Electron temperature(s) in Titan's ionosphere: re-analysis of the Cassini RPWS/LP data

Audrey Chatain (1, 2) , Jan-Erik Wahlund (3) , Michiko Morooka (3) , Oleg Shebanits (3, 4) , Lina Hadid (5, 2, 6) , Anders I. Eriksson (3) , Nathalie Carrasco (7, 1)

1 PLANETO - LATMOS
2 LPP - Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas
3 IRF - Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Uppsala]
4 Blackett Laboratory
5 IRF - Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Kiruna]
6 ESTEC - European Space Research and Technology Centre
7 IUF - Institut Universitaire de France

The Cassini Langmuir Probe (LP) data, part of the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) investigation, in Titan's ionosphere are re-analyzed with the main goal to finely measure the electron temperature on all the dataset. The LP sweeps in this region are particularly difficult to fit and interpret. We have found that several maxwellian electron components were needed to correctly fit the data. It seems that at least two electron populations of different temperatures are present. Statistical studies show that the main component gives an electron temperature slowly varying with Solar Zenith Angle. However, a second electron population often appears at lower altitudes and has a temperature more dependent on solar irradiation.

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

Audrey Chatain, Jan-Erik Wahlund, Michiko Morooka, Oleg Shebanits, Lina Hadid, et al.. Electron temperature(s) in Titan's ionosphere: re-analysis of the Cassini RPWS/LP data. EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019, Sep 2019, Geneva, Switzerland. pp.EPSC-DPS2019-1382-1. ⟨insu-02299116⟩