Magnetic convection and diffusion within Titan's induced magnetosphere: the case of flybys T39 and T70 (ORAL INVITED)

C. BERTUCCI; NEUBAUER, F. M.; MA, Y.; WEI, H.; DOUGHERTY, M. K.; WAHLUND, J.; SZEGO, K.; CRARY, F. J.; MITCHELL, D. G.

Congreso; American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010,; 2010

American Geophysical Union

Cassini magnetometer observations during Titan´s T32 flyby revealed that Titan´s induced magnetosphere ´stores´ external magnetic fields for a few to several tens of minutes. This was explained as a consequence of the local plasma massloading which decelerates the external flow carrying its frozen-in magnetic field. However, whereas convection still dominates the magnetic induction equation in the upper parts of Titan´s induced magnetosphere, the increase in neutral gas density with decreasing altitude leads to the primacy of magnetic diffusion at lower regions. Also, perpendicular conductivities become important below the ionospheric electron density peak allowing the presence of induced currents which could affect the detection of an intrinsic magnetic field at Titan. In this work, we study the properties of the magnetic field near Titan during flybys T39 and T70 and discuss the role of diffusion and convection at different altitudes. In particular we investigate if remnant interplanetary magnetic fields were observed during T39 and also the possibilities of detecting an intrinsic magnetic field during T70.