LOFAR and Jupiterʹs radio (synchrotron) emissions

Jupiterʹs radio emissions at frequencies below 300 MHz have never been imaged at high spatial resolution. In this paper we discuss the role of LOFAR to image Jupiterʹs synchrotron radiation at low frequencies to study the low-energy, barely relativistic, electron population in the planetʹs radiation belts. Radio spectra of Jupiterʹs synchrotron radiation have revealed significant modifications over time at frequencies between ∼ 100 and 1000 MHz, suggestive of processes such as pitch angle scattering by plasma waves, Coulomb scattering and perhaps energy degradation by dust. With LOFAR we may begin investigating the cause of such variability through its imaging capabilities at frequencies ≲ 200 MHz at high angular resolution. In particular, quasi-simultaneous observations with LOFAR and higher frequency arrays, such as the Very Large Array (VLA), may provide the necessary data to identify the cause of such variability, which is tightly coupled to the origin and mode of transport (including source/loss terms) of the high-energy electrons in Jupiterʹs inner radiation belts.