Jovian magnetic models and the polarization angle of Jovian decimetric radiation

A comparative study of the direction of linear polarization of Jovian decimetric (synchrotron) radiation as measured astronomically and as determined from a model of the inner Jovian magnetosphere is discussed. It is noted that the model depicts the radiation as coming from rings of relativistic electrons in the Jovimagnetic equator at varying radial distances from the center of the planet. The equator is determined through each of two magnetic representations - the O4 model of Acuna and Ness (1976) and the P10-11 model of Smith et al. (1976) - derived from in situ Pioneer magnetometer measurements. Deviations from a (planar) dipole equator are found to occur at nearly all longitudes in both models; no evidence is found for a longitudinally localized magnetic anomaly.