Properties of dust particles near Saturn inferred from voltage pulses induced by dust impacts on Cassini spacecraft

S. -Y. Ye; D. A. Gurnett; W. S. Kurth; T. F. Averkamp; S. Kempf; H. -W. Hsu; R. Srama; E. Gruen

doi:10.1002/2014JA020024

Back

Properties of dust particles near Saturn inferred from voltage pulses induced by dust impacts on Cassini spacecraft

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Properties of dust particles near Saturn inferred from voltage pulses induced by dust impacts on Cassini spacecraft

S. -Y. Ye, D. A. Gurnett, W. S. Kurth, T. F. Averkamp, S. Kempf, H. -W. Hsu, R. Srama and E. Gruen

Journal of geophysical research. Space physics, Vol.119(8), pp.6294-6312

08/01/2014

DOI: 10.1002/2014JA020024

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JA020024View

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

The Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument can detect dust particles when voltage pulses induced by the dust impacts are observed in the wideband receiver. The size of the voltage pulse is proportional to the mass of the impacting dust particle. For the first time, the dust impacts signals measured by dipole and monopole electric antennas are compared, from which the effective impact area of the spacecraft is estimated to be 4 m(2). In the monopole mode, the polarity of the dust impact signal is determined by the spacecraft potential and the location of the impact (on the spacecraft body or the antenna), which can be used to statistically infer the charge state of the spacecraft. It is shown that the differential number density of the dust particles near Saturn can be characterized as a power law dn/dr proportional to r(mu), where mu similar to -4 and r is the particle size. No peak is observed in the size distribution, contrary to the narrow size distribution found by previous studies. The RPWS cumulative dust density is compared with the Cosmic Dust Analyzer High Rate Detector measurement. The differences between the two instruments are within the range of uncertainty estimated for RPWS measurement. The RPWS onboard dust recorder and counter data are used to map the dust density and spacecraft charging state within Saturn's magnetosphere.

Physical Sciences

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Science & Technology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Properties of dust particles near Saturn inferred from voltage pulses induced by dust impacts on Cassini spacecraft
Creators: S. -Y. Ye - University of Iowa
D. A. Gurnett - University of Iowa
W. S. Kurth - University of Iowa
T. F. Averkamp - University of Iowa
S. Kempf - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
H. -W. Hsu - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
R. Srama - University of Stuttgart
E. Gruen - Univ Colorado, Atmospher & Space Phys Lab, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of geophysical research. Space physics, Vol.119(8), pp.6294-6312
DOI: 10.1002/2014JA020024
ISSN: 2169-9380
eISSN: 2169-9402
Publisher: Amer Geophysical Union
Number of pages: 19
Grant note: 1415150 / NASA; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
Language: English
Date published: 08/01/2014
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984455575902771

Metrics

12 Record Views

47 Times Cited - Web of Science