Kavli Affiliate: Dustin M. Schroeder
| First 5 Authors: Andrew Romero-Wolf, Gregor Steinbruegge, Julie Castillo-Rogez, Corey J. Cochrane, Tom A. Nordheim
| Summary:
We present a feasibility study for passive sounding of Uranian icy moons
using Uranian Kilometric Radio (UKR) emissions in the 100 – 900 kHz band. We
provide a summary description of the observation geometry, the UKR
characteristics, and estimate the sensitivity for an instrument analogous to
the Cassini Radio Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) but with a modified receiver
digitizer and signal processing chain. We show that the concept has the
potential to directly and unambiguously detect cold oceans within Uranian
satellites and provide strong constraints on the interior structure in the
presence of warm or no oceans. As part of a geophysical payload, the concept
could therefore have a key role in the detection of oceans within the Uranian
satellites. The main limitation of the concept is coherence losses attributed
to the extended source size of the UKR and dependence on the illumination
geometry. These factors represent constraints on the tour design of a future
Uranus mission in terms of flyby altitudes and encounter timing.
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