00-062

Cover Page/Proposal Summary

ROSS-99    NRA 99-OSS-01

Date Due: 5/3/99

NASA PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING PROPOSALS

This proposal shall be used and disclosed for evaluation purposes only, and a copy of this Government notice shall be applied to any reproduction or abstract thereof. Any authorized restrictive notices that the submitter places on this proposal shall also be strictly complied with. Disclosure of this proposal for any reason outside the Government evaluation purposes shall be made only to the extent authorized by the Government.

Proposal Type: New Proposal

Proposal Category: Atmosphere Structures and Particles

Major Equipment Proposal? No

Do you intend to submit an Education/Public Outreach (E/PO) proposal? No

Proposal Title:
Auroral Resonance Line Radiative Transfer: Application to Jupiter and Saturn

Abbreviated Proposal Title:
Auroral Radiative Transfer on Jupiter and Saturn

Principal Investigator:
Dr. G. Randall Gladstone
Space Sciences
Southwest Research Institute
6220 Culebra Road
San Antonio, TX 78238-5166
Phone: 210-522-3581   Fax: 210-543-0052   E-mail: randy@whistler.space.swri.edu

SignatureDate
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Co-Investigators and Collaborators:
NONE


Proposal Summary:

This proposal is to develop, merge, and apply two advanced radiative transfer codes for the purpose of modeling of high spectral resolution and high spatial resolution observations of auroral FUV Lyman alpha emissions from Jupiter and Saturn. The combined two-dimensional model will incorporate vertical gradients of strong horizontal winds (the auroral electrojet), which are very likely the cause of asymmetries in the Lyman alpha line profiles of the jovian aurora observed with both HST/GHRS and HST/STIS. This will be the first application of a 2-D radiative transfer model to the giant planet auroras (required since the <200km width of the aurora is comparable to the atmospheric scale height). Once tested, this new model will then be used to analyze existing and future high spectral resolution data from HST, as well as the high spatial resolution data expected from the Cassini UVIS and ISS instruments at Saturn. The results should provide an accurate estimate of precipitated particle energy, and modeling of the line profile asymmetries will be used to map out the flow pattern of the auroral electrojet in the thermospheres of Jupiter and Saturn.