JOVIAN SYSTEM DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM PROPOSAL SUMMARY

We propose to critically examine data both from Galileo's Solid State Imaging Camera (SSI) and from the Dust Detector Subsystem (DDS) to determine the origin, evolution, and current distribution of dust around Jupiter. Major thrusts of the proposed work will be i) to combine photometry of Galileo images of Jupiter's ring system with dynamical modeling to constrain the size distribution of particles in different locations in the ring, ii) to critically reexamine the three proposed sources for the bursts of submicron dust seen speeding away from Jupiter, and iii) to determine the dominant sources, the dynamical evolution, and the overall distribution of larger micron-sized dust grains near Jupiter. The latter two projects will draw strongly upon results from the first since the jovian ring is one of the proposed sources for both small and large dust grains further from Jupiter. Data analysis and dynamical modeling will both play integral roles in this work due to the fact that unique interpretations based on the relatively sparse data sets alone are nearly impossible.