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At least 1,081 records · Page 60

Spectroscopic Observations of Steep Spectrum Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies

ROSAT observations of narrow-line Seyfert 1s found consistently steep spectra and rapid variability, but ASCA observations show more diversity, very different to classical Seyfert 1s. However, in 3 NLS1s, ASCA finds common characteristics of these exciting new class of AGN (active galactic nuclei): a very strong high temperature soft excess, weak hard tail, a possible blue shifted ionized oxygen edge, and rapid large amplitude variability characterized by flares and quiescent periods. It is necessary to observe many more such objects in order to understand the physical processes underlying the different phenomenology in ASCA. ASCA observations of two NLS1s discovered by ROSAT's all sky survey were proposed and an observation of one of these objects, RX J0439-45, was awarded. The results of spectral and variability analysis are included in Leighly 1999ab, and preliminary results are found in Leighly 1998ab.

Leighly, Karen↗

Solar-B X-ray Telescope (XRT) Concept Study Report

The X-ray observations from the Yohkoh SXT provided the greatest step forward in our understanding of the solar corona in nearly two decades. Expanding on the accomplishments of Yohkoh, we believe that the scientific objectives of the Solar-B mission are achieved with a significantly improved X-ray telescope (XRT) similar to the SXT. The Solar-B XRT will have twice the spatial resolution and a broader temperature response, while building on the knowledge gained from the successful Yohkoh mission. We present the scientific justification for this view, discuss the instrumental requirements that flow from the scientific objectives, and describe the instrumentation to meet these requirements. We then provide a detailed discussion of the design activities carried out during Phase A, noting the conclusions that were reached in terms of their implications for the detailed design activities which are now commencing. Details of the instrument that have changed as a result of the Phase A studied are specifically noted, and areas of concern going into Phase B are highlighted. XRT is a grazing-incidence (GI) modified Wolter I X-ray telescope, of 35cm inner diameter and 2.7m focal length. The 2048x2048 back-illuminated CCD (now an ISAS responsibility) has 13.5 micron pixels, corresponding to 1.0 arcsec and giving full Sun field of view. This will be the highest resolution GI X-ray telescope ever flown for Solar coronal studies, and it has been designed specifically to observe both the high and low temperature coronal plasma. A small optical telescope provides visible light images for co-alignment with the Solar-B optical and EUV instruments. The XRT science team is working in close cooperation with our Japanese colleagues in the design and construction of this instrument. All of the expertise and resources of the High Energy and Solar/Stellar Divisions of the Center for Astrophysics are being made available to this program, and our team will carry its full share of responsibility for mission operations, data reduction and education and public outreach. All aspects of the XRT design were reviewed during Phase A. The study focussed particularly on those aspects that have the greatest affect on instrument performance and extended lifetime, on the image quality error budget, and on the camera (mechanical and electrical) interface and the instrument mounting interfaces. The present instrument design differs in some details from that originally proposed. Selection of the XRT for Phase A study was contingent upon the removal of the camera and its associated electronics, and the acceptance of a stringent cost cap. The removal of the electronics left the XRT without control electronics for the instrument mechanisms. A mechanism controller was therefore added. The removal of the camera resulted in major complications to the integration and test plan. After many discussions, it was decided that the system would be less expensive, and the risk of unacceptable performance lower, if we include a focus mechanism. The remainder of the XRT design baseline matches the proposed configuration. Data requirements for the XRT are driven by the science plans, which are based on the physical processes in the solar outer atmosphere. Discussions to date of the XRT observing plan, both alone and in conjunction with the other Solar-B instruments, shows that the XRT needs 2 Gbits of on-board storage, at least one circulating buffer of 640 Mbits, and twelve 10- minute downlinks per day in order to carry out its required programs.

Golub, Leon↗

The Impact of Supercomputers on Experimentation: A View from a National Laboratory

The relative roles of large-scale scientific computers and physical experiments in several science and engineering disciplines are discussed. Increasing dependence on computers is shown to be motivated both by the rapid growth in computer speed and memory, which permits accurate numerical simulation of complex physical phenomena, and by the rapid reduction in the cost of performing a calculation, which makes computation an increasingly, attractive complement to experimentation. Computer speed and memory requirements are presented for selected areas of such disciplines as fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, chemistry, atmospheric sciences, astronomy, and astrophysics, together with some examples of the complementary nature of computation and experiment. Finally the impact of the emerging role of computers in the technical disciplines is discussed in terms of both the requirements for experimentation and the attainment of previously inaccessible information on physical processes.

Peterson, V.L.↗

Current Status on the use of Parallel Computing in Turbulent Reacting Flow Computations Involving Sprays, Monte Carlo PDF and Unstructured Grids

The state of the art in multidimensional combustor modeling as evidenced by the level of sophistication employed in terms of modeling and numerical accuracy considerations, is also dictated by the available computer memory and turnaround times afforded by present-day computers. With the aim of advancing the current multi-dimensional computational tools used in the design of advanced technology combustors, a solution procedure is developed that combines the novelty of the coupled CFD/spray/scalar Monte Carlo PDF (Probability Density Function) computations on unstructured grids with the ability to run on parallel architectures. In this approach, the mean gas-phase velocity and turbulence fields are determined from a standard turbulence model, the joint composition of species and enthalpy from the solution of a modeled PDF transport equation, and a Lagrangian-based dilute spray model is used for the liquid-phase representation. The gas-turbine combustor flows are often characterized by a complex interaction between various physical processes associated with the interaction between the liquid and gas phases, droplet vaporization, turbulent mixing, heat release associated with chemical kinetics, radiative heat transfer associated with highly absorbing and radiating species, among others. The rate controlling processes often interact with each other at various disparate time 1 and length scales. In particular, turbulence plays an important role in determining the rates of mass and heat transfer, chemical reactions, and liquid phase evaporation in many practical combustion devices.

Raju, M. S.↗

The Dipper Satellite: A Medium-Class Explorer Mission to the Threshold of Space

The Dipper satellite will carry out an unprecedented, systematic, and focused in-situ exploration of the Earth's lower ionosphere and thermosphere below 200 km that will produce a pivotal base of knowledge that will significantly advance our understanding of knowledge that will significantly advance our understanding of how our near-space environment works. The satellite will carry comprehensive in-situ probes to measure vector electric and magnetic fields, plasma density and temperature, ion velocities, ion and neutral composition and winds, energetic particles including suprathermal electrons, gravity waves, and lightning bursts. The satellite will include a propulsion system and tapered body that will provide over 10,000 excursions to altitudes below 200 km with over 3000 dips to altitudes below 150 km. With this instrument complement, spacecraft, and orbit, the Dipper mission will gather the necessary combined electrodynamics and neutral dynamics measurements to provide an understanding of the Earth's critical boundary region where the ionized gases of space and the neutral gases of the atmosphere are coupled, and where impinging forces and momentum are deposited from the magnetosphere above and from the troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere below. In exploring those physical processes in the lower ionosphere which can only be measured in-situ, the Dipper mission addresses four main science objectives. The Dipper will: 1) reveal how ion-neutral coupling creates a global system of dynamo electric fields and currents; 2) provide first-hand understanding of how magnetospheric currents close in the ionosphere and reveal the effects on the upper atmosphere of magnetospheric energy and momentum deposition; 3) discover the degree of upwards coupling and energy deposition due to thunderstorm electric fields and determine their significance; 4) determine the dynamics and composition of the Earth's lower thermosphere, including its response to gravity, tidal, and planetary waves on a range of spatial scales. A proposal to design, build, operate, and analyze data from instruments on the Dipper spacecraft within the schedule and budget constraints of NASA's MIDEX program was submitted to NASA in 1998. This presentation summarizes the main features of the mission.

Pfaff, R. F., Jr.↗

Signatures of Exo-Solar Planets in Dust Debris Disks

We have developed a new numerical approach to the dynamics of minor bodies and dust particles, which enables us to increase, without using a supercomputer, the number of employed particle positions in each model up to 10(exp 10) - 10(exp 11), a factor of 10(exp 6) - 10(exp 7) higher than existing numerical simulations. We apply this powerful approach to the high-resolution modeling of the structure and emission of circumstellar dust disks, incorporating all relevant physical processes. In this Letter, we examine the resonant structure of a dusty disk induced by the presence of one planet of mass in the range of (5 x 10(exp -5) - 5 x 10(exp -3))M. It is shown that the planet, via resonances and gravitational scattering, produces (i) a central cavity void of dust; (ii) a trailing (sometimes leading) off-center cavity; and (iii) an asymmetric resonant dust belt with one, two, or more clumps. These features can serve as indicators of planet(s) embedded in the circumstellar dust disk and, moreover, can be used to determine the mass of the planet and even some of its orbital parameters. The results of our study reveal a remarkable similarity with various types of highly asymmetric circumstellar disks observed with the JCMT around Epsilon Eridani and Vega.

Ozernoy, Leonid M.↗

HESSI Spacecraft Model

The acronym, HESSI, stnds for the High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager. HESSI is a NASA mission proposed by astrophysicists who study the Sun. Their goal is to learn more about the basic physical processes that occur in solar flares. Teams of astrophysicists and engineers worked together to decide what kinds of observations HESSI would make and what kinds of scientific instrumentation would be required. The HESSI teams will achieve their goal by making "color" pictures of solar flares in X rays and gamma rays. This model is designed to help students understand the operation and objectives of HESSI.

Source record↗

Year-Round Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica: Response and Sensitivity to Atmospheric and Oceanic Forcing

Using a dynamic-thermodynamic numerical sea-ice model, external oceanic and atmospheric forcings on sea ice in the Weddell Sea are examined to identify physical processes associated with the seasonal cycle of pack ice, and to identify further the parameters that coupled models need to consider in predicting the response of the pack ice to climate and ocean-circulation changes. In agreement with earlier studies, the primary influence on the winter ice-edge maximum extent is air temperature. Ocean heat flux has more impact on the minimum-ice-edge extent and in reducing pack-ice thickness, especially in the eastern-Weddell Sea. Low relative humidity enhances ice growth in thin ice and open-water regions, producing a more realistic ice edge along the coastal areas of the western-Weddell Sea where dry continental air has an impact. The modeled extent of the Weddell summer pack is equally sensitive to ocean heat flux and atmospheric relative humidity variations with the more dynamic responses being from the atmosphere. Since the atmospheric regime in the eastern Weddell is dominated by marine intrusions from lower latitudes, with high humidity already, it is unlikely that either the moisture trans- port could be further raised or that it could be significantly lowered because of its distance from the continent (the lower humidity source). Ocean heat-transport variability is shown to lead to overall ice thinning in the model response and is a known feature of the actual system, as evidenced by the occurrence of the Weddell Polynya in the mid 1970s.

Geiger, Cathleen A.↗

Improved Passive Microwave Algorithms for North America and Eurasia

Microwave algorithms simplify complex physical processes in order to estimate geophysical parameters such as snow cover and snow depth. The microwave radiances received at the satellite sensor and expressed as brightness temperatures are a composite of contributions from the Earth's surface, the Earth's atmosphere and from space. Owing to the coarse resolution inherent to passive microwave sensors, each pixel value represents a mixture of contributions from different surface types including deep snow, shallow snow, forests and open areas. Algorithms are generated in order to resolve these mixtures. The accuracy of the retrieved information is affected by uncertainties in the assumptions used in the radiative transfer equation (Steffen et al., 1992). One such uncertainty in the Chang et al., (1987) snow algorithm is that the snow grain radius is 0.3 mm for all layers of the snowpack and for all physiographic regions. However, this is not usually the case. The influence of larger grain sizes appears to be of more importance for deeper snowpacks in the interior of Eurasia. Based on this consideration and the effects of forests, a revised SMMR snow algorithm produces more realistic snow mass values. The purpose of this study is to present results of the revised algorithm (referred to for the remainder of this paper as the GSFC 94 snow algorithm) which incorporates differences in both fractional forest cover and snow grain size. Results from the GSFC 94 algorithm will be compared to the original Chang et al. (1987) algorithm and to climatological snow depth data as well.

Foster, James↗

Overview of the Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Investigation

Traditional magnetographs measure the solar magnetic field at the visible "surface" of the Sun, the photosphere. The Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Investigation (SUMI) is a design study for an instrument to measure the solar magnetic field higher in the atmosphere, in the upper chromosphere and in the transition region at the base of the corona. The magnetic pressure at these levels is much stronger than the gas pressure (in contrast to the situation at the photosphere), and so the field is much more dynamic. Observations in this region will significantly improve our understanding of the physical processes driving flares and heating in the Sun's upper atmosphere. The instrument will incorporate new technologies to achieve the polarization efficiencies required to isolate the magnetic lines (Civ at 155nm and MgII at 280nm) to be observed in the UV. We describe the scientific goals, the SUMI baseline design and the optical components that are being developed for a sounding rocket program.

West, Edward A.↗

Earth Scanner Bearing Accelerated Life Test

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) optical instrument for NASA Goddard will measure biological and physical processes on the Earth's surface and in the lower atmosphere. A key component of the instrument is an extremely accurate scan mirror motor/encoder assembly. Of prime concern in the performance and reliability of the scan motor/encoder is bearing selection and lubrication. This paper describes life testing of the bearings and lubrication selected for the program.

Brian J Dietz↗

Interactive Soil Dust Aerosol Model in the GISS GCM: Sensitivity of the Soil Dust Cycle to Radiative Properties of Soil Dust Aerosols - Part 1

The sensitivity of the soil dust aerosol cycle to the radiative forcing by soil dust aerosols is studied. Four experiments with the NASA/GISS atmospheric general circulation model, which includes a soil dust aerosol model, are compared, all using a prescribed climatological sea surface temperature as lower boundary condition. In one experiment, dust is included as dynamic tracer only (without interacting with radiation), whereas dust interacts with radiation in the other simulations. Although the single scattering albedo of dust particles is prescribed to be globally uniform in the experiments with radiatively active dust, a different single scattering albedo is used in those experiments to estimate whether regional variations in dust optical properties, corresponding to variations in mineralogical composition among different source regions, are important for the soil dust cycle and the climate state. On a global scale, the radiative forcing by dust generally causes a reduction in the atmospheric dust load corresponding to a decreased dust source flux. That is, there is a negative feedback in the climate system due to the radiative effect of dust. The dust source flux and its changes were analyzed in more detail for the main dust source regions. This analysis shows that the reduction varies both with the season and with the single scattering albedo of the dust particles. By examining the correlation with the surface wind, it was found that the dust emission from the Saharan/Sahelian source region and from the Arabian peninsula, along with the sensitivity of the emission to the single scattering albedo of dust particles, are related to large scale circulation patterns, in particular to the trade winds during Northern Hemisphere winter and to the Indian monsoon circulation during summer. In the other regions, such relations to the large scale circulation were not found. There, the dependence of dust deflation to radiative forcing by dust particles is probably dominated by physical processes with short time scales. The experiments show that dust radiative forcing can lead to significant changes both in the soil dust cycle and in the climate state. To estimate dust concentration and radiative forcing by dust more accurately, dust size distributions and dust single scattering albedo in the model should be a function of the source region, because dust concentration and climate response to dust radiative forcing are sensitive to dust radiative parameters.

Perlwitz, Jan↗

Numerical Zooming Between a NPSS Engine System Simulation and a One-Dimensional High Compressor Analysis Code

Within NASA's High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) program, NASA Glenn Research Center is developing an environment for the analysis/design of aircraft engines called the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS). NPSS focuses on the integration of multiple disciplines such as aerodynamics, structures, and heat transfer along with the concept of numerical zooming between zero-dimensional to one-, two-, and three-dimensional component engine codes. In addition, the NPSS is refining the computing and communication technologies necessary to capture complex physical processes in a timely and cost-effective manner. The vision for NPSS is to create a "numerical test cell" enabling full engine simulations overnight on cost-effective computing platforms. Of the different technology areas that contribute to the development of the NPSS Environment, the subject of this paper is a discussion on numerical zooming between a NPSS engine simulation and higher fidelity representations of the engine components (fan, compressor, burner, turbines, etc.). What follows is a description of successfully zooming one-dimensional (row-by-row) high-pressure compressor analysis results back to a zero-dimensional NPSS engine simulation and a discussion of the results illustrated using an advanced data visualization tool. This type of high fidelity system-level analysis, made possible by the zooming capability of the NPSS, will greatly improve the capability of the engine system simulation and increase the level of virtual test conducted prior to committing the design to hardware.

Follen, Gregory↗

From Stars to Super-Planets: The Low-Mass IMF in the Young Cluster IC348

We investigate the low-mass population of the young cluster IC348 down to the deuterium-burning limit, a fiducial boundary between brown dwarf and planetary mass objects, using a new and innovative method for the spectral classification of late-type objects. Using photometric indices, constructed from HST/NICMOS narrow-band imaging, that measure the strength of the 1.9 micron water band, we determine the spectral type and reddening for every M-type star in the field, thereby separating cluster members from the interloper population. Due to the efficiency of our spectral classification technique, our study is complete from approximately 0.7 solar mass to 0.015 solar mass. The mass function derived for the cluster in this interval, dN/d log M alpha M(sup 0.5), is similar to that obtained for the Pleiades, but appears significantly more abundant in brown dwarfs than the mass function for companions to nearby sun-like stars. This provides compelling observational evidence for different formation and evolutionary histories for substellar objects formed in isolation vs. as companions. Because our determination of the IMF is complete to very low masses, we can place interesting constraints on the role of physical processes such as fragmentation in the star and planet formation process and the fraction of dark matter in the Galactic halo that resides in substellar objects.

Najita, Joan R.↗

Theoretical Study of Electron Scattering By Small Clusters and Adsorbates

Current interest in clusters stems from their role as novel materials as well as a possible extension of cluster results to bulk systems. Experimental investigations on clusters have been carried out using laser spectroscopy, microwave spectroscopy, heavy-particle collisions, as well as electron collisions with earlier experimental work on electron attachment and ionization having been reviewed previously. Recently, Mark and coworkers studied the decay channels of cluster ions following electron impact ionization. Rauth et al. reported the formation of the superhalogen ion SF7(-) and other nonstoichiometric cluster ions in their study of electron attachment to SF6 clusters. Kresin et al. measured the absolute electron-impact depletion cross section of metal clusters Na8, Na(20), and Na(40). They found that the inelastic scattering cross section increased with cluster size and was considerably greater than the hard sphere collision cross sections. They hypothesized that electron attachment and collision-induced fragmentation were the dominant physical processes responsible for this effect. For the two smaller clusters, they also found a sharp increase in the cross section near threshold. Most theoretical studies of clusters have been devoted to their electronic structures, vibrational relaxation, and predissociation while investigations of electron scattering from clusters has been lacking. In view of this, we recently undertook an ab initio study of electron scattering from small Be clusters and BeCO. Beryllium was chosen because it is readily amenable to ab t'nitio calculations. Moreover, the electronic structure of Be clusters has been studied extensively, showing that the Be-Be bond is relatively weak in comparison with a normal chemical bond. Our investigation focuses on how the cross sections change with cluster size and geometry. The range of energy studied, 0.05 - 5.0 eV, is chosen because of the ubiquitous resonance in the low-energy scattering of Be. Hence it can be determined if it is possible, as a consequence of the weaker bonds in the Be clusters, to identify the atomic origin of the cluster resonance.

Huo, Winifred M.↗

NPSS on NASA's IPG: Using CORBA and Globus to Coordinate Multidisciplinary Aeroscience Applications

Within NASA's High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) program, the NASA Glenn Research Center is developing an environment for the analysis/design of aircraft engines called the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS). The vision for NPSS is to create a "numerical test cell" enabling full engine simulations overnight on cost-effective computing platforms. To this end, NPSS integrates multiple disciplines such as aerodynamics, structures, and heat transfer and supports "numerical zooming" between O-dimensional to 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional component engine codes. In order to facilitate the timely and cost-effective capture of complex physical processes, NPSS uses object-oriented technologies such as C++ objects to encapsulate individual engine components and CORBA ORBs for object communication and deployment across heterogeneous computing platforms. Recently, the HPCC program has initiated a concept called the Information Power Grid (IPG), a virtual computing environment that integrates computers and other resources at different sites. IPG implements a range of Grid services such as resource discovery, scheduling, security, instrumentation, and data access, many of which are provided by the Globus toolkit. IPG facilities have the potential to benefit NPSS considerably. For example, NPSS should in principle be able to use Grid services to discover dynamically and then co-schedule the resources required for a particular engine simulation, rather than relying on manual placement of ORBs as at present. Grid services can also be used to initiate simulation components on parallel computers (MPPs) and to address inter-site security issues that currently hinder the coupling of components across multiple sites. These considerations led NASA Glenn and Globus project personnel to formulate a collaborative project designed to evaluate whether and how benefits such as those just listed can be achieved in practice. This project involves firstly development of the basic techniques required to achieve co-existence of commodity object technologies and Grid technologies; and secondly the evaluation of these techniques in the context of NPSS-oriented challenge problems. The work on basic techniques seeks to understand how "commodity" technologies (CORBA, DCOM, Excel, etc.) can be used in concert with specialized "Grid" technologies (for security, MPP scheduling, etc.). In principle, this coordinated use should be straightforward because of the Globus and IPG philosophy of providing low-level Grid mechanisms that can be used to implement a wide variety of application-level programming models. (Globus technologies have previously been used to implement Grid-enabled message-passing libraries, collaborative environments, and parameter study tools, among others.) Results obtained to date are encouraging: we have successfully demonstrated a CORBA to Globus resource manager gateway that allows the use of CORBA RPCs to control submission and execution of programs on workstations and MPPs; a gateway from the CORBA Trader service to the Grid information service; and a preliminary integration of CORBA and Grid security mechanisms. The two challenge problems that we consider are the following: 1) Desktop-controlled parameter study. Here, an Excel spreadsheet is used to define and control a CFD parameter study, via a CORBA interface to a high throughput broker that runs individual cases on different IPG resources. 2) Aviation safety. Here, about 100 near real time jobs running NPSS need to be submitted, run and data returned in near real time. Evaluation will address such issues as time to port, execution time, potential scalability of simulation, and reliability of resources. The full paper will present the following information: 1. A detailed analysis of the requirements that NPSS applications place on IPG. 2. A description of the techniques used to meet these requirements via the coordinated use of CORBA and Globus. 3. A description of results obtained to date in the first two challenge problems.

Lopez, Isaac↗

Object Based Numerical Zooming Between the NPSS Version 1 and a 1-Dimensional Meanline High Pressure Compressor Design Analysis Code

Within NASA's High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) program, NASA Glenn Research Center is developing an environment for the analysis/design of propulsion systems for aircraft and space vehicles called the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS). The NPSS focuses on the integration of multiple disciplines such as aerodynamics, structures, and heat transfer, along with the concept of numerical zooming between 0- Dimensional to 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional component engine codes. The vision for NPSS is to create a "numerical test cell" enabling full engine simulations overnight on cost-effective computing platforms. Current "state-of-the-art" engine simulations are 0-dimensional in that there is there is no axial, radial or circumferential resolution within a given component (e.g. a compressor or turbine has no internal station designations). In these 0-dimensional cycle simulations the individual component performance characteristics typically come from a table look-up (map) with adjustments for off-design effects such as variable geometry, Reynolds effects, and clearances. Zooming one or more of the engine components to a higher order, physics-based analysis means a higher order code is executed and the results from this analysis are used to adjust the 0-dimensional component performance characteristics within the system simulation. By drawing on the results from more predictive, physics based higher order analysis codes, "cycle" simulations are refined to closely model and predict the complex physical processes inherent to engines. As part of the overall development of the NPSS, NASA and industry began the process of defining and implementing an object class structure that enables Numerical Zooming between the NPSS Version I (0-dimension) and higher order 1-, 2- and 3-dimensional analysis codes. The NPSS Version I preserves the historical cycle engineering practices but also extends these classical practices into the area of numerical zooming for use within a companies' design system. What follows here is a description of successfully zooming I-dimensional (row-by-row) high pressure compressor results back to a NPSS engine 0-dimension simulation and a discussion of the results illustrated using an advanced data visualization tool. This type of high fidelity system-level analysis, made possible by the zooming capability of the NPSS, will greatly improve the fidelity of the engine system simulation and enable the engine system to be "pre-validated" prior to commitment to engine hardware.

Follen, G.↗

Drift Loss-Cone Distributions Electrons in the Jovian Synchrotron Zone from 06 and VIP4 Models

Relativistic electrons (10-50 MeV) play an important role to account for the observed synchrotron decimetric radiation in Jupiter's inner radiation belt (L < 4). A detailed knowledge of these electron distributions is required to understand the synchrotron emission observations and the associated on-going physical processes. In this paper, instead of assuming electrons drift along constant L-shell at the magnetic equator as many earlier studies adopted, we calculate the size of the theoretical drift-loss cone for relativistic electrons using both the O6 and VIP4 magnetic field models. Model maps of the synchrotron emission for specific electron distributions are shown for comparison.

Wang, K.↗