Plasma Sources of Solar System Magnetospheres, 1st ed. 2016 Space Sciences Series of ISSI Series, Vol. 52

This volume reviews what we know of the corresponding plasma source for each intrinsically magnetized planet. Plasma sources fall essentially in three categories: the solar wind, the ionosphere (both prevalent on Earth), and the satellite-related sources. 

Throughout the text, the case of each planet is described, including the characteristics, chemical composition and intensity of each source. The authors also describe how the plasma generated at the source regions is transported to populate the magnetosphere, and how it is later lost. To summarize, the dominant sources are found to be the solar wind and sputtered surface ions at Mercury, the solar wind and ionosphere at Earth (the relative importance of the two being discussed in a specific introductory chapter), Io at Jupiter and ? a big surprise of the Cassini findings ? Enceladus at Saturn. The situation for Uranus and Neptune, which were investigated by only one fly-by each, is still open and requires further studies and exploration. In the final chapter, the book offers a summary of the little we know of Uranus and Neptune, then summarizes in a comparative way what we know of plasma sources throughout the solar system, and proposes directions for future research.

Professor Andrew F. Nagy received a Diploma in Radio Engineering and an Honors B. E. degree from the University of New South Wales. He completed his graduate education in the U.S., receiving M.S. degrees from the University of Nebraska and the University of Michigan and a Ph. D. from the University of Michigan. He has been on the faculty of the University of Michigan from 1963 to 2012 and is now Professor Emeritus. He has had short term appointments at UCSD, Utah State University and Stanford University. Professor Nagy has over forty years of experience in both theoretical and experimental studies of the upper atmospheres, ionospheres and magnetospheres of the Earth and planets. He was principal and co-investigator of a variety of instruments flown on OGO, Pioneer Venus, Dynamic Explorer etc. He was Interdisciplinary Scientist for the Dynamic Explorer and Pioneer Venus programs. He has also participated, both as an instrument and science collaborator, on the Soviet VEGA and PHOBOS  missions. He is a team member of the Radio Science Investigation on Cassini, and was co-investigator on the Nozomi mission. He has led the development of numerous theoretical models related to planetary atmospheric and ionospheric studies and has been involved in a large variety of data analysis and interpretation studies. He has been the principal or co-author of over 350 papers published in refereed journals; he has also authored/co-authored a number of review papers and encyclopedia chapters and a book on the ionospheres. Professor Nagy has been the chair or member of a large number of Committees and Boards of NASA, NSF, NAS/NRC, AGU, COSPAR, URSI etc. He has also served as Editor of Geophysical Research Letters and Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics. He was also the President of the Space Physics and Aeronomy Section of AGU. Professor Nagy is a Fellow of the AGU. He is also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the International Academy of Astronautics. He wo

Addresses the current state of understanding of the sources of plasma populations around all “magnetized planets” in the solar system

Combines a generic description of the basic processes at work on all planets with individual specialized chapters on each of the planets

Provides a historical perspective—a detailed one for the Earth, and a description of the different steps of exploration for the other planets

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras