Abstract :
[en] The results of a study of the altitude distribution of particle heating due to magnetospheric electron penetration into the atmosphere are presented. Updated chemical species data were used in the study, and attention was given to day- and night-side precipitation energy fluxes. The data base on chemical species was obtained from the Atmosphere Explorer C spacecraft and lower altitude observations. A system of 16 continuity equations was employed to formulate a time-dependent auroral model covering reactions and rate coefficients of electrons and O, O2, N2, NNO, and N ions. The heating efficiency of direct dissociation of atmospheric molecules, exothermic chemical reactions involving ions, ground state and metastable neutral species, and cooling of the thermal electrons was calculated. The calculations indicate that over 60 percent of the energy input is transferred to the neutral gas. Particle heating can exceed 1 erg/sq cm per sec.
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