Quantification of Diffuse Auroral Electron Precipitation Driven by Whistler Mode Waves at Jupiter
Wen Li, Qianli Ma, Xiaochen Shen, Xiao‐Jia Zhang, B. H. Mauk, G. Clark, F. Allegrini, W. S. Kŭrth, G. B. Hospodarsky, Vincent Hue, G. R. Gladstone, T. K. Greathouse, S. J. Bolton
Abstract
Abstract While previous studies suggested whistler mode waves as a potential driver of Jupiter's diffuse aurora, their quantitative contribution to generate diffuse aurora remains unclear. We perform an in‐depth analysis of an intriguing diffuse auroral electron precipitation event using coordinated observations of precipitating electrons and whistler mode waves from the Juno satellite. A physics‐based technique is used to quantify energetic electron precipitation driven by whistler mode waves. We find that the modeled electron precipitation features are consistent with the electron measurements from several keV to several hundred keV over M ‐shells of 8–18, while additional mechanisms are needed to explain the observed electron precipitation at lower energies (<several keV). Our result provides new quantitative evidence that whistler mode waves are potentially a primary driver of precipitating electrons from several keV to several hundred keV through pitch angle scattering over M ∼ 8–18 and thus generate Jupiter's diffuse aurora.