Modelling magnetic fields and plasma flows in the magnetosphere of Jupiter

The magnetic fields of the giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, deviate significantly from a pure magnetic dipole and the cold plasma is mostly centrifugally confined near the equator. The additional contribution of the azimuthal currents leads to the stretching of the magnetic field and the formation of a characteristic, disc-type structure known as a magnetodisc. We present here an updated version of a numerical implementation of Caudal's iterative scheme, used to create models of the magnetosphere. In particular, we include newer equatorial density, temperature and hot plasma profiles obtained from Galileo data. Finally, we describe and use an algorithm to update the angular velocity profile after the end of the iterative process, using information from the magnetodisc. We also present comparisons between the azimuthal current and plasma flow predicted by our model and those derived from spacecraft observations.

Automated summary

The magnetic fields of Jupiter and Saturn deviate from a pure magnetic dipole, causing the centrifugal confinement of cold plasma near the equator and the formation of a disc-like structure called a magnetodisc. This study presents an updated numerical implementation of Caudal's iterative scheme to model the magnetosphere, incorporating newer equatorial density, temperature, and hot plasma profiles obtained from Galileo data. Additionally, an algorithm is described and used to update the angular velocity profile based on information from the magnetodisc, and comparisons between the model predictions and spacecraft observations are presented.