Juno Observations of Temporal Variability in Jupiter’s Magnetosphere

NOTE: The PI transferred from Marissa Vogt (formerly of Boston University) to Carl Schmidt at Boston University when Marissa Vogt joined PSI.

CoI Morgenthaler will reduce and analyze Io plasma torus (IPT) images recorded with the Io Input/Output facility (IoIO). The brightness and position of the IPT ansas (edges) will be measured for each of the 4000+ images recorded since the instrument’s commissioning in March 2017. The resulting time sequence of these images will help PI Vogt assess the response of Jupiter’s inner magnetosphere to the activity in its middle and outer magnetosphere that she is measuring with Juno data. Analysis of the IoIO IPT data was originally part of the requested scope of the IoIO NSF project, which was to support the construction of IoIO, acquisition of data, and prompt reduction, analysis, and archiving of all of data recorded through its 5-year period of performance. Unfortunately, the IoIO project was only funded at the 40% level.

Morgenthaler’s original descope plan was to concentrate on the analysis of sodium data until a single large volcanic eruption was found, stop data acquisition, and use the resulting additional time resources to analyze the IPT data to answer the original science question posed by the project: how does the IPT respond to a large volcanic eruption? However, due to the concerns about Juno’s main engine just after it arrived at Jupiter, and the resulting decision to significantly extend that mission, Morgenthaler had to make the difficult decision to descope the IPT data reduction task entirely from the NSF project and concentrate on recording data with IoIO through the entire Juno mission, since modulation in Io volcanic activity is such a significant driver of time- variable phenomena in Jupiter’s magnetosphere. Participation as a funded CoI in Dr. Vogt’s NFDAP effort will enable Morgenthaler to conduct this previously descoped task and provide in a timely manner the results of the IoIO IPT data analysis, an important ingredient in Dr. Vogt’s science effort.