Joshua Dreyer

Theses

2023

1. PhD Thesis

   Diving Deep into Saturn’s Equatorial Ionosphere with Cassini : Insights from the Grand Finale

   Joshua Dreyer

   Uppsala University, Department of Physics and Astronomy; Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala Division, 2023

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   In the summer of 2017, the Cassini mission concluded its nearly 13 years orbiting Saturn with a series of daring dives between the rings and the upper reaches of Saturn’s atmosphere. This last phase of the mission, called the Grand Finale, revealed a highly variable equatorial ionosphere dominated by a large influx of ring material from Saturn’s D ring. The papers included in this thesis utilize data gathered during these proximal orbits to gain insights into the nature and effects of the infalling ring material. Initially, we derive upper limits for the effective recombination coefficient in Saturn’s equatorial ionosphere at altitudes below 2500 km, where photochemical equilibrium can be assumed, to constrain the composition of the positive ion species. Our inceptive results indicate that ion species with low recombination coefficients are dominant. We follow up on this by developing a photochemical model, incorporating grain charging, to investigate the effects of the ring influx on the plasma composition. The model results at an altitude of 1700 km yield vastly different abundances of two types of neutral species when compared to those derived from measurements, ultimately representing the difficulty of reconciling the observed H+ and H3+ densities with our and other model results. Exploring the nature of narrow decreases in the ionospheric H2+ densities reveals a time shift in the ion data. After correcting for this, the decreases line up very well with calculated shadows for substructures in Saturn’s C ring. We can further estimate the optical depths of these substructures and investigate at which altitudes photochemical equilibrium for H2+ is applicable. The direct measurement of heavier neutral species during the proximal orbits is complicated by the high spacecraft speed. We devise a method to utilize helium ion chemistry to independently derive the mixing ratios of these heavier neutrals in Saturn’s ionosphere. Our results show considerable variability, which may suggest temporal and/or spatial changes in the ring influx. A comparison with other studies indicates that potentially only the most volatile ring-sourced species significantly ablate to enter the gas phase in this region of Saturn’s ionosphere. Finally, we compare the fixed-bias Langmuir probe electron densities and the light ion densities. They exhibit a strong positive correlation for most parts of the proximal orbits even on short timescales. We find three distinct regions in the proximal orbits, which can provide further insight into the ionospheric composition, connection to the rings, and measurement uncertainties.

Journal Articles

2022

1. PSJ

   Identifying Shadowing Signatures of C Ring Ringlets and Plateaus in Cassini Data from Saturn’s Ionosphere

   Joshua Dreyer, Erik Vigren, Fredrik L. Johansson, Oleg Shebanits, Michiko Morooka, Jan-Erik Wahlund, Rebecca S. Perryman, and Jack Hunter Waite

   The Planetary Science Journal, Jul 2022

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   For orbits 288 and 292 of Cassini’s Grand Finale, clear dips (sharp and narrow decreases) are visible in the H2+ densities measured by the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS). In 2017, the southern hemisphere of Saturn was shadowed by its rings and the substructures within. Tracing a path of the solar photons through the ring plane to Cassini’s position, we can identify regions in the ionosphere that were shadowed by the individual ringlets and plateaus (with increased optical depths) of Saturn’s C ring. The calculated shadowed altitudes along Cassini’s trajectory line up well with the dips in the H2+ data when adjusting the latter based on a detected evolving shift in the INMS timestamps since 2013, illustrating the potential for verification of instrument timings. We can further estimate the mean optical depths of the ringlets/plateaus by comparing the dips to inbound H2+ densities. Our results agree well with values derived from stellar occultation measurements. No clear dips are visible for orbits 283 and 287, whose periapsides were at higher altitudes. This can be attributed to the much longer chemical lifetime of H2+ at these higher altitudes, which in turn can be further used to estimate a lower limit for the flow speed along Cassini’s trajectory. The resulting estimate of  0.3 km s-1 at an altitude of  3400 km is in line with prior suggestions. Finally, the ringlet and plateau shadows are not associated with obvious dips in the electron density, which is expected due to their comparatively long chemical (recombination) lifetime.

2021

1. PSJ

   Constraining the Positive Ion Composition in Saturn’s Lower Ionosphere with the Effective Recombination Coefficient

   Joshua Dreyer, Erik Vigren, Michiko Morooka, Jan-Erik Wahlund, Stephan C. Buchert, Fredrik L. Johansson, and Jack Hunter Waite

   The Planetary Science Journal, Feb 2021

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   The present study combines Radio and Plasma Wave Science/Langmuir Probe and Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer data from Cassini’s last four orbits into Saturn’s lower ionosphere to constrain the effective recombination coefficient α300 from measured number densities and electron temperatures at a reference electron temperature of 300 K. Previous studies have shown an influx of ring material causes a state of electron depletion due to grain charging, which will subsequently affect the ionospheric chemistry. The requirement to take grain charging into account limits the derivation of α300 to upper limits. Assuming photochemical equilibrium and using an established method to calculate the electron production rate, we derive upper limits for α300 of ≲ 3 × 10-7 cm3 s-1 for altitudes below 2000 km. This suggests that Saturn’s ionospheric positive ions are dominated by species with low recombination rate coefficients like HCO+. An ionosphere dominated by water group ions or complex hydrocarbons, as previously suggested, is incompatible with this result, as these species have recombination rate coefficients > 5 × 10-7 cm3 s-1 at an electron temperature of 300 K.

2. AnnGeo

   Characteristics of fragmented aurora-like emissions (FAEs) observed on Svalbard

   J. Dreyer, N. Partamies, D. Whiter, P. G. Ellingsen, L. Baddeley, and S. C. Buchert

   Annales Geophysicae, Mar 2021

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   This study analyses the observations of a new type of small-scale aurora-like feature, which is further referred to as fragmented aurora-like emission(s) (FAEs). An all-sky camera captured these FAEs on three separate occasions in 2015 and 2017 at the Kjell Henriksen Observatory near the arctic town of Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway. A total of 305 FAE candidates were identified. They seem to appear in two categories - randomly occurring individual FAEs and wave-like structures with regular spacing between FAEs alongside auroral arcs. FAEs show horizontal sizes typically below 20 km, a lack of field-aligned emission extent, and short lifetimes of less than a minute. Emissions were observed at the 557.7 nm line of atomic oxygen and at 673.0 nm (N2; first positive band system) but not at the 427.8 nm emission of N2+ or the 777.4 nm line of atomic oxygen. This suggests an upper limit to the energy that can be produced by the generating mechanism. Their lack of field-aligned extent indicates a different generation mechanism than for aurorae, which are caused by particle precipitation. Instead, these FAEs could be the result of excitation by thermal ionospheric electrons. FAE observations are seemingly accompanied by elevated electron temperatures between 110-120 km and increased ion temperatures at F-region altitudes. One possible explanation for this is Farley-Buneman instabilities of strong local currents. In the present study, we provide an overview of the observations and discuss their characteristics and potential generation mechanisms.