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Atreya, S. K.

Publications and source records attributed to Atreya, S. K..

At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1983

Electron precipitation and related aeronomy of the Jovian thermosphere and ionosphere

A comprehensive theoretical model of both the auroral and nonauroral atmosphere and ionosphere of Jupiter is presented and used to study particle precipitation effects in the Jovian upper atmosphere, both at middle and high latitudes. The sources of energy in the model include extreme ultraviolet radiation and energetic electrons. The precipitation of monoenergetic beams of both one and ten keV electrons at high Jovian latitudes are treated in detail, and the effects of higher energy electrons and soft electrons at middle and low latitudes are considered. The effects of this precipitation, such as airglow excitation, ionization, dissociation, and heating are examined. Calculations of the densities of hydrogen, hydrocarbons, and the important ions as well as the temperatures of the neutral, electron, and ion species are included.

Waite, J. H., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Photolysis of methane and the ionosphere of Uranus

Photochemical calculations for Uranus predict an extensive region of condensation of acetylene, ethane and methane in the vicinity of the temperature inversion layer. This could explain why ethane was not detected on Uranus, unlike Neptune which has a much warmer inversion layer. Subsequent snow-out of the condensibles is expected to result in reduced visibility in the troposphere. Ionospheric calculations for the equatorial region to be probed by Voyager, indicate peak electron concentrations on the order of 5,000 per cu cm, if dynamical effects are important. Upper limit to the electron peak is 30,000 per cu cm. Exospheric temperatures as high as 200-250K are conceivable.

Atreya, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Ionosphere

The original interest in an ionosphere on Jupiter was generated by the discovery of strong radio-frequency emissions at approximately 20 MHz which were thought to be plasma frequencies associated with Jupiter's ionosphere. The ionosphere of Jupiter provides a means to couple the magnetosphere to the atmosphere by virtue of its high conductivity and collisional interaction with the neutral atmosphere. The Pioneer and Voyager have provided direct measurements of profiles of electron concentration at selected locations on Jupiter. Attention is given to basic principles regarding the characteristics of the Jovian ionosphere, the ionization sources, aspects of ion recombination, ion chemistry, observations of Jupiter's ionosphere, the structure of Jupiter's upper atmosphere, and questions of ionospheric modeling. On the basis of the Pioneer and Voyager observations it appears that Jupiter's ionosphere and thermosphere undergo significant solar cycle changes.

Strobel, D. F.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Voyager ultraviolet stellar occultation measurements of the composition and thermal profiles of the Saturnian upper atmosphere

Occultation of the star Delta-Scorpii by Saturn as recorded by the Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer yields the value of the exospheric temperature in the equatorial region to be 800 (+150, -120) K at an altitude of 1540 km above the 1-bar atmospheric pressure level; the H2-density at 1540 km is determined to be 5 (+3.6, -1.8) x 10 to the 9th per cu cm. Temperature gradient in the thermosphere is found to be 1.25 (+0.05, -0.07) K/km. Methane volume mixing ratio at 965 km above the 1-bar pressure level is determined to be 0.00015.

Festou, M. C.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Copernicus measurement of the Jovian Lyman-alpha emission and its aeronomical significance

It is pointed out that the intensity of the Lyman-alpha emission is a good indicator of the principal aeronomical processes on the major planets. The high-resolution ultraviolet spectrometer aboard the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory Copernicus was used in 1980 April and May to detect the Jovian Lyman-alpha emission by spectroscopically discriminating it from other Doppler shifted Lyman-alpha emissions such as those of the geocorona, and the interplanetary medium. Taking into consideration the reported emission data, it appears that an unusually large energy input due to the particle precipitation in the auroral region must have been responsible for the large observed Lyman-alpha intensity during the Voyager encounter. At most other times, the observed Jovian Lyman-alpha intensity can be explained, within the range of statistical uncertainty, by a model that takes into consideration the solar EUV flux, the solar Lyman-alpha flux, the high exospheric temperature, and the eddy diffusion coefficient without energy input from the auroral sources.

Atreya, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Eddy mixing coefficient on Saturn

Data on the composition, thermal structure, and Lyman-alpha dayglow of Saturn, when analyzed in conjunction with photochemical models of the hydrocarbons and the atomic hydrogen production, yield the homopause value of the eddy diffusion coefficient to be approximately 100 million/sq cm per sec. The equatorial value of the eddy diffusion coefficient at the homopause of Saturn is thus found to be approximately 100 times greater than on Jupiter. The mesosphere (and presumably, troposphere) of Saturn appears to be considerably more turbulent than the upper atmosphere of Jupiter.

Atreya, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Titan's ion exosphere observed from Voyager 1

The plasma wake surrounding Titan in Saturn's rotating magnetosphere is characterized by a plasma which is denser and cooler than the surrounding subsonic magnetospheric plasma, and which is produced by the deflection of magnetospheric plasma around Titan and the addition of exospheric ions picked up by the rotating magnetosphere. A resemblance to the interaction between the solar wind and Venus is shown for the case of ion pickup in the ion exosphere outside Titan's magnetic tail and ion flow within the boundaries of the tail as Saturn's rotating magnetosphere interacts with Titan. The boundary of the tail is indicated by a sharp reduction in the flux of high-energy electrons, which are removed by inelastic scattering with the atmosphere and centrifugal drift produced when the electrons traverse the magnetic field draped around Saturn.

Hartle, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Extreme ultraviolet observations from the Voyager 2 encounter with Saturn

Combined analysis of helium (584 A) airglow and the atmospheric occultations of the star delta Scorpii imply a vertical mixing parameter in Saturn's upper atmosphere of K (eddy diffusion coefficient) of approximately 8 x 10 to the 7th sq cm per second, an order of magnitude more vigorous than mixing in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. Atmospheric H2 band absorption of starlight yields a preliminary temperature of 400 K in the exosphere and a temperature near the homopause of 200 K. Certain auroral emissions can be fully explained in terms of electron impact on H2, and auroral morphology suggests a link between the aurora and the Saturn kilometric radiation. Absolute optical depths have been determined for the entire C ring and parts of the A and B rings. A new eccentric ringlet has been detected in the C ring. The extreme ultraviolet reflectance of the rings is fairly uniform at 3.5 to 5 percent. Collisions may control the distribution of H in Titan's H torus, which has a total vertical extent of about 14 Saturn radii normal to the orbit plane.

Sandel, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Overview of the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometry results through Jupiter encounter

The observations of a number of objects by the Voyager EUV instruments are summarized. The summary is considered to demonstrate the wide ranging application of the EUV spectroscopy. It also marks an important step forward in spectrography and emphasizes the continuing importance of the search and discovery nature of spectroscopic techniques.

Broadfoot, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Saturn ionosphere - Theoretical interpretation

Voyager 1 high latitude and Pioneer 11 equatorial ionospheric structure indicate a solar EUV-controlled ionosphere with a possible molecular ion in the topside. Vibrationally excited H2 in the high latitudes may be an important loss mechanism. Dynamical effects are expected to be important for determining the peak density and its location.

Atreya, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Composition and thermal profiles of the Jovian upper atmosphere determined by the Voyager ultraviolet stellar occultation experiment

During the occultation of the star Regulus (B7 type) by Jupiter as seen from the Voyager 2 spacecraft on July 9, 1979, two absorbing regions were detected. Between 911 and 1200 A, H2 was absorbing over a 600 km altitude range. Above 1300 A, the rapid increase of the absorption by the hydrocarbons was observed over an altitude interval of approximately 100 km with a height resolution of 3 km. The analysis of these absorption features has provided the height profiles of molecular hydrogen, methane, ethane, and acetylene, as well as the thermal profile in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter. Combining the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometer results with other data, such as those obtained by the Voyager infrared and radioscience instruments, has yielded a comprehensive model of the composition and structure of the atmosphere of Jupiter.

Festou, M. C.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Jupiter - Structure and composition of the upper atmosphere

The Voyager ultraviolet stellar occultation data yield a temperature of 200 + or - 50 K at about 400 km, and the solar occultation data give 1100 + or - 200 K at 1450 km above the ammonia cloud tops. The temperature gradient between 400 and 1450 km is approximately 1 K/km. The mesospheric temperature structure gives no strong indication of an earth-like mesopause. The heating of the upper atmosphere appears to result from a combination of magnetospheric charged particle precipitation, ion drag, inertia gravity waves, and solar EUV. The volume mixing ratios of CH4 and C2H6 at 325 km are measured to be 2.5(+3, -2) x 10 to the -5th and 2.5(+2.0, -1.5) x 10 to the -6th, respectively, which are lower than in the stratosphere. The C2H2 volume mixing ratio is not greater than 5 x 10 to the -6th at 300 km. The homopause value of the equatorial eddy diffusion coefficient is found to be 1-2 x 10 to the -6th sq cm/s.

Atreya, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1981

IUE detection of bursts of H Ly-alpha emission from Saturn

A new investigation is reported of the potential sources of Ly-alpha emission in a series of observations of the Saturnian system carried out between January and July 1980 using the short wavelength spectrograph of the IUE Observatory. It is noted that north-south maps of the Ly-alpha emission across the planet disk show pronounced spatial asymmetries in emission brightness. These asymmetries vary to a marked extent on a time scale of days and are interpreted as bursts of Ly-alpha emission of as much as 1 kR brightness averaged over a 6 x 10 arcsec area, above a constant planetary emission level of 700-800 R. In fact, the Ly-alpha emission peaks manifest themselves as essentially point source features in these data; it is pointed out that if the emitting region is smaller than the 6 x 10 arcsec instrumental resolution, the surface brightness must be proportionally higher.

Clarke, J. T.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The Jovian hydrogen bulge - Evidence for co-rotating magnetospheric convection

The Jovian hydrogen bulge is located 180 deg away in the System II longitude from the active sector identified as the source region for Jupiter's decametric radio emission and release of energetic electrons into interplanetary space. The sector results from the large magnetic anomaly in the Jovian northern hemisphere; it is expected that a two-cell magnetospheric convection pattern is found in the Jovian atmosphere. The magnetic anomaly of the active sector produces a convection which brings the magnetospheric plasma to the upper atmosphere at the longitudes below the hydrogen bulge; the hot plasma contains electrons with energies of about 100 keV which dissociate atmospheric molecules into atomic hydrogen creating longitudinal symmetry in hydrogen Lyman alpha emission.

Dessler, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Observations of polar aurora on Jupiter

North-south spatial maps of Jupiter were obtained with the SWP camera in IUE observations of 10 December 1978, 19 May 1979, and 7 June 1979. Bright auroral emissions were detected from the north and south polar regions at H Ly alpha (1216 A) and in the H2 Lyman bands (1250-1608 A) on 19 May 1979; yet no enhanced polar emission was detected on the other days. The relationship between the IUE observing geometry and the geometry of the Jovian magnetosphere is discussed.

Lane, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Observations of the Io plasma torus

The short wavelength spectrography on the IUE satellite was used to obtain spectra of the plasma torus near the orbit of Io about Jupiter. Three exposures of about 8 hours each taken in March and May 1979 show emission features due to SII, SIII, and OIII. The absence of features at other wavelengths permits upper limits to be other species in the torus.

Lane, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Upper atmosphere of Jupiter - A post Voyager perspective

Some significant upper atmosphere features of Jupiter are discussed with reference to the Voyager observations of 1979. From the time of Pioneer observations in 1973-1974, the Jovian upper atmospheric temperature has increased by about 30%, the eddy diffusion coefficient at the homopause decreased by a factor of 100, the equatorial disk Lyman alpha intensity increased by a factor of 30, and the equatorial ionosphere became more extensive and showed diurnal variation. Important potential candidates for upper atmosphere energetics are thought to be the penetration of the magnetospheric soft electrons, Joule heating mechanism, and auroral electrons.

Atreya, S. K.↗