Effect of the Earth’s declination variation on characteristics of Jovian decametric radio emissions

Abstract

Context. The variation in the Jovicentric sub-latitude (declination, DE) of a radio observer of Jupiter has long been known to affect the observation of Jupiter’s decametric (DAM) radio emissions due to these emissions’ anisotropic nature (through cyclotron maser instability beaming cones centered on Jovian magnetic field lines). The effect of the DE variation, however, is still not clearly understood. For ground-based observations of Jupiter, the DE variation, from −4° to +4°, occurs concomitantly with the cyclic variation in the distance to Jupiter, R, and Jupiter’s elongation angle, γ, which also affect the emission observation. Those covariant effects must be removed, then, for an analysis of the pure effect of DE. Aims. The aim of this study is to investigate the pure effect of the Earth’s DE variation on the maximum frequency, duration, average Io phase, and average longitude of Io-induced DAM emissions observed with the Nançay Decameter Array (NDA). Methods. For this purpose, we selected from the NDA/Routine digital catalog Jovian DAM emissions with an intensity (distance-corrected) above or equal to 8.8 dB and a maximum frequency above or equal to 20 MHz (25 MHz) for southern (northern) emissions. Distinct maximum frequency thresholds were adopted because of the typical discrepancy in the emissions’ frequency due to the high amplitude anomaly in the Jovian magnetic field at Jupiter’s northern hemisphere. The selected emissions comprise a new “unbiased” catalog. After analyzing the tenuous variation in the characteristics of the unbiased set of Io-DAM emissions with DE, we compared them with those of matching Io-DAM simulations obtained with the Exoplanetary and Planetary Radio Emissions Simulator (ExPRES). Results. From both the NDA data and the ExPRES simulations, it is observed that the pure DE effect on the Io-DAM emissions characteristics is minor, yet a clear proportionality of the maximum frequency and duration of the northern Io-DAM emissions with DE is noticed. Conclusions. The northern Io-DAM emissions seem to be more strongly affected by the DE variation than the southern emissions. Additionally, ExPRES can predict Io-DAM emissions consistently, from which we conclude that the current understanding of emission generation and propagation is reasonable. This study may be extended for broader ranges of DE, such as Juno’s.