UV and IR auroral emission model for the outer planets: Jupiter and Saturn comparison

Abstract

Planetary aurora display the dynamic behavior of the plasma gas surrounding a planet. The outer planetary aurora are most often observed in the ultraviolet (UV) and the infrared (IR) wavelengths. How the emissions in these different wavelengths are connected with the background physical conditions are not yet well understood. Here we investigate the sensitivity of UV and IR emissions to the incident precipitating auroral electrons and the background atmospheric temperature, and compare the results obtained for Jupiter and Saturn. We develop a model which estimates UV and IR emission rates accounting for UV absorption by hydrocarbons, ion chemistry, and H 3 + non-LTE effects. Parameterization equations are applied to estimate the ionization and excitation profiles in the H 2 atmosphere caused by auroral electron precipitation. The dependences of UV and IR emissions on electron flux are found to be similar at Jupiter and Saturn. However, the dependences of the emissions on electron energy are different at the two planets, especially for low energy (<10 keV) electrons; the UV and IR emissions both decrease with decreasing electron energy, but this effect in the IR is less at Saturn than at Jupiter. The temperature sensitivity of the IR emission is also greater at Saturn than at Jupiter. These dependences are interpreted as results of non-LTE effects on the atmospheric temperature and density profiles. The different dependences of the UV and IR emissions on temperature and electron energy at Saturn may explain the different appearance of polar emissions observed at UV and IR wavelengths, and the differences from those observed at Jupiter. These results lead to the prediction that the differences between the IR and UV aurora at Saturn may be more significant than those at Jupiter. We consider in particular the occurrence of bright polar infrared emissions at Saturn and quantitatively estimate the conditions for such IR-only emissions to appear.