OBJECTIVES
Investigation Objectives
The objective of the RPWS investigation is to study radio and plasma waves
in the vicinity of Saturn and during the flight to Saturn. This objective
includes studies of
- Radio emissions
- Plasma waves
- Lightning
- Dust impacts
- Plasma densities and temperatures
- Plasma density fluctuations
Regions investigated include
- Saturn's magnetosphere
- Titan's ionosphere
- Solar wind
- Jupiter's magnetosphere
- Earth, Venus, and Asteroids
Measurements Obtained
Electric and magnetic fields are detected using
- Tri-axis electric field antennas
- Tri-axis search coil magnetic antennas
Electron densities and temperatures are measured using
- Dedicated Langmuir probe
- Thermal and non-thermal plasma noise
- Active sounder (density only)
Frequency ranges covered are
- Electric 1 Hz to 16 MHz
- Magnetic 1 Hz to 12.6 kHz
Signals are processed to give
- Amplitude
- Polarization
- Direction of Arrival
larry-granroth@uiowa.edu