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In Huybrighs et al., 2020 we investigated energetic proton depletions along Galileo's Europa flyby E26. Based on a particle tracing analysis we proposed that depletions are caused by perturbed electrogmagnetic fields combined with atmospheric charge exchange and possible plumes. One depletion feature identified as a plume signature was shown to be an artefact Jia et al., 2021. Despite that, here we emphasize that Huybrighs et al., 2020 demonstrates that plumes can cause proton depletions and that these features should be sought after. Furthermore, the conclusions on the importance of perturbed electromagnetic fields and atmospheric charge exchange on the depletions are unaffected. We suggest that the artefact's cause is a mistagging of protons as heavier ions by EPD. The artefact prevents us from confirming or excluding that there is a plume associated depletion. We also address comments on the MHD simulations and demonstrate that 540-1040 keV losses are not necessarily inconsistent with 115-244 keV losses by plume associated charge exchange., Comment: accepted to journal of geophysical research letters

The flux of energetic protons (80 keV-1.04 MeV) near the Galilean moons was measured by the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on the Galileo mission (1995 - 2003). Near Galilean moons (such as Io and Europa) depletions of the energetic ion flux, of several orders of magnitude, were observed (see Figure 1). Such energetic ion depletions can be caused by the precipitation of these particles onto the moon’s surface or charge exchange with the neutral atmosphere. In addition, a magnetic field gradient can restrict access of the ions to certain regions, creating a “forbidden region.” To interpret the depletion features in the EPD data, a Monte Carlo particle tracing code has been developed. The expected flux of the energetic ions is simulated under different scenarios including those with and without an atmosphere, plume or inhomogeneous electromagnetic field. By comparing the simulated distribution to the EPD data, the cause of the depletion features can be investigated. We identify the following causes of energetic proton depletions near Europa: Depletions are consistent with plumes during the flybys E12 and E26. These plumes coincide with the source location of Jia et al., 2018 and Arnold et al., 2019. Depletions are consistent with atmospheric charge exchange during the flyby E26 Depletions coincide with Europa’s Alfvén wing during the flybys E17 and E25A. The Alfvén wings are two cylindrical regions extending to the north and south of Europa in which the low-energy plasma and the magnetic field are modified compared to the upstream conditions. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of varying the atmospheric properties (scale height, density, presence of a sputtered component) and plume properties (density, location) on the depletions. Figure 1: Normalized flux of H+ (220 to 550 keV) during the Galileo flybys of Europa. Depletions shown as darker colors.

Full list of authors: Blanc, Michel; Prieto-Ballesteros, Olga; André, Nicolas; Gomez-Elvira, Javier; Jones, Geraint; Sterken, Veerle; Desprats, William; Gurvits, Leonid I.; Khurana, Krishan; Balmino, Georges; Blöcker, Aljona; Broquet, Renaud; Bunce, Emma; Cavel, Cyril; Choblet, Gaël; Colins, Geoffrey; Coradini, Marcello; Cooper, John; Dirkx, Dominic; Fontaine, Dominique; Garnier, Philippe; Gaudin, David; Hartogh, Paul; Hussmann, Hauke; Genova, Antonio; Iess, Luciano; Jäggi, Adrian; Kempf, Sascha; Krupp, Norbert; Lara, Luisa; Lasue, Jérémie; Lainey, Valéry; Leblanc, François; Lebreton, Jean-Pierre; Longobardo, Andrea; Lorenz, Ralph; Martins, Philippe; Martins, Zita; Marty, Jean-Charles; Masters, Adam; Mimoun, David; Palumba, Ernesto; Parro, Victor; Regnier, Pascal; Saur, Joachim; Schutte, Adriaan; Sittler, Edward C.; Spohn, Tilman; Srama, Ralf; Stephan, Katrin; Szegő, Károly; Tosi, Federico; Vance, Steve; Wagner, Roland; Van Hoolst, Tim; Volwerk, Martin; Wahlund, Jan-Erik; Westall, Frances; Wurz, Peter, Europa is the closest and probably the most promising target to search for extant life in the Solar System, based on complementary evidence that it may fulfil the key criteria for habitability: the Galileo discovery of a sub-surface ocean; the many indications that the ice shell is active and may be partly permeable to transfer of chemical species, biomolecules and elementary forms of life; the identification of candidate thermal and chemical energy sources necessary to drive a metabolic activity near the ocean floor. In this article we are proposing that ESA collaborates with NASA to design and fly jointly an ambitious and exciting planetary mission, which we call the Joint Europa Mission (JEM), to reach two objectives: perform a full characterization of Europa's habitability with the capabilities of a Europa orbiter, and search for bio-signatures in the environment of Europa (surface, subsurface and exosphere) by the combination of an orbiter and a lander. JEM can build on the advanced understanding of this system which the missions preceding JEM will provide: Juno, JUICE and Europa Clipper, and on the Europa lander concept currently designed by NASA (Maize, report to OPAG, 2019). We propose the following overarching goals for our Joint Europa Mission (JEM): Understand Europa as a complex system responding to Jupiter system forcing, characterize the habitability of its potential biosphere, and search for life at its surface and in its sub-surface and exosphere. We address these goals by a combination of five Priority Scientific Objectives, each with focused measurement objectives providing detailed constraints on the science payloads and on the platforms used by the mission. The JEM observation strategy will combine three types of scientific measurement sequences: measurements on a high-latitude, low-altitude Europan orbit; in-situ measurements to be performed at the surface, using a soft lander; and measurements during the final descent to Europa's surface. The implementation of these three observation sequences will rest on the combination of two science platforms: a soft lander to perform all scientific measurements at the surface and sub-surface at a selected landing site, and an orbiter to perform the orbital survey and descent sequences. We describe a science payload for the lander and orbiter that will meet our science objectives. We propose an innovative distribution of roles for NASA and ESA; while NASA would provide an SLS launcher, the lander stack and most of the mission operations, ESA would provide the carrier-orbiter-relay platform and a stand-alone astrobiology module for the characterization of life at Europa's surface: the Astrobiology Wet Laboratory (AWL). Following this approach, JEM will be a major exciting joint venture to the outer Solar System of NASA and ESA, working together toward one of the most exciting scientific endeavours of the 21st century: to search for life beyond our own planet. © 2020, The authors received support from the sponsors of their home institutions during the development of their projects, particularly at the two institutes leading this effort: at IRAP, Toulouse, MB and NA acknowledge the support of CNRS, University Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier and CNES. At CAB, Madrid, OPB and JGE acknowledge the support of INTA and Spanish MINECO project ESP2014-55811-C2-1-P and ESP2017-89053-C2-1-P and the AEI project MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia "Maria de Maeztu". We would also like to extend special thanks to the PASO of CNES for its precious assistance and expertise in the design of the mission scenario.

IntroductionThe flux of energetic ions (protons, oxygen and sulfur) near the Galilean moons were measured by the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on the Galileo mission (1995 - 2003). Near Galilean moons (such as Io and Europa) depletions of the energetic ion flux, of several orders of magnitude, were identified.Such energetic ion depletions can be caused by the absorption of these particles onto the moon’s surfaces or by the loss due to charge exchange with neutral molecules in the atmospheres or potential plumes. To interpret the depletion features in the EPD data, a Monte Carlo particle tracing simulation has been conducted. The expected fluxes of the energetic ions are simulated under different scenarios including those with and without an atmosphere or plume. By comparing the simulated flux [YF1] to the EPD data, we investigate the cause of the depletion features with particular focuses on Europa and Io flybys.ResultsFor Europa we report the following findings:For flyby E12 we find that a global atmosphere should produce a depletion region along the trajectory that is symmetrical to the closest approach, for energetic protons in the energy range of 80-220 keV. No such feature is visible in the data. Upper limits of the atmosphere are consistent with surface densities (⩽ 108 cm-3) and scale heights (50-350 km) of previous studies. We find that a depletion of energetic protons (80-220 keV) occurring before closest approach is consistent with the field perturbations associated with a plume. This plume features coincides in time with the plume reported by Jia et al., 2018. For flyby E26 we find that the depletions of energetic protons (80-220 keV) are consistent with a simulation that takes into account the perturbations of the fields as calculated by an MHD simulation and atmospheric charge exchange. Furthermore, a depletion feature occurring shortly after closest approach is consistent with the field perturbations associated with a plume, located near the plume reported by Arnold et al., 2019. From these investigations, we confirm, independently from previous reports, that the Galileo spacecraft could have passed near plumes. For Io we report the following results:We identify regions of proton (80-220 keV) depletions during Io flybys I24, I27 and I31 extending beyond one Io radius. The depletions features are not consistent with Io as an inert body. We investigate atmospheric charge exchange as a cause for the depletions.

The flux of energetic protons (80 keV-1.04 Mev) near the Galilean moons was measured by the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on the Galileo mission (1995 - 2003). Near Galilean moon, such as Io and Europa, depletions of the energetic proton flux, of several orders of magnitude, were observed. Such energetic proton depletions can be caused by the precipitation of these particles onto the moon's surface or charge exchange with the neutral atmosphere. In order to interpret the depletion features in the EPD data, a Monte Carlo particle tracing code has been developed by (H. L. F. Huybrighs et al., 2020; Hans L. F. Huybrighs et al., 2017; Hans Leo Frans Huybrighs, 2018). The expected flux of the energetic ions is simulated under different scenarios, for three Galileo flybys of Io (I24, I27, and I31), including with and without an atmosphere and inhomogeneous magnetic and electric fields. By comparing the simulated distribution to the EPD data, the cause of the depletion features can be investigated. The following causes of energetic proton depletion near Io are identified: Some depletions are consistent with atmospheric charge exchange for flybys I24, I27, and I31. Some of depletions coincide with the inhomogeneous fields produced in the MHD model by (Dols et al., 2012) for flybys I24, I27, and I31. For I24 the depletions are consistent with a two component atmosphere: a dense low scale height atmosphere and an extended corona described by a low surface density but a large scale height as presented by (Blöcker et al., 2018). Furthermore, latitudinal and longitudinal dependencies in the atmospheric models for Io are investigated for all three aforementioned flybys. Bibliography Blöcker, A., Saur, J., Roth, L., & Strobel, D. F. (2018). MHD Modeling of the Plasma Interaction With Io’s Asymmetric Atmosphere. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 123(11), 9286–9311. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025747 Dols, V., Delamere, P. A., Bagenal, F., Kurth, W. S., & Paterson, W. R. (2012). Asymmetry of Io’s outer atmosphere: Constraints from five Galileo flybys. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 117(E10). https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JE004076 Huybrighs, H. L. F., Roussos, E., Blöcker, A., Krupp, N., Futaana, Y., Barabash, S., et al. (2020). An Active Plume Eruption on Europa During Galileo Flyby E26 as Indicated by Energetic Proton Depletions. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(10). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl087806 Huybrighs, Hans L. F., Futaana, Y., Barabash, S., Wieser, M., Wurz, P., Krupp, N., et al. (2017). On the in-situ detectability of Europa’s water vapour plumes from a flyby mission. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2016.10.026 Huybrighs, Hans Leo Frans. (2018). A search for signatures of Europa’s atmosphere and plumes in Galileo charged particle data. Retrieved from http://arxiv.org/abs/1812.11215

Io’s atmosphere is predominately SO 2 that is sustained by a combination of volcanic outgassing and sublimation. The loss from the atmosphere is the main mass source for Jupiter’s large magnetosphere. Numerous previous studies attributed various transient phenomena in Io’s environment and Jupiter’s magnetosphere to a sudden change in the mass loss from the atmosphere supposedly triggered by a change in volcanic activity. Since the gas in volcanic plumes does not escape directly, such causal correlation would require a transient volcano-induced change in atmospheric abundance, which has never been observed so far. Here we report four observations of atmospheric SO 2 and NaCl from the same hemisphere of Io, obtained with the IRAM NOEMA interferometer on 11 December 2016, 14 March, 6 and 29 April 2017. These observations are compared to measurements of volcanic hot spots and Io’s neutral and plasma environment. We find a stable NaCl column density in Io’s atmosphere on the four dates. The SO 2 column density derived for December 2016 is about 30% lower compared to the SO 2 column density found in the period of March to April 2017. This increase in SO 2 from December 2016 to March 2017 might be related to increasing volcanic activity observed at several sites in spring 2017, but the stability of the volcanic trace gas NaCl and resulting decrease in NaCl/SO 2 ratio do not support this interpretation. Observed dimmings in both the sulfur ion torus and Na neutral cloud suggest rather a decrease in mass loading in the period of increasing SO 2 abundance. The dimming Na brightness and stable atmospheric NaCl furthermore dispute an earlier suggested positive correlation of the sodium cloud and the hot spot activity at Loki Patara, which considerably increased in this period. The environment of Io overall appears to be in a rather quiescent state, preventing further conclusions. Only Jupiter’s aurora morphology underwent several short-term changes, which are apparently unrelated to Io’s quiescent environment or the relatively stable atmosphere.

Despite the numerous modeling efforts of the past, our knowledge on the radiation-induced physical and chemical processes in Europa’s tenuous atmosphere and on the exchange of material between the moon’s surface and Jupiter’s magnetosphere remains limited. In lack of an adequate number of in situ observations, the existence of a wide variety of models based on different scenarios and considerations has resulted in a fragmentary un-derstanding of the interactions of the magnetospheric ion population with both the moon’s icy surface and neutral gas envelope. Models show large discrepancy in the source and loss rates of the different constituents as well as in the determination of the spatial distribution of the atmosphere and its variation with time. The existence of several models based on very different approaches highlights the need of a detailed comparison among them with the final goal of developing a unified model of Europa’s tenuous atmosphere. The availability to the science community of such a model could be of particular interest in view of the planning of the future mission observations (e.g., ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, and NASA’s Europa Clipper mission). We review the existing models of Europa’s tenuous atmosphere and discuss each of their derived characteristics of the neutral environment. We also discuss discrepancies among different models and the assumptions of the plasma environment in the vicinity of Europa. A summary of the existing observations of both the neutral and the plasma environments at Europa is also presented. The characteristics of a global unified model of the tenuous atmosphere are, then, discussed. Finally, we identify needed future experimental work in laboratories and propose some suitable observation strategies for upcoming missions.

We analyze a large set of far ultraviolet oxygen aurora images of Europa's atmosphere taken by Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS) in 1999 and on 19 occasions between 2012 and 2015. We find that both brightness and aurora morphology undergo systematic variations correlated to the periodically changing plasma environment. The time variable morphology seems to be strongly affected by Europa's interaction with the magnetospheric plasma. The brightest emissions are often found in the polar region where the ambient Jovian magnetic field line is normal to Europa's disk. Near the equator, where bright spots are found at Io, Europa's aurora is faint suggesting a general difference in how the plasma interaction shapes the aurora at Io and Europa. The dusk side is consistently brighter than the dawnside with only few exceptions, which cannot be readily explained by obvious plasma physical or known atmospheric effects. Brightness ratios of the near-surface OI] 1356 Å to OI 1304 Å emissions between 1.5 and 2.8 with a mean ratio of 2.0 are measured, confirming that Europa's bound atmosphere is dominated by O2. The 1356/1304 ratio decreases with increasing altitude in agreement with a more extended atomic O corona, but O2 prevails at least up to altitudes of ∼900 km. Differing 1356/1304 line ratios on the plasma upstream and downstream hemispheres are explained by a differing O mixing ratio in the near-surface O2 atmosphere of ∼5% (upstream) and ≲1% (downstream), respectively. During several eclipse observations, the aurora does not reveal any signs of systematic changes compared to the sunlit images suggesting no or only weak influence of sunlight on the aurora and an optically thin atmosphere. QC 20160519

We apply a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to study the influence of inhomogeneities in Europa's atmosphere, as, for example, water vapor plumes, on Europa's plasma interaction with the Jovian magnetosphere. In our model we have included electromagnetic induction in a subsurface water ocean, collisions between ions and neutrals, plasma production and loss due to electron impact ionization, and dissociative recombination. We present a systematic study of the plasma interaction when a local inhomogeneity in the neutral density is present within a global sputtering generated atmosphere. We show that an inhomogeneity near the north or south pole affects the plasma interaction in a way that a pronounced north-south asymmetry is generated. We find that an Alfvén winglet develops within Europa's main Alfvén wing on that side where the inhomogeneity is located. In addition to the MHD model we apply an analytic model based on the model of Saur et al. (2007) to understand the role of steep gradients and discontinuities in the interaction. We compare our model results with the measured magnetic field data from three flybys of the Galileo spacecraft at Europa which included Alfvén wing crossings. Our analysis suggests that the magnetic field might be influenced by atmospheric inhomogeneities during the E26 flyby. The findings of this work will aid in the search for plumes at Europa in future plasma and field observations. QC 20170217