Models of Thermal and Superthermal Electrons in Titan's Ionosphere

ROBERTSON, I. P.; CRAVENS, T. E.; COATES, A.; WAHLUND, J.; ROWLAND, W.; WAITE, J. H.; NAGY, A.; MA, Y.; NEUBAUER, F. M.; BERTUCCI, C.

Congreso; AGU Fall Meeting 2006; 2006

During the Ta and T5 encounters with Titan in situ measurements were made of Titan's atmosphere and ionosphere by several instruments onboard the Cassini Orbiter including the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS), the Langmuir probe on the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment (RPWS), the Magnetometer (MAG) experiment and the CAPS instrument. We have modeled the energetics of the ionosphere, including thermal and superthermal electron populations and assess the model in light of Cassini data. Both solar and magnetospheric inputs are important for the electron energetics of Titan's atmosphere. For the TA and T5 encounters we varied several inputs into our model in order to obtain agreement between observed and modeled electron temperatures. We used magnetic field lines from a global MHD model for constraining our heat conduction. We will discuss the implications for our electron transport calculations of the magnetic field measured by the Cassini magnetometer during the Ta and T5 encounters.