Southern Saturn Kilometric Radiation Research Articles

Seasonal variation of north–south asymmetry in the intensity of Saturn Kilometric Radiation from 2004 to 2017

This study investigates the long-term variation of Saturn Kilometric Radiation (SKR) intensity observed by the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument on board the Cassini spacecraft from 2004 (southern summer) to 2017 (northern summer). The results show that the SKR intensity was brighter in the summer hemisphere than in the winter hemisphere, which was clearly seen in the south-to-north SKR intensity ratio. Over the long-term, the southern SKR intensity became 100 times smaller during northern summer, while the northern SKR intensity remained fairly constant. It means that the reversal in the intensity ratio was mainly caused by the long-term reduction of southern SKR intensity as Saturn’s southern hemisphere moved from summer to winter, not the enhancement of northern SKR from winter to summer. We also investigated the possible contributions from the long-term solar EUV flux and solar wind dynamic pressure during the solar cycles 23 and 24, but we found that their impact on the SKR long-term variations was less than Saturn’s seasonal changes associated with the variation of the tilt of its rotational axis with respect to the Sun. We further compared the long-term variation of the SKR intensity and the SKR period over half a Kronian year. The former showed more systematic variations which do not compare to those seen in the SKR periods.

Planetary Period Oscillations in Saturn's Magnetosphere: Comparison of Magnetic and SKR Modulation Periods and Phases During Northern Summer to the End of the Cassini Mission

AbstractWe compare periods and phases of Saturn planetary period oscillations determined from Cassini magnetic field and Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) data from the beginning of 2016 to the end of mission in mid‐September 2017, encompassing northern summer solstice in May 2017. Both data sets show that the periods are almost unchanging, varying by only ~ ±0.01 hr about 10.79 hr for the northern system and 10.68 hr for the southern system, close to values attained by mid‐2015 after period coalescence between mid‐2013 and mid‐2014. The mean absolute differences between the magnetic and SKR periods are ~0.0036 hr (~13 s), consistent with estimated magnetic measurement uncertainties, while the overall mean difference is less than 0.001 hr (~2–3 s), at the limit of resolution. The relative phasing between magnetic and SKR modulations is correspondingly near constant and such that the equatorial planetary period oscillation fields of the northern/southern systems point radially outward near‐oppositely at ~14.3/2.5 hr local time at corresponding SKR maxima, with upward planetary period oscillation currents located ~2 hr postdawn for both systems, consistent with previous intervals having dawnside spacecraft apoapsides. Southern SKR emissions are found to be significantly dual modulated at both southern and northern periods in data limited to lie well within the southern shadow zone of the northern sources. These northern period modulations are shown to be approximately in phase with those in the northern emissions, consistent with a recent suggestion that bidirectional auroral electron acceleration may generate in phase SKR emissions in both hemispheres.

Planetary period oscillations in Saturn's magnetosphere: Further comments on the relationship between post-equinox properties deduced from magnetic field and Saturn kilometric radiation measurements

We discuss the planetary period oscillations (PPOs) observed by the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn's magnetosphere, in particular the relationship between the properties of the PPOs in the post-equinox interval as observed in magnetic field data by Andrews et al. (2012) and Provan et al. (2013, 2014) and in Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) emissions by Fischer et al. (2014, 2015), whose results are somewhat discrepant. We show that differences in the reported PPO periods, a fundamental property which should be essentially identical in the two data sets, can largely be accounted for by the phenomenon of dual modulation of the SKR emissions in polarization-separated data, in which the modulation associated with one hemisphere is also present in the other. Misidentification of the modulations results in a reported reversal in the SKR periods in the initial post-equinox interval, south for north and vice versa, relative to the magnetic oscillations whose hemispheric origin is more securely identified through the field component phase relations. Dual modulation also results in the apparent occurrence of phase-locked common periods in the northern and southern SKR data during later intervals during which two separate periods are clearly discerned in the magnetic data through beat modulations in both phase and amplitude. We further show that the argument of Fischer et al. (2015) concerning the phase relation between the magnetic field oscillations and the SKR modulations is erroneous, the phase difference between them revealing the local time (LT) of the upward field-aligned current of the PPO current system at times of SKR modulation maxima. Furthermore, this LT is found to vary significantly over the Cassini mission from dawn, to dusk, and to noon, depending on the LT of apoapsis where the spacecraft spends most time. These variations are consistent with the view that the SKR modulation is fundamentally a rotating system like the magnetic perturbations, though complicated by the strong LT asymmetry in the strength of the sources, and rule out a mainly clock-like (strobe) modulation as argued by Fischer et al. (2015), for which no physical mechanism is suggested. We also elucidate the nature of the magnetic periods, criticized by Fischer et al. (2015), which have previously been derived in ∼100–200 day post-equinox intervals between abrupt changes in PPO properties, and further show that their argument that the magnetic phase data provide evidence for the occurrence of common phase-locked magnetic oscillations in some intervals is fallacious. The most important consequence of our results, however, is that they demonstrate the essential compatibility of the post-equinox magnetic field and SKR data, despite the contrary results published to date. They also show that due to the dual modulation effect in polarization-separated SKR data, analysis and interpretation may contain more subtleties than previously realized. Joint examination of the combined magnetic and SKR data clearly provides greater insight and enhanced confidence compared with analyses of these data sets individually.

Planetary period oscillations in Saturn's magnetosphere: comments on the relation between post-equinox periods determined from magnetic field and SKR emission data

Abstract. We discuss the properties of Saturn planetary period oscillations (PPOs) deduced from analysis of Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) modulations by Fischer et al. (2014), and from prior analysis of magnetic field oscillations data by Andrews et al. (2012) and Provan et al. (2013), with emphasis on the post-equinox interval from early 2010 to early 2013. Fischer et al. (2014) characterize this interval as showing single phase-locked periods in the northern and southern SKR modulations observed in polarization-separated data, while the magnetic data generally show the presence of separated dual periods, northern remaining shorter than southern. We show that the single SKR period corresponds to the southern magnetic period early in 2010, segues into the northern period in late 2010, and returns to the southern period in mid-2012, approximately in line with changes in the dominant magnetic oscillation. An exception occurs in mid-February to late August 2011 when two periods are again discerned in SKR data, in good agreement with the ongoing dual periods in the magnetic data. Fischer et al. (2014) discuss this change in terms of a large jump in the southern SKR period related to the Great White Spot storm, which the magnetic data show is primarily due instead to a reappearance in the SKR data of the ongoing southern modulation in a transitory interval of resumed southern dominance. In the earlier interval from early April 2010 to mid-February 2011 when Fischer et al. (2014) deduce single phase-locked periods, we show unequivocal evidence in the magnetic data for the presence of separated dual oscillations of approximately equal amplitude. We suggest that the apparent single SKR periods result from a previously reported phenomenon in which modulations associated with one hemisphere appear in polarization-separated data associated with the other. In the following interval, mid-August 2011 to early April 2012, when Fischer et al. (2014) again report phase-locked northern and southern oscillations, no ongoing southern oscillation of separate period is discerned in the magnetic data. However, the magnetic amplitude data show that if a phase-locked southern oscillation is indeed present, its amplitude must be less than ~ 5–10 % of the northern oscillation.

Saturn kilometric radiation periodicity after equinox

The rotation period of Saturn’s magnetosphere was found to vary with time, and changing periodicities were identified in magnetic fields, radio emissions, and charged particles. Here we analyze the varying period of Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) from 2009 to early 2013, i.e. mainly after Saturn equinox of August 2009. A periodicity analysis is first applied to the complete SKR signal, and second to SKR intensities separated by spacecraft latitude and wave polarization, attributed to SKR from the northern and southern hemisphere. Our analyses are done with the tracking filter approach of Gurnett et al. (Gurnett et al. [2009a]. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L16102) and by simply tracing the phases of normalized SKR intensity maxima (north and south) with time. It is shown that SKR periods from the northern and southern hemisphere converged during 2009, crossed shortly after equinox, and coalesced in spring 2010. We will show that SKR from both hemispheres not only exhibited similar periods, but also similar phases from March 2010 until February 2011 and from August 2011 until June 2012. The in-between time interval (March to July 2011) shows a slowdown of the southern SKR rotation rate and a slight increase in rotation speed for the northern SKR before rotation rates and phases become equal again in August 2011. We also identify SKR signals where the modulation phase deviation exceeds one rotation each time Cassini completes one orbit, i.e. this is consistent with the characteristic of a rotating signal. However, the main SKR modulation signals from 2009 to 2012 can be viewed as being clock-like with no correction needed for the derived periods. A comparison of SKR periodicities after equinox to the planetary period oscillations of the magnetic field shows major differences, and we compare SKR phases to magnetic field phases to explain the deviations.

A possible influence of the Great White Spot on Saturn kilometric radiation periodicity

Abstract. The periodicity of Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) varies with time, and its two periods during the first 5 years of the Cassini mission have been attributed to SKR from the northern and southern hemisphere. After Saturn equinox in August 2009, there were long intervals of time (March 2010 to February 2011 and September 2011 to June 2012) with similar northern and southern SKR periods and locked SKR phases. However, from March to August 2011 the SKR periods were split up again, and the phases were unlocked. In this time interval, the southern SKR period slowed down by ~ 0.5% on average, and there was a large jump back to a faster period in August 2011. The northern SKR period speeded up and coalesced again with the southern period in September 2011. We argue that this unusual behavior could be related to the so-called Great White Spot (GWS), a giant thunderstorm that raged in Saturn's atmosphere around that time. For several months in 2011, the visible head of the GWS had the same period of ~ 10.69 h as the main southern SKR modulation signal. The GWS was most likely a source of intense gravity waves that may have caused a global change in Saturn's thermospheric winds via energy and momentum deposition. This would support the theory that Saturn's magnetospheric periodicities are driven by the upper atmosphere. Since the GWS with simultaneous SKR periodicity measurements have only been made once, it is difficult to prove a physical connection between these two phenomena, but we provide plausible mechanisms by which the GWS might modify the SKR periods.

Multispectral simultaneous diagnosis of Saturn's aurorae throughout a planetary rotation

From 27 to 28 January 2009, the Cassini spacecraft remotely acquired combined observations of Saturn's southern aurorae at radio, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, while monitoring ion injections in the middle magnetosphere from energetic neutral atoms. Simultaneous measurements included the sampling of a full planetary rotation, a relevant timescale to investigate auroral emissions driven by processes internal to the magnetosphere. In addition, this interval coincidentally matched a powerful substorm‐like event in the magnetotail, which induced an overall dawnside intensification of the magnetospheric and auroral activity. We comparatively analyze this unique set of measurements to reach a comprehensive view of kronian auroral processes over the investigated timescale. We identify three source regions for the atmospheric aurorae, including a main oval associated with the bulk of Saturn Kilometric Radiation (SKR), together with polar and equatorward emissions. These observations reveal the coexistence of corotational and subcorototational dynamics of emissions associated with the main auroral oval. Precisely, we show that the atmospheric main oval hosts short‐lived subcorotating isolated features together with a bright, longitudinally extended, corotating region locked at the southern SKR phase. We assign the substorm‐like event to a regular, internally driven, nightside ion injection possibly triggered by a plasmoid ejection. We also investigate the total auroral energy budget, from the power input to the atmosphere, characterized by precipitating electrons up to 20 keV, to its dissipation through the various radiating processes. Finally, through simulations, we confirm the search‐light nature of the SKR rotational modulation and we show that SKR arcs relate to isolated auroral spots. We characterize which radio sources are visible from the spacecraft and we estimate the fraction of visible southern power to a few percent. The resulting findings are discussed in the frame of pending questions as the persistence of a corotating field‐aligned current system within a subcorotating magnetospheric cold plasma, the occurrence of plasmoid activity, and the comparison of auroral fluxes radiated at different wavelengths.

Planetary period oscillations in Saturn's magnetosphere: Evolution of magnetic oscillation properties from southern summer to post‐equinox

We investigate the evolution of the properties of planetary period magnetic field oscillations observed by the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn's magnetosphere over the interval from late 2004 to early 2011, spanning equinox in mid‐2009. Oscillations within the inner quasi‐dipolar region (L ≤ 12) consist of two components of close but distinct periods, corresponding essentially to the periods of the northern and southern Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) modulations. These give rise to modulations of the combined amplitude and phase at the beat period of the two oscillations, from which the individual oscillation amplitudes and phases (and hence periods) can be determined. Phases are also determined from northern and southern polar oscillation data when available. Results indicate that the southern‐period amplitude declines modestly over this interval, while the northern‐period amplitude approximately doubles to become comparable with the southern‐period oscillations during the equinox interval, producing clear effects in pass‐to‐pass oscillation properties. It is also shown that the periods of the two oscillations strongly converge over the equinox interval, such that the beat period increases significantly from ∼20 to more than 100 days, but that they do not coalesce or cross during the interval investigated, contrary to recent reports of the behavior of the SKR periods. Examination of polar oscillation data for similar beat phase effects yields a null result within a ∼10% upper limit on the relative amplitude of northern‐period oscillations in the south and vice versa. This result strongly suggests a polar origin for the two oscillation periods.

Dual periodicities in planetary‐period magnetic field oscillations in Saturn's tail

We examine magnetic field data from 10 apoapsis passes of the Cassini spacecraft during 2006 when the spacecraft explored the midnight and dawn sectors of Saturn's magnetotail to down‐tail distances of ∼65 RS (Saturn radius, RS, is 60,268 km). Oscillations in the radial component of the field near the ∼11 hour planetary period associated with north‐south motions of the current sheet are ubiquitous in these data. Here, we examine and model the phase of these oscillations throughout the interval, taking account of both local time and radial propagation effects, and show that the oscillations exhibit dual periodicities. Those observed at distances exceeding ∼3 RS north of the modeled average center of the current sheet are found to oscillate near the modulation period of the northern Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) emissions, while those observed south of this location oscillate near the modulation period of the southern SKR emissions. The phasing in both cases is consistent with the sense of the associated rotating quasi‐uniform perturbation fields within the quasi‐dipolar “core” region. We determine the structure of the current sheet as a function of the modeled phases, the results implying that the form of the modulation varies significantly over the beat cycle of the two oscillations. When the two field oscillations are in phase, the current sheet oscillates north‐south with a peak‐to‐peak amplitude of ∼3 RS. When they are in antiphase, however, the thickness of the current sheet is also strongly modulated during the oscillation by factors of ∼2.

Magnetospheric period magnetic field oscillations at Saturn: Equatorial phase “jitter” produced by superposition of southern and northern period oscillations

[1] We investigate magnetic field oscillations near the planetary rotation period in Saturn's magnetosphere observed during the initial near-equatorial phase of the Cassini mission. Phase determinations on 28 periapsis passes during this ∼2 year interval display pronounced nonrandom “jitter” relative to the ∼10.8 h modulations in the dominant southern Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) emissions. Phase deviations in the radial and azimuthal components are strongly positively correlated, while being anticorrelated with the phase deviations in the colatitudinal component. This suggests the presence in the equatorial magnetosphere of superposed weaker field oscillations at the ∼10.6 h period of the northern SKR modulations, the phase deviations being shown to be periodic near the corresponding ∼23 day “beat” period. Modeling the effect of the northern period oscillations shows that their amplitude is ∼30%–40% of the southern period oscillations, producing phase deviations of ∼±25°. The relative phasing of the northern period radial and azimuthal fields is such as to form a rotating quasi-uniform field, as for the southern period oscillations, while the phasing of the colatitudinal component indicates perturbation field lines arched with apices pointing to the south, opposite to the southern period field lines that are arched with apices pointing to the north. The northern period field points sunward at northern SKR maxima, consistent with previous observations of the northern polar oscillations and opposite to the southern period field that points tailward at southern SKR maxima. The results support the view that the field oscillations are due to two auroral current systems that rotate with differing periods in the two hemispheres.

Magnetospheric period oscillations at Saturn: Comparison of equatorial and high‐latitude magnetic field periods with north and south Saturn kilometric radiation periods

It has recently been shown using Cassini radio data that Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) emissions from the Northern and Southern hemispheres of Saturn are modulated at distinctly different periods, ∼10.6 h in the north and ∼10.8 h in the south, during the southern summer conditions that prevailed during the interval from 2004 to near‐equinox in mid‐2009. Here we examine Cassini magnetospheric magnetic field data over the same interval and show that two corresponding systems of magnetic field oscillations that have the same overall periods, as the corresponding SKR modulations, to within ∼0.01% are also present. Specifically, we show that the rotating quasi‐dipolar field perturbations on southern open field lines and the rotating quasi‐uniform field in the inner region of closed field lines have the same period as the southern SKR modulations, although with some intervals of slow long‐term phase drift of unknown origin, while the rotating quasi‐dipolar field perturbations on northern open field lines have the same period as the northern SKR modulations. We also show that while the equatorial quasi‐uniform field and effective southern transverse dipole are directed down tail and toward dawn at southern SKR maxima, as found in previous studies, the corresponding northern transverse dipole is directed approximately opposite, pointing sunward and also slightly toward dawn at northern SKR maxima. We discuss these findings in terms of the presence of two independent high‐latitude field‐aligned current systems that rotate with different periods in the two hemispheres.