Location
Yosemite National Park
Start Date
2-13-2014 11:45 AM
End Date
2-13-2014 12:15 PM
Description
Since the arrival of Cassini to the Saturn system in 2004 the suite of in-situ and remote sensing instruments onboard have sampled Titan nearly 100 times. Even with this large number of samples the coverage in the multitude of geospatial, magnetospheric, solar, and seasonal configurations is rather sparse resulting in an incomplete understanding of the coupling (if present) between the complex ionosphere of Titan and Saturn’s corotational magnetospheric plasma. Studies by the in-situ CAPS, INMS, and LP data have shown a clear ionospheric dependence on solar parameters, however several flybys show unique properties implying some magnetospheric influence manifest in rather abrupt heating events in the thermosphere. In this talk we review the Cassini observations from multiple instruments at Titan and attempt to piece together a cohesive picture of the Saturn magnetosphere-Titan ionosphere-Titan thermosphere interaction.
The Coupling Problem at Titan: Where are the Magnetospheric Influences to Titan’s Complex Ionosphere?
Yosemite National Park
Since the arrival of Cassini to the Saturn system in 2004 the suite of in-situ and remote sensing instruments onboard have sampled Titan nearly 100 times. Even with this large number of samples the coverage in the multitude of geospatial, magnetospheric, solar, and seasonal configurations is rather sparse resulting in an incomplete understanding of the coupling (if present) between the complex ionosphere of Titan and Saturn’s corotational magnetospheric plasma. Studies by the in-situ CAPS, INMS, and LP data have shown a clear ionospheric dependence on solar parameters, however several flybys show unique properties implying some magnetospheric influence manifest in rather abrupt heating events in the thermosphere. In this talk we review the Cassini observations from multiple instruments at Titan and attempt to piece together a cohesive picture of the Saturn magnetosphere-Titan ionosphere-Titan thermosphere interaction.