The process of trapped particle absorption by the inner Jovian satellites is considered in detail by taking into account both the particle and satellite motions in a magnetic dipole field which is displaced from the center of the planet and tilted with respect to the planetary rotation axis in the manner found by magnetic field measurements on Pioneer 10. It is assumed that particle motion is controlled exclusively by the planetary field and that a particle is removed from the trapped particle population when its trajectory intersects the physical boundary of a satellite. We derive an expression for computing the sweeping time at a given satellite, defined as the time required for the satellite to sweep up a given fraction of the trapped particles within its sweeping region. By making use of the sweeping time and the radial diffusion equation of particle transport we derive approximate expressions for the diffusion coefficient. Measurments performed in the Jovian magnetosphere by the University of California at San Diego experiment on Pioneer 10 are then used to obtain estimates of the diffusion coefficient at the orbits of Io(L?6) and Europa (L?9.5). We find that the diffusion coefficient is a function of energy and L for electrons in the energy range ~0.7--14 MeV. |