Magnetic field structure of Saturn's dayside magnetosphere and its mapping to the ionosphere: Results from ring current modeling

Abstract

Ring current modeling in Saturn's magnetosphere using Pioneer‐11, Voyager, and Cassini data has shown that the size and strength of the current system grows with the extension of the magnetosphere, governed by the solar wind dynamic pressure. Here we show that the consequent middle magnetosphere field is quasi‐dipolar in form when the magnetosphere is strongly compressed, but extends into a magnetodisc when it is strongly expanded. We also show that the region occupied by the modeled ring current corresponds to an essentially fixed shell of field lines that expands and contracts with the size of the system, thus mapping to an almost fixed co‐latitude range in Saturn's ionosphere, between ∼14° and ∼20° in the northern hemisphere, and ∼16° and ∼22° in the southern hemisphere. The median dayside UV auroral oval is found to map from near the poleward edge of the modeled ring current toward the boundary of open field lines at smaller co‐latitudes. In the equatorial plane this corresponds to a layer ∼2–5 Saturn radius wide (depending on magnetosphere size), extending from near the outer edge of the ring current to the vicinity of the magnetopause.