Direction finding study of Jovian hectometric and broadband kilometric radio emissions: evidence for their auroral origin

Taking advantage of the direction finding capabilities of the Ulysses unified radio and plasma wave (URAP) experiment we derive the source locations and emission characteristics of the Jovian hectometric (HOM) and broadband kilometric (bKOM) emissions. Unlike previous studies we additionally determine the systematic error of the source direction due to the uncertainty of the antenna/ receiver calibration parameters. To obtain maximum accuracy when doing direction finding, we use HOM and bKOM events observed close to the Ulysses encounter with Jupiter. It is found that both emissions have their sources at the auroral zones of Jupiter, at dipole L shells between 7 and 11 for HOM in the northern hemisphere, and between 9 and 15 for the bKOM radiation observed at high southern latitudes after the Ulysses Jupiter encounter. For the analyzed HOM events the source location is usually between 40° and 130° central meridian longitude (CML) and 2200 and 0600 local time (LT), but probably there exist emissions from other longitudes and local times too. In contrast, the bKOM is emitted from a wide range of longitudes and local times as well. There is some evidence that both the kilometric and hectometric emissions are composed of a dominant component in the fast extraordinary (R-X) mode and a weaker ordinary (L-O) mode component. Due to the uncertainty in source direction determination the emission's cone half-angle (i.e. half-angle of the cone in which the emission is beamed) cannot be accurately determined. It is some 30°–90° for the HOM and about 40°–80° for the bKOM. The source location of bKOM is likely to be associated with open magnetospheric field lines whereas the HOM is located at field lines that connect the HOM radio sources with the inner Jovian plasma sheet and/or outer plasma torus. There is some evidence that the bKOM radio emissions are correlated with ultraviolet auroral activity.