Electron Energy Deposition in the Middle Atmosphere.

Spectra of locally precipitating 36 to 317 keV electrons obtained by instrumentation on the S3-2 satellite are used to calculate energy deposition profiles as a function of latitude, longitude, and altitude. In the 70 - 90 km altitude, midlatitude ionization due to these precipitating energetic elec...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vampola,A L, Gorney,D J
Other Authors: AEROSPACE CORP EL SEGUNDO CA SPACE SCIENCES LAB
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1983
Subjects:
Atmospheric Physics
*Ionosphere
*D region
Magnetosphere
Electron energy
Ionization
Electromagnetic wave propagation
Energy transfer
Altitude
Southern hemisphere
South atlantic Ocean
South Atlantic Ocean
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA139122
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA139122
Description
Summary:Spectra of locally precipitating 36 to 317 keV electrons obtained by instrumentation on the S3-2 satellite are used to calculate energy deposition profiles as a function of latitude, longitude, and altitude. In the 70 - 90 km altitude, midlatitude ionization due to these precipitating energetic electrons can be comparable to that due to direct solar H Lyman alpha. At night, the electrons produce ionization more than an order of magnitude greater than that expected from scattered H Lyman alpha. Maximum precipitation rates in the region of the South Atlantic Anomaly are on the order of 1/100 erg/sw cm-sec with a spectrum of the form j(E) = 134000 x 1/E + 2.27 power (keV). Southern hemisphere precipitation dominates that in the north for 1.1 L 6 except for regions of low local surface field in the northern hemisphere. Above L = 6, local time effects dominates; i.e., longitudinal effects due to the asymmetric magnetic field which are strong features below L = 6 disappear and are replaced by high-latitude precipitation events which are local-time features. (Author)

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