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Sittler et al. 1983
Sittler, E.C., Ogilvie, K.W. and Scudder, J.D. (1983). Survey of Low-Energy Plasma Electrons in Saturn’s Magnetosphere: Voyagers 1 and 2. Journal of Geophysical Research 88: doi: 10.1029/JA080i011p08847. issn: 0148-0227.

This paper is a survey of the low-energy plasma electron environment within Saturn's magnetosphere made by the plasma science experiment (PLS) during the Voyager encounters with Saturn. Over the full energy range of the PLS instrument (10 eV to 6 keV) the electron of distribution functions are clearly non-Maxwellian in character; they are composed of a cold (thermal) component with Maxwellian shape and a hot (suprthermal) non-Maxwellian component. A large-scale positive radial gradient in electron temperature is observed, increasing from less than 1 eV in the inner magnetosphere to as high as 800 eV in the outer magetosphere. This increase in electron temperature explains the observed order of magnitude increase inplasma sheet thickness with increasing radial distance from Saturn. Scale heights of the cold heavy ion plasma can be as small as 0.2 RS in the inner magnetosphere and as much as 3 RS in the outer magnetosphere. Many of the observed density variations can be attributed to changes in density scale height without a change in plasma flux tube content. Three fundamentally different plasma regimes have been identified from the measurements: (1) the hot outer magnetosphere. (2) the extended plasma sheet, and (3) the inner plasma torus. The hot outer magnetopshere is a region within which the suprathermal electrons are the dominant contributors to the electron pressure, and a times to the electron density. Near the noon meridian, the electrons display a highly time dependent behavior with order of magnitudes changes in density an temperature, which can occur in less than 96 s. Sudden density enhancements ofcold plasma occur, which are thought to be either, ''plumes'' associated with Titan (Eviatar et al., 1982) or plasma ''blobs'', (Goertz, 1983). The extended plasma sheet, with mean inner and outer boundaries of 7 and 15 RS, respectively, has enhanced levels of cold plasma relative to that in Plasma with energy less than 6 keV from this reigon is an important contributor to the ring current, and a significant current system is probably presenst between 6 and 8 RS. The inner plasma torus is a region of reduced scale height (as small as 0.2 RS). Localized reductions in electron temperature are observed near the L shells of Tethys, Dione, and possibly Rhea. The suprathermal electrons are observed near depleted with the inner plasma torus, relative to that in the extended plamsa sheet and hot outer waves at times; interactions with neutral gasor plasma ions may also contribute to the depletions. The data also indicate an association between the appearance of suprathermal electrons and the observed emission of whistler mode waves reported by Gurnett et al. (1981).

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Journal of Geophysical Research
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