6 Discussion
This work has presented initial results from a full-wave model of the
propagation of Io-related Alfvén waves through the Jovian magnetosphere.
While this is an improvement upon earlier models involving ray-tracing
or simplified box geometries, it still neglects a number of features
that can affect the structure and dynamics of the Io-generated aurora.
Most importantly, the acceleration of the auroral particles themselves
is not modeled. For example, the model does not take into account the
presence of the transhemispheric electron beams, thought to be produced
by electrons accelerated by Alfvén waves in the torus itself.
Nevertheless, a number of features in the observations of the Io tail
may be understood by the model results.