Comparison of Cassini Observations and the JPL SATRAD Model for Determining the Energetic Particle Radiation Environment for Enceladus Missions

Abstract

Future missions to Saturn's moon Enceladus will be subjected to a significant trapped radiation environment. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Saturn Radiation (SATRAD) model was developed to estimate the Saturn trapped radiation environment for the Cassini mission. This study compares the long-term averaged electron and proton Cassini data to the predictions of the SATRAD model. High-energy electron data, especially that near Enceladus, agree well with SATRAD, suggesting that SATRAD is useful for providing estimates of the radiation environment for future Enceladus missions. Nevertheless, there are many regions where the data and the model do not agree, demonstrating the need to update the SATRAD model using Cassini data.