NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Radial diffusion in the Uranian radiatian belts - Inferences from satellite absorption loss modelsLow-energy charged particle (LECP) phase space density profiles available from the Voyager/1986 Uranus encounter are analyzed, using solutions of the time-averaged radial diffusion equation for charged particle transport in a dipolar planetary magnetic field. Profiles for lower-energy protons and electrons are first analyzed to infer radial diffusion rate as a function of L, assuming that satellite absorption is the dominant loss process and local sources for these particles are negligible. Satellite macrosignatures present in the experimentally derived profiles are approximately reproduced in several cases, lending credence to the loss model and indicating that magnetospheric distributed losses are not as rapid as satellite absorption near the minimum satellite L shells for the particles. Diffusion rates and L dependences are found to be similar to those previously inferred in the inner Jovian magnetosphere (Thomsen et al., 1977) and for the inner Saturnian magnetosphere (Hood, 1985). Profiles for higher energy electrons and protons are also analyzed using solutions that allow for the existence of significant particle sources as well as sinks. Possible implications for radial diffusion mechanisms in the Uranian radiation belts are discussed.
Document ID
19900029431
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Hood, L. L.
(Arizona, University Tucson, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1989
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 94
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
90A16486
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1203
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available