Flying through the plasmasphere to optimize low-energy ion measurements

Abstract

The Juice flyby of Earth in August 2024 gave us the first chance to evaluate the performance of the Jovian Plasma Dynamics and Composition analyzer (JDC) in environments similar to those expected at Jupiter. JDC is one of the sensors belonging to the Particle Environment Package (PEP) on the Juice spacecraft. It measures positive and negative ions as well as electrons in the energy range 1 eV q −1 to 35 keV q −1 . One of the most challenging observations at the final destination is the one of the low-energy ion populations in the tenuous ionospheres of Jupiter's icy moons. During the Juice flyby of Earth we discovered that the energies of the positive ions observed by JDC were not easy to interpret due to a problem with the energy sweep. Using measurements made on ground, we were able to reconstruct the observed energies and construct a new sweeping scheme that solves the problem and that will greatly improve future observations. We also used a simulation to explain the effects of the spacecraft velocity and spacecraft potential on the recorded positive ion fluxes when Juice passed through the Earth's plasmasphere. The study highlights the importance of in-flight calibrations for optimizing the scientific return. Planetary flybys give access to multiple low-energy particle populations besides the mono-energetic and highly directional solar wind.