. We separate the planetary period oscillation (PPO) currents from the PPO‐independent currents and show their positional relationship is maintained as the latitude of the current shifts in LT implying an intrinsic link between the two systems. Focusing on the individual upward current sheets pass‐by‐pass we find that the main upward current at dawn is stronger compared to near‐noon. This results in the current density been ~1.4 times higher in the dawn sector. We determine a proxy for the precipitating electron power and show that the dawn PPO‐independent upward current electron power ~1.9 times higher than at noon. These new observations of the dawn auroral region from the Proximal orbits may show evidence of an additional upward current at dawn likely associated with strong flows in the outer magnetosphere.

Journal article

Staniland N, Dougherty M, Masters A, Bunce Eet al., 2020, Determining the nominal thickness and variability of the magnetodisc current sheet at saturn, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol: 125, Pages: 1-15, ISSN: 2169-9380

The thickness and variability of the Saturnian magnetodisc current sheet is investigated using the Cassini magnetometer data set. Cassini performed 66 fast, steep crossings of the equatorial current sheet where a clear signature in the magnetic field data allowed for a direct determination of its thickness and the offset of its center. The average, or nominal, current sheet half‐thickness is 1.3 R S , where R S is the equatorial radius of Saturn, equal to 60,268 km. This is thinner than previously calculated, but both spatial and temporal dependencies are identified. The current sheet is thicker and more variable by a factor ∼2 on the nightside compared to the dayside, ranging from 0.5–3 R S . The current sheet is on average 50% thicker in the nightside quasi‐dipolar region (≤15 R S ) compared to the dayside. These results are consistent with the presence of a noon‐midnight electric field at Saturn that produces a hotter plasma population on the nightside compared to the dayside. It is also shown that the current sheet becomes significantly thinner in the outer region of the nightside, while staying approximately constant with radial distance on the dayside, reflecting the dayside compression of the magnetosphere by the solar wind. Some of the variability is well characterized by the planetary period oscillations (PPOs). However, we also find evidence for non‐PPO drivers of variability.

Journal article

Agiwal O, Hunt GJ, Dougherty MK, Cowley SWH, Provan Get al., 2020, Modeling the Temporal Variability in Saturn's Magnetotail Current Sheet From the Cassini F-ring Orbits, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, Vol: 125, ISSN: 2169-9380

Journal article

Cao Y, Wellbrock A, Coates AJ, CaroCarretero R, Jones GH, Cui J, Galand M, Dougherty MKet al., 2020, Field‐aligned photoelectron energy peaks at high altitude and on the nightside of titan, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, Vol: 125, Pages: 1-13, ISSN: 2169-9097

The ionization of N urn:x-wiley:jgre:media:jgre21272:jgre21272-math-0001 by strong solar He II 30.4‐nm photons produces distinctive spectral peaks near 24.1 eV in Titan's upper atmosphere, which have been observed by the Electron Spectrometer (ELS) as part of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer. The ELS observations reveal that, in addition to the dayside, photoelectron peaks were also detected on the deep nightside where photoionization is switched off, as well as at sufficiently high altitudes where the ambient neutral density is low. These photoelectron peaks are unlikely to be produced locally but instead must be contributed by transport along the magnetic field lines from their dayside source regions. In this study, we present a statistical survey of all photoelectron peaks identified with an automatic finite impulse response algorithm based on the available ELS data accumulated during 56 Titan flybys. The spatial distribution of photoelectron peaks indicates that most photoelectrons detected at an altitude above 4,000 km and a solar zenith angle above 100° are field aligned, which is consistent with the scenario of photoelectron transport along the magnetic field lines. Our analysis also reveals the presence of a photoelectron gap in the deep nightside ionosphere where almost no photoelectrons were detected. It appears to be very difficult for photoelectrons to travel to this region, and such a feature may not be driven by the changes in the orientation between the solar and corotation wakes.

Journal article

Jackman CM, Thomsen MF, Dougherty MK, 2019, Survey of Saturn's Magnetopause and Bow Shock Positions Over the Entire Cassini Mission: Boundary Statistical Properties and Exploration of Associated Upstream Conditions, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, Vol: 124, Pages: 8865-8883, ISSN: 2169-9380

Journal article

Provan G, Cowley SWH, Bradley TJ, Bunce EJ, Hunt GJ, Cao H, Dougherty MKet al., 2019, Magnetic Field Observations on Cassini's Proximal Periapsis Passes: Planetary Period Oscillations and Mean Residual Fields, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, Vol: 124, Pages: 8814-8864, ISSN: 2169-9380

Journal article

Guo RL, Yao ZH, Sergis N, Wei Y, Xu XJ, Coates AJ, Delamere PA, Roussos E, Arridge CS, Waite JH, Krupp N, Mitche D, Burch J, Dougherty MK, Wan WXet al., 2019, Long-standing Small-scale Reconnection Processes at Saturn Revealed by <i>Cassini</i>, ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS, Vol: 884, ISSN: 2041-8205

Journal article

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