The radiation belts of Jupiter and Saturn

TL;DR

This paper reviews how recent data from spacecraft missions have advanced understanding of the structure, formation, and evolution of Jupiter's and Saturn's radiation belts, highlighting universal and planet-specific processes.

Contribution

It synthesizes long-term in-situ observations with theory and simulations to elucidate the physical processes governing the radiation belts of Jupiter and Saturn.

Findings

Identification of key acceleration and loss processes

Comparison of planetary radiation belt dynamics

Insights into universal versus planet-specific features

Abstract

The era of outer planet orbiters (Galileo, Juno and Cassini) is advancing our understanding of how the radiation belts of Jupiter and Saturn are structured, form and evolve well beyond what had been possible during the age of flyby missions and ground-based observations. The nearly two decades-long datasets of these missions, in the context of detailed and long-term observations of Earth's radiation belts, highlight which of the processes that accelerate particles to relativistic kinetic energies and limit their flux intensity can be considered more universal, and thus key for most extraterrestrial magnetospheres, and which reflect the unique aspects of each planet and its magnetospheric system. In this chapter we focus on the in-situ radiation belt observations in the context of theory, simulations and relevant measurements by Earth-based observatories. We describe both the average state and the time variations of Jupiter's and Saturn's radiation belts and associate them with specific physical processes.