Plasma waves in Jupiter's high-latitude regions: Observations from the Juno spacecraft

Abstract

The Juno Waves instrument detected a new broadband plasma wave emission (~50 Hz to 40 kHz) on 27 August 2016 as the spacecraft passed over the low-altitude polar regions of Jupiter. We investigated the characteristics of this emission and found similarities to whistler mode auroral hiss observed at Earth, including a funnel-shaped frequency-time feature. The electron cyclotron frequency is much higher than both the emission frequency and local plasma frequency, which is assumed to be ~20–40 kHz. The E/cB ratio was about three near the start of the event and then decreased to one for the rest of the period. A correlation of the electric field spectral density with the flux of an upgoing 20 to 800 keV electron beam was found, with a correlation coefficient of 0.59. We conclude that the emission is propagating in the whistler mode and is driven by the energetic upgoing electron beam.