Time varying interaction of Europa's atmosphere ionosphere and its conducting ocean with the Jovian magnetosphere

Abstract

A time-dependent 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model has been developed to investigate the temporal periodic interaction between Europa and the Jovian magnetosphere. The temporal variations are caused by the periodic variations of the magnetospheric plasma at Europa. As a new feature compared to existing stationary models, periodic induced magnetic fields, caused by electromagnetic induction in a potential subsurface ocean, are included. The MHD-flow problem and the internal induction problem are solved simultaneously by making use of the periodicity and the quasi-stationarity of the problem. The ideal MHD equations have been extended in order to account for the effects of Europa's neutral atmosphere and the internal periodic induced magnetic fields on the plasma interaction. At the beginning of this work, Galileo magnetometer data acquired on four passes by Europa were used to investigate whether a fixed permanent dipole moment is present in the interior of the moon in addition to the induced dipole moment previously identified. We thereby confirm the presence of an inductive response and find that the dipole coefficients of the constant intrinsic field contribute at best in a very minor way to the magnetic field. The induced magnetic fields caused by the time variable plasma interaction are calculated in an interactive process...