Effect of Magnetic Field Configuration on Interchange Convection in the Jovian Inner Magnetosphere

Abstract

The interchange instability drives the concurrent cold iogenic plasma convection and energetic particle injection in the Jovian inner magnetosphere. We use an improved Rice Convection model—Jupiter to simulate plasma transport under a more realistic magnetic field configuration, which is determined by magnetodisc currents. A series of runs were conducted to parametrically investigate the effect of the magnetic field configuration on the convection system. Simulation results show that the azimuthal magnetodisc current significantly influences plasma convection. The asymmetry in the longitudinal distribution of the azimuthal current strongly enhances the longitudinal asymmetry in the initial stage of magnetospheric evolution. The instability and associated plasma radial velocity tend to increase with increasing current intensity. By the quasi-steady stage, the longitude-averaged mass flux remains similar and is largely unaffected by variations in current intensity. The longitudinal asymmetry also becomes less pronounced during this phase. The radial current has little effect on the convection system, while the magnetic tilt angle can slightly reduce the instability.