Search Results

Search Constraints

Start Over
Filtering by: Keyword Planetary Science Remove constraint Keyword: Planetary Science

Search Results

  • Event List for "Interchange Injections at Saturn: Statistical Survey of Energetic H+ Sudden Flux Intensifications"

    work
    Creator:
    Azari, A. R.
    Description:
    ABSTRACT: We present a statistical study of interchange injections in Saturn's inner and middle magnetosphere focusing on the dependence of occurrence rate and properties on radial distance, partial pressure, and local time distribution. Events are evaluated from over the entirety of the Cassini mission’s equatorial orbits between 2005 and 2016. We identified interchange events from CHarge Energy Mass Spectrometer (CHEMS) H+ data using a trained and tested automated algorithm, which has been compared with manual event identification for optimization. We provide estimates of interchange based on intensity, which we use to investigate current inconsistencies in local time occurrence rates. This represents the first automated detection method of interchange, estimation of injection event intensity, and comparison between interchange injection survey results. We find the peak rates of interchange occur between 7 - 9 Saturn radii and that this range coincides with the most intense events as defined by H+ partial particle pressure. We determine that nightside occurrence dominates as compared to the dayside injection rate, supporting the hypothesis of an inversely dependent instability growth rate on local Pedersen ionospheric conductivity. Additionally, we observe a slight preference for intense events on the dawn side, supporting a triggering mechanism related to large-scale injections from downtail reconnection. Our observed local time dependence paints a dynamic picture of interchange triggering due to both the large-scale injection driven process and ionospheric conductivity. Within this repository we provide a readme file (description of data file and usage) and the event list provided as a .txt file. The event list includes start and stop times, comparison to previous surveys, and the average location of events identified. Additional formats are available on request. , Further details on this method can be found in "Interchange Injections at Saturn: Statistical Survey of Energetic H+ Sudden Flux Intensifications" by Azari et al., 2018 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.  https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025391. , and Curation notes: The files 'events_CORRECTED.txt' and 'readme_UPDATED.rtf' were added to this record July 31 and August 7, 2018 and supersede the previous data file 'events.txt' and readme file 'readme.rtf'. The file 'events.txt' uploaded May 9, 2018 should not be used, as this file contains a duplication error where the last column, InAllSurveys, is incorrectly presented as a duplicate of the column InAnySurvey. 'readme_UPDATED.rtf' contains additional context and updated references to the new data file.
    Keyword:
    Planetary Science, Automated Event Detection, Space Physics, Magnetospheric Physics, Interchange Injections, and Saturn
    Discipline:
    Science