The Near-Saturn Magnetic Field Environment (eBook)

Dr. Sulaiman graduated from Imperial College London with a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering with first class honors. He holds a Ph.D. in Space Physics at Imperial College London under Professor Michele Dougherty FRS. He is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Iowa.

Introduction to Space Plasmas.- Definition and Characteristics of Plasmas.- Plasma vs Neutral Gas.- Single Particle Motion.- Magnetohydrodynamics.- The Induction Equation and Flux Freezing.- Kinetic Description.- Applicability of MHD and Kinetic Simulations of Plasmas.- Collisionless MHD Waves.- Fundamentals of Shock Waves.- Collisionless Shock Waves.- State Variables and Control Parameters.- Criticality.- Particle Dynamics and the DC Electric Field.- Shock Frames of Reference.- Quasi-parallel Shocks.- The Sun-Saturn Connection.- The Solar Wind.- Properties at 10 AU.- The Kronian Environment.- Spacecraft Encounters.- Saturn’s Magnetosphere.- Dungey vs Vasyliunas Cycles.- The KSM Coordinate System.- Cassini Observations of Saturn’s Dayside Environment.- Motivation of this Thesis.- Spacecraft and Instrumentation.- The Cassini-Huygens Spacecraft.- Cassini Fluxgate Magnetometer.- Calibration.- Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) Instrument.- Cassini Ion Mass Spectrometer (CAPS/IMS).- Magnetic Field Characterisation of Saturn’s Bow Shock.- Introduction.- Size and Shape.- Determination of the Shock Normal.- Saturn as a Unique Laboratory for Collisionless Shocks.- Scope and Limitations of this Chapter.- Characterisation of Saturn’s Bow Shock.- Determination of the Alfvén Mach Number.- Parameter Space.- Shock Relative Overshoot and Variability.- Conclusion.- Quasi-perpendicular High Mach Number Collisionless Shocks.- Introduction.- Method.- Determination of the Foot Length and Shock Speed.- Observations.- Results and Discussion.- An Attempt to Reconcile with β.- Conclusion.- The Magnetic Structure of Saturn’s Magnetosheath.- Introduction.- Observations.- Data Selection.- Upstream Conditions and the Overall Configuration of the Magnetic Field in Saturn’s Magnetosheath.- Results.- MHD Simulations.- Correspondence between observations and predictive model.- Discussion.- Summary and Perspective.- Bibliography