The Kronian moon Enceladus is constantly feeding its surrounding with new gas and dust, from cryovolcanoes located in its south polar region. Through photoionization and impact ionization of these ...neutrals, a plasma disk is created, which mainly contains hydrogen ions and water group ions. This paper investigates the importance of ion loss by outward radial transport and ion loss by dissociative recombination, which is the dominant chemical loss process in the inner plasma disk. We use plasma densities derived from several years of measurements by the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science electric field power spectral density and Langmuir probe to calculate the total flux tube content NL2. Our calculation shows that NL2 agrees well with earlier estimates within dipole L shell 8. We also show that loss by transport dominates chemical loss between L shells 4 and 10. Using extrapolation of available measurements, we extend the study to include L shells 2.5 to 4. The results indicate that loss by transport dominates chemical loss also between L shells 2.5 and 4. The loss rate by transport is around five times larger at L shell 5, and the difference increases as L7.7 beyond L = 5, for the net ion population. Chemical loss may still be important for the structure of the plasma disk in the region closest to Enceladus (around ±0.5 RS) at 3.95 RS (1 RS = Saturn's equatorial radius = 60,268 km), since the transport and chemical loss rates only differ by a factor of ∼2 in this region. We also derive the total plasma content of the plasma disk between L shells 4 and 10 to be 1.9 × 1033 ions and the total ion source rate for the same region to be 5.8 × 1027 s−1. The estimated equatorial ion production rate P ranges from 2.6 × 10−5 cm−3 s−1 (at L = 10) to 1.1 × 10−4 cm−3 s−1 (at L = 4.8). The net mass loading rate is derived to be 123 kg/s for L shells 4 to 10.
Key Points
Transport loss dominates chemical loss in most of the inner plasma disk
Chemical loss is important only in the close vicinity of Enceladus
We derive total flux tube content, plasma content, mass loading rate, and the ion production rate
We use the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science/Langmuir probe measurements of the electron density from the first 110 flybys of Titan to study how Saturn's magnetosphere influences Titan's ...ionosphere. The data is first corrected for biased sampling due to varying solar zenith angle and solar energy flux (solar cycle effects). We then present results showing that the electron density in Titan's ionosphere, in the altitude range 1600–2400 km, is increased by about a factor of 2.5 when Titan is located on the nightside of Saturn (Saturn local time (SLT) 21–03 h) compared to when on the dayside (SLT 09‐15 h). For lower altitudes (1100–1600 km) the main dividing factor for the ionospheric density is the ambient magnetospheric conditions. When Titan is located in the magnetospheric current sheet, the electron density in Titan's ionosphere is about a factor of 1.4 higher compared to when Titan is located in the magnetospheric lobes. The factor of 1.4 increase in between sheet and lobe flybys is interpreted as an effect of increased particle impact ionization from ∼200 eV sheet electrons. The factor of 2.5 increase in electron density between flybys on Saturn's nightside and dayside is suggested to be an effect of the pressure balance between thermal plus magnetic pressure in Titan's ionosphere against the dynamic pressure and energetic particle pressure in Saturn's magnetosphere.
Key Points
Saturn's magnetosphere affects Titan's ionosphere, revealed after solar cycle and SZA effects removed
Influence from Saturn magnetosphere different on topside and deep ionosphere
Topside ionosphere influenced by pressure balance, deep ionosphere by sheet, or lobe conditions
Dissociative Recombination of CH4 Thomas, Richard D; Kashperka, Iryna; Vigren, E ...
The journal of physical chemistry. A, Molecules, spectroscopy, kinetics, environment, & general theory,
10/2013, Volume:
117, Issue:
39
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
CH4 + is an important molecular ion in the astrochemistry of diffuse clouds, dense clouds, cometary comae, and planetary ionospheres. However, the rate of one of the common destruction mechanisms for ...molecular ions in these regions, dissociative recombination (DR), is somewhat uncertain. Here, we present absolute measurements for the DR of CH4 + made using the heavy ion storage ring CRYRING in Stockholm, Sweden. From our collision-energy dependent cross-sections, we infer a thermal rate constant of k(T e) = 1.71(±0.02) × 10–6(T e/300)−0.66(±0.02) cm3 s–1 over the region of electron temperatures 10 ≤ T e ≤ 1000 K. At low collision energies, we have measured the branching fractions of the DR products to be CH4 (0.00 ± 0.00); CH3 + H (0.18 ± 0.03); CH2 + 2H (0.51 ± 0.03); CH2 + H2 (0.06 ± 0.01); CH + H2 + H (0.23 ± 0.01); and CH + 2H2 (0.02 ± 0.01), indicating that two or more C–H bonds are broken in ∼80% of all collisions.
Because ion- neutral reaction cross sections are energy dependent, the distance from a cometary nucleus within which ions remain collisionally coupled to the neutrals is dictated not only by the ...comet's activity level but also by the electromagnetic fields in the coma. Here we present a 1D model simulating the outward radial motion of water group ions with radial acceleration by an ambipolar electric field interrupted primarily by charge transfer processes with H2O. We also discuss the impact of plasma waves. For a given electric field profile, the model calculates key parameters, including the total ion density, n(I), the H3O+/H2O+ number density and flux ratios, R-dens and R-flux, and the mean ion drift speed, < u(I)>, as a function of cometocentric distance. We focus primarily on a coma roughly resembling that of the ESA Rosetta mission target comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko near its perihelion in 2015 August. In the presence of a weak ambipolar electric field in the radial direction the model results suggest that the neutral coma is not sufficiently dense to keep the mean ion flow speed close to that of the neutrals by the spacecraft location (similar to 200 km from the nucleus). In addition, for electric field profiles giving nI and < u(I)> within limits constrained by measurements, the Rdens values are significantly higher than values typically observed. However, when including the ion motion in large-amplitude plasma waves in the model, results more compatible with observations are obtained. We suggest that the variable and often low H3O+/H2O+ number density ratios observed may reflect nonradial ion trajectories strongly influenced by electromagnetic forces and/or plasma instabilities, with energization of the ion population by plasma waves.
We combine derived ion-electron pair formation rates with Cassini Radio Plasma Wave Science Langmuir Probe measurements of electron and positive ion number densities in Titan's sunlit ionosphere. We ...show that positive ion number densities in Titan's sunlit ionosphere can increase toward significantly lower altitudes than the peak of ion-electron pair formation despite that the effective ion-electron recombination coefficient increases. This is explained by the increased mixing ratios of negative ions, which are formed by election attachment to neutrals. While such a process acts as a sink for free electrons, the positive ions become longer-lived as the rate coefficients for ion-anion neutralization reactions are smaller than those for ion-electron dissociative recombination reactions.
We propose a revised Chapman model for the ionosphere of Mars by allowing for vertical variation of electron temperature. An approximate energy balance between solar EUV heating and CO2 collisional ...cooling is applied in the dayside Martian ionosphere, analogous to the method recently proposed by Withers et al. (2014). The essence of the model is to separate the contributions of the neutral and electron thermal structures to the apparent width of the main ionospheric layer. Application of the model to the electron density profiles from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) radio occultation measurements reveals a clear trend of elevated electron temperature with increasing solar zenith angle (SZA). It also reveals that the characteristic length scale for the change of electron temperature with altitude decreases with increasing SZA. These observations may imply enhanced topside heat influx near the terminator, presumably an outcome of the solar wind interactions with the Martian upper atmosphere. Our analysis also reveals a tentative asymmetry in electron temperature between the northern and southern hemispheres, consistent with the scenario of elevated electron temperature within minimagnetospheres.
Key Points
The electron thermal structure modulates the width of the ionospheric layer
The electron temperature is elevated near the terminator
A hemispheric asymmetry in electron temperature is tentatively seen
► We assess the electron density in Titan’s dayside ionosphere using a model driven by Cassini data. ► We obtain a factor of about 2 higher densities than observed by the Langmuir probe. ► We discuss ...possible reasons for the discrepancy found. ► Dissociative recombination is probably not the only important electron loss process.
The Cassini mission has investigated Titan’s upper atmosphere in detail and found that, under solar irradiation, it has a well-developed ionosphere, which peaks between 1000 and 1200km. In this paper we focus on the T40, T41, T42 and T48 Titan flybys by the Cassini spacecraft and use in situ measurements of N2 and CH4 densities by the Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) as input into a solar energy deposition model to determine electron production rates. We combine these electron production rates with estimates of the effective recombination coefficient based on available laboratory data for Titan ions’ dissociative recombination rates and electron temperatures derived from the Langmuir probe (LP) to predict electron number densities in Titan’s upper atmosphere, assuming photochemical equilibrium and loss of electrons exclusively through dissociative recombination with molecular ions. We then compare these predicted electron number densities with those observed in Titan’s upper atmosphere by the LP. The assumption of photochemical equilibrium is supported by a reasonable agreement between the altitudes where the electron densities are observed to peak and where the electron production rates are calculated to peak (roughly corresponding to the unit optical depth for HeII photons at 30.38nm). We find, however, that the predicted electron number densities are nearly a factor of two higher than those observed throughout the altitude range between 1050 and 1200km (where we have made estimates of the effective recombination coefficient). There are different possible reasons for this discrepancy; one possibility is that there may be important loss processes of free electrons other than dissociative recombination in Titan’s upper atmosphere.
Comets hold the key to the understanding of our Solar System, its formation and its evolution, and to the fundamental plasma processes at work both in it and beyond it. A comet nucleus emits gas as ...it is heated by the sunlight. The gas forms the coma, where it is ionised, becomes a plasma, and eventually interacts with the solar wind. Besides these neutral and ionised gases, the coma also contains dust grains, released from the comet nucleus. As a cometary atmosphere develops when the comet travels through the Solar System, large-scale structures, such as the plasma boundaries, develop and disappear, while at planets such large-scale structures are only accessible in their fully grown, quasi-steady state. In situ measurements at comets enable us to learn both how such large-scale structures are formed or reformed and how small-scale processes in the plasma affect the formation and properties of these large scale structures. Furthermore, a comet goes through a wide range of parameter regimes during its life cycle, where either collisional processes, involving neutrals and charged particles, or collisionless processes are at play, and might even compete in complicated transitional regimes. Thus a comet presents a unique opportunity to study this parameter space, from an asteroid-like to a Mars- and Venus-like interaction. The Rosetta mission and previous fast flybys of comets have together made many new discoveries, but the most important breakthroughs in the understanding of cometary plasmas are yet to come. The Comet Interceptor mission will provide a sample of multi-point measurements at a comet, setting the stage for a multi-spacecraft mission to accompany a comet on its journey through the Solar System. This White Paper, submitted in response to the European Space Agency’s Voyage 2050 call, reviews the present-day knowledge of cometary plasmas, discusses the many questions that remain unanswered, and outlines a multi-spacecraft European Space Agency mission to accompany a comet that will answer these questions by combining both multi-spacecraft observations and a rendezvous mission, and at the same time advance our understanding of fundamental plasma physics and its role in planetary systems.
Nitrile ions are abundant in Titan's upper atmosphere and are expected to be lost mainly via dissociative recombination with free electrons. We review in this paper a series of experimental results ...on the dissociative recombination reactions of nitrile ions known/expected to be present in Titan's upper atmosphere. The experiments were all performed at the heavy ion storage ring CRYRING in Stockholm, Sweden, and the results presented here include information on rate coefficients at electron temperatures relevant for Titan's upper atmosphere as well as information on the product branching fractions of the reactions. We discuss implications of the results for Titan's atmosphere. As an example the presented results support a statement by Krasnopolsky (2009) that nitriles do not degrade to yield N2 again in Titan's atmosphere, indicating that condensation and polymerization with precipitation to the surface are their ultimate fate.
► CRYRING experiments on the dissociative recombination of nitrile ions are reviewed. ► The studied reactions are relevant for Titan's ionospheric chemistry. ► The provided data are useful in chemical models of Titan's ionosphere. ► Observed preservations of the C-N bonds upon dissociative recombination.
At the heavy ion storage ring CRYRING in Stockholm, Sweden, we have investigated the dissociative recombination of DCOOD{sup +}{sub 2} at low relative kinetic energies, from approx1 meV to 1 eV. The ...thermal rate coefficient has been found to follow the expression k(T) = 8.43 x 10{sup -7} (T/300){sup -0.78} cm{sup 3} s{sup -1} for electron temperatures, T, ranging from approx10 to approx1000 K. The branching fractions of the reaction have been studied at approx2 meV relative kinetic energy. It has been found that approx87% of the reactions involve breaking a bond between heavy atoms. In only 13% of the reactions do the heavy atoms remain in the same product fragment. This puts limits on the gas-phase production of formic acid, observed in both molecular clouds and cometary comae. Using the experimental results in chemical models of the dark cloud, TMC-1, and using the latest release of the UMIST Database for Astrochemistry improves the agreement with observations for the abundance of formic acid. Our results also strengthen the assumption that formic acid is a component of cometary ices.
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