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We present plasma data from the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) Langmuir probe (LP), mapping the ion density and velocity of Saturn's inner plasma torus. Data from 129 orbits, recorded during the period from the 1st of February 2005 to the 27th of June 2010, are used to map the extension of the inner plasma torus. The dominant part of the plasma torus is shown to be located in between 2.5 and 8 Saturn radii (1 RS=60,268 km) from the planet, with a north-southward extension of ±2RS. The plasma disk ion density shows a broad maximum in between the orbits of Enceladus and Tethys. Ion density values vary between 20 and 125 cm-3 at the location of the density maximum, indicating considerable dynamics of the plasma disk. The equatorial density structure, |z|<0.5RS, shows a slower decrease away from the planet than towards. The outward decrease, from 5 R S, is well described by the relation neq=2.2×10 4(1/R)3.63. The plume of the moon Enceladus is clearly visible as an ion density maximum of 105 cm-3, only present at the south side of the ring plane. A less prominent density peak, of 115 cm-3, is also detected at the orbit of Tethys, at ∼4.9 RS. No density peaks are recorded at the orbits of the moons Mimas, Dione, and Rhea. The presented ion velocity vi,θ shows a clear general trend in the region between 3 and 7 RS, described by vi, θ=1.5R2-8.7R+39. The average vi,θ starts to deviate from corotation at around 3 RS, reaching ∼68% of corotation close to 5 RS.

We present Radio and Plasma Wave Science Langmuir probe measurements from 129 Cassini orbits, which show a day/night asymmetry in both ion density and ion velocity in the radial region 4–6 R_S (1 R_S = 60,268 km) from the center of Saturn. The ion densities n_i vary from an average of ∼35 cm⁻³ around noon up to ∼70 cm⁻³ around midnight. The ion velocities v_i,θ vary from ∼28–32 km/s at the lowest dayside values to ∼36–40 km/s at the highest nightside values. The day/night asymmetry is suggested to be due to the radiation pressure force acting on negatively charged nanometer-sized dust of the E ring. This force will introduce an extra grain and ion drift component equivalent to the force of an additional electric field of 0.1–2 mV/m for 10–50 nm sized grains.

The Kronian moon Enceladus is constantly feeding its surrounding with new gas and dust, from cryovolcanoes located in its south polar region. Through photoionization and impact ionization of the neutrals a plasma disk is created, which mainly contains hydrogen ions H+ and water group ions W+. This paper investigates the importance of ion loss by outward radial transport and ion loss by dissociative recombination, which is the dominant chemical loss process in the inner plasma disk. We use plasma densities derived from several years of measurements by the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) electric field spectrums and Langmuir probe (LP), to derive the total flux tube content NL2. Our calculation show that NL2 agrees well with earlier estimates within L shell 8. We also show that loss by transport dominates chemical loss in between L shell 2.5 and 10. The loss rate by transport is ∼5 times larger at 5 Saturn radii (1 RS = 60,268 km) and the difference is increasing as L7.7 for larger radial distances, for the total ion population. Chemical loss may still be important for the structure of the plasma disk in the region closest to Enceladus (∼±0.5 RS) at 3.95 RS, since the transport and chemical loss rates only differ by a factor of ∼2 in this region. We also derive the total plasma content of the plasma disk from L shell 4 to 10 to be 1.9×10^33 ions, and the total ion source rate for the same region to be 5.8×10^27 s^−1. The equatorial ion production rate P, ranges from 2.6×10^−5 cm^−3s^−1 (at L = 10) to 1.1×10^−4 cm^−3s^−1 (at L = 4.8). The net mass loading rate is derived to be 123 kg/s for L shell 4 to 10.