Berlin 2014 – scientific programme

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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 3: Erdnaher Weltraum / Planeten

EP 3.7: Talk

Tuesday, March 18, 2014, 12:15–12:30, DO24 1.103

MHD-model of Io's interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere: Influence of asymmetries in Io's atmosphere, induction in a magma ocean, and the ionospheric Hall currents — •Aljona Blöcker and Joachim Saur — Institut für Geophysik und Meteorologie, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Deutschland

We developed a three-dimensional MHD model to study the influence of various effects on the interaction of Jupiter's magnetosphere with Io's atmosphere. Io's atmosphere is supported by sublimation of SO2 surface frost and by direct volcanic injection of SO2, which both lead to partly unknown density variations with latitude and longitude. In our MHD model we have included different types of asymmetries in the model atmosphere to study their influence on the local plasma interaction and the Alfvén wings. Additionally, our model takes into account the ionospheric Hall effect, which is responsible for the rotation of the plasma flow and the magnetic field in the interaction. Khurana et al. (Science 2011) claimed that the perturbations in the magnetic field measured by the Galileo spacecraft are due to induction signals from a global and partially molten magma ocean. By comparing our simulation results with observations from the Galileo spacecraft we demonstrate that the measured perturbations can likewise be explained without induction signals from an electrically conductive layer, but by considering the asymmetries of the atmosphere.