Transport of plasma mass and energy in the Jovian inner magnetosphere

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26400476
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Space and upper atmospheric physics
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Tsuchiya Fuminori 東北大学, 理学研究科, 助教 (10302077)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): YOHIOKA Kazuo 東京大学, 領域創成科学研究科, 講師 (70637131) ; YAGI Manabu 理化学研究所, 計算科学研究センター, 特別研究員 (90647679) ; KASABA Yasumasa 東北大学, 大学院理学研究科, 教授 (10295529)
• Research Collaborator: KIMURA Tomoki ; TAO Chihiro
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 木星磁気圏 / イオ / ひさき衛星

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The innermost Galilean satellite, Io, supplies a large amount of volcanic gases to the Jovian magnetosphere, and the outward transport of ionized gasses is responsible for forming a huge and rotation-dominant magnetosphere. The plasma supply from the satellite has a key role in the characterization of the Jovian magnetosphere. Using a continuous data set of the Io plasma torus obtained from an extreme ultraviolet spectroscope onboard the HISAKI satellit, it is found that the volcanic eruptions in Io caused significant variations of the plasma population in the inner magnetosphere. Intense short-lived auroral brightenings which represent transient energy releases in the outer part of the magnetosphere occurred frequently during this period. This is the first observational evidence showing that the strength of a plasma source in the inner magnetosphere can control a large-scale radial circulation of mass and energy in a rotation-dominant magnetosphere.

Free Research Field

惑星磁気圏物理学