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Enceladus' plume is the dominant source of neutrals and plasma in Saturn's magnetosphere. The plasma results from the ionization of icy particles and water vapor, which are vented into Saturn's inner magnetosphere through fissures in Enceladus' southern polar region. These fissures are subjected to tidal stresses that can vary as Enceladus moves in a slightly eccentric orbit around Saturn. Plume activity and brightness have also been shown to vary with the moon's orbital position, reaching a maximum when Enceladus is farthest away from Saturn in its orbit (the Enceladus orbital apoapsis). In this paper we will show that temporal variations in the thermal electron density distribution correlate with the position of Enceladus in its orbit around Saturn, with the strongest density enhancements in the vicinity of Enceladus when the moon is in the post-apoapsis sector of its orbit.

Similar to whistler mode chorus, Z-mode emission is an efficient diffusive scatterer of electrons possibly resulting in resonant acceleration. We present results of a survey of both the low-band (5 kHz) and for the first time the high-band (20 kHz) intensity of these emissions, based on over 11 years of Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument data including nine ring-grazing orbits and two proximal orbits, which occurred at the end of the mission. We distinguish these emissions using density and polarization measurements and calculate the mean intensity as a function of frequency and spatial coordinates. We find that the average low-band Z-mode intensity peak is P-0 similar to 7 x 10(-8) nT(2), while the high-band peak is much lower at P-0 similar to 10(-9) nT(2). The spatial distribution of intensity differs for each emission band implying different source regions and perhaps different source mechanisms. Plain Language Summary Intense narrow band waves (Z-mode) are observed at Saturn when the spacecraft is located in regions of relatively low density and high magnetic field. These waves are of special importance because they are not seen at such high intensity or over as large a spatial range at Earth. In addition, these waves are known to be very efficient at accelerating electrons under certain conditions and could be responsible for a portion of the observed radiation belts at Saturn. We present an extensive survey of the observations of Z-mode extending over more than 11 years. The survey includes for the first time both the low and high-frequency emissions and orbits from the Cassini final mission, where these waves were seen at a high rate of occurrence. Contour plots and graphs of wave intensity as a function of radius, latitude, and longitude are shown, which will be of value to scientists who model the dynamic processes controlling the electron population at Saturn.

Whistler mode chorus emission is important in the acceleration of electrons and filling of the radiation belts at Jupiter. In this work chorus magnetic intensity levels (frequency-integrated spectral density, PB) at Jupiter are comprehensively binned and parameterized. The frequency range of chorus under study extends from the lower hybrid frequency, flh, to fceq/2 and fceq/2 < f < 0.8 fceq, where fceq is the cyclotron frequency mapped to the magnetic equator. The goal is to obtain a quantized distribution of magnetic intensity for use in stochastic modeling efforts. Parametric fits of magnetic plasma wave intensity are obtained, including PB versus frequency, latitude, and L shell. The results indicate that Jupiter chorus occurrence probability and intensity are higher than those at Saturn, reaching values observed at Earth. Jovian chorus is observed over most local times, confined primarily to the range 8 < L < 15, outside the high densities of the Io torus. The largest intensity levels are seen on the dayside; however, the sampling of chorus on the nightside is much less than on the dayside. Peak intensities occur near the equator with a weak dependence on magnetic latitude, λ. We conclude that Jovian chorus average intensity levels are approximately an order of magnitude lower than those at Earth. In more isolated regions the intensities are comparable to those observed at Earth. The spatial range of the chorus emissions extends beyond that assumed in previous Jovian global diffusive models of wave-particle electron acceleration.

In order to conduct theoretical studies or modeling of pitch angle scattering of electrons by whistler mode chorus emission at Saturn, a knowledge of chorus occurrence and magnetic intensity levels, PB, as well as the distribution of PB relative to frequency and spatial parameters is essential. In this paper an extensive survey of whistler mode magnetic intensity levels at Saturn is carried out, and Gaussian fits of PB are performed. We fit the spectrum of wave magnetic intensity between the lower hybrid frequency and fceq/2, and for frequencies in the interval fceq/2 < f <0.9 fceq, where fceq is the cyclotron frequency mapped to the equator. Saturn chorus is observed over most local times, but is dominant on the nightside in the range 4.5 < L <7.5, with minimum power at the equator and peak power in the range 5° < λ <10°. Saturn wave magnetic intensity averaged in frequency bins peaks in the range 10-5 < PB <10-4 nT2 for 0.4 < β <0.5 (β = f/fceq). Gaussian fits of PB with frequency and latitude are obtained for lower band chorus. Plasma injection regions are occasionally encountered with significant chorus power levels. Upper band chorus is seen almost exclusively within plasma injection regions, and the number of events is very limited, but when present, the average levels of PB can be higher than lower band chorus. The overall magnetic intensity contribution of the upper band, however, is insignificant relative to the lower band.

Here we present a study of the rotation of the plasmapause-like density boundary discovered by the Cassini spacecraft at high latitudes in the Saturnian magnetosphere, and compare the results with previously published studies of high-latitude magnetic field perturbations and the eccentric rotation of the auroral ovals. Near the planet the density boundary is located at dipole L values ranging from about 8 to 15, and separates a region of very low densities at high latitudes from a region of higher densities at lower latitudes. We show that the density boundary rotates at different rates in the northern and southern hemispheres, and that the periods are the same as the modulation periods of Saturn kilometric radiation in those hemispheres. We also show that the phase of rotation in a given hemisphere is closely correlated with the phase of the high-latitude magnetic field perturbations observed by Cassini in that hemisphere, and also with the phase of the eccentric rotation of the auroral oval observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Electron density measurements from the Cassini RPWS Langmuir Probe instrument have identified a sharply-defined region of low plasma densities in Saturn’s magnetosphere outside a dipole L-shell of ~15. Gradients in the density profiles define a boundary identified as the plasmapause [Gurnett et al., 2010] that separates the region of higher plasma density from the region of very low plasma density. During seven consecutive high-latitude passes in the northern hemisphere from September through December 2006, Cassini followed a series of trajectories that skimmed along high-latitude magnetic field lines for several days. The orientation of these trajectories made it possible for the RPWS to detect modulations in the high-latitude auroral hiss emissions at a 10.6 hour rotational modulation rate [Gurnett et al., 2009] and for the RPWS Langmuir Probe instrument to detect modulations in the electron density profiles that were anti-correlated with the hiss emissions [Gurnett et al., 2010]. The strong and periodic modulations in the density profiles indicate that Cassini is passing in and out of a plasma region of higher densities. One example during this seven-orbit time interval is shown in Figure 1. The periodic modulations in the density profile are shown in the bottom panel and are clearly anti-correlated with the periodic occurrence of intense auroral hiss emissions shown in the upper panel. The highest densities in this high-latitude region are 0.1 cm-3, two orders of magnitude greater than the lowest densities in this part of Saturn’s magnetosphere but well below the densities seen inside Saturn’s plasma disk [Morooka et al., 2009;Persoon et al., 2009].

Saturn has been known for over thirty years to emit an intense radio emission at kilometer wavelengths called Saturn Kilometric Radiation (SKR) that is modulated by the rotation of the planet. Although the period of this modulation was initially thought to represent the rotation period of the planet, it is now known that the radiation has two distinctly different rotational modulation periods that vary by on the order of one percent on times scales of years. One component originates primarily from the northern auroral region, and the other originates primarily from the southern auroral region. The differences in the modulation periods are believed to be due to latitudinal variations in the slippage of the magnetosphere relative to the interior of planet, apparently controlled by the seasonal variation in the tilt of Saturn’s rotational axis. Since other magnetospheric phenomena display similar complicated rotational modulation effects, there is a need to define north and south longitude systems based on the variable SKR modulation periods in the two hemispheres. Because the SKR signal received by the spacecraft often includes both components it is sometimes difficult to separate the phases of the two components. In this paper we describe a method of determining the two phases based on a tracking filter approach that can separately track the modulation waveforms of the two components. The phases of the two waveforms can then be used to define a new longitude system for the northern and southern components that we call the SLS4 longitude system. This is an extension of the previous SLS2 and SLS3 longitude systems, which only described phase variations of the southern component.