Kinetic processes at Io

The volcanic moon Io is the source of much of the plasma in the Jovian magnetosphere. Neutrals originally from Io's volcanoes are ionized in the vicinity of Io and are picked up in the Jovian plasma. We use hybrid (kinetic ions and fluid electrons) 2-D and 3-D simulation codes to study the interaction of Jovian plasma with Io and kinetic properties of the Jovian plasma near Io. In these calculations we investigate the level of the growth of temperature anisotropy of the Jovian plasma in the immediate neighborhood of Io which may trigger waves via anisotropy driven instabilities. In particular we investigate the places where the thresholds for ion cyclotron and mirror instabilities are met. We study the generation of waves under different properties of the plasma near Io. First we use variable ionization rate of neutral atoms due to the electron impact and photoionization. Second we use different density of neutrals in Io's atmosphere to change the rate of charge exchanges between plasma ions and atmosphere neutrals.