Electron-atmosphere interaction in the aurora of giant planets

All methods converge to indicate that the efficiency of the H2 (B,C states) emission is close to 10 kR/mW m-2 of electron precipitation. The UV aurora is a direct instantaneous map of the distribution of the electron precipitation. By contrast, the IR H3+ aurora is indirectly produced and its intensity depends on the amount of H3+ ions and the local temperature. It has the advantage to be observable from the ground The «UV color ratio » method is a powerful tool to probe the electron mean energy IF the distribution of HCs (mostly methane) is known EUV spectroscopy is very useful to determine the depth of the electron energy deposition, but so far, without spatial resolution