The source and structure of the jovian radiation belt

The radio emission from Jupiter at 10, 21 cm wavelength has been measured with a spatial resolution of the order of 1 Jupiter radius. This may be analytically reduced to the emission per cubic centimeter of source at each measured frequency. The theoretically predicted synchrotron emission of electrons as a function of frequency, magnetic field and electron energy can then be compared to the observed source emissivity to obtain the number density and ‘temperature’ of the electrons. Present observations taken at different epochs are not sufficiently reliable to infer peak energies within an order of magnitude. Nevertheless the present results indicate that electrons diffuse in rapidly (in a time of the order of months) conserving the first adiabatic invariant and reach a peak energy at about 2 Jupiter radii. The electron energy decreases rapidly nearer the planet because of energy lost to radiation in the large magnetic field close to the planet.