On the Effect of Medium Energy Electron Precipitation on the Earth's Middle and Low Atmosphere

Details On the Effect of Medium Energy Electron Precipitation on the Earth's Middle and Low Atmosphere On the Effect of Medium Energy Electron Precipitation on the Earth's Middle and Low Atmosphere

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsa33a1630f&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SA33A-1630

Physics

2407 Auroral Ionosphere (2704), 2447 Modeling And Forecasting, 2455 Particle Precipitation, 2704 Auroral Phenomena (2407), 2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions (2431)

Scientific paper

Precipitating medium energy (>30 keV) electrons represent an important energy source for the Earth's high-latitude ionosphere and atmosphere. Recent satellite data analyses suggest that up to 40% of the NOx in the stratospheric polar region on an annual basis can be attributed to the descent of NOx produced by energetic particle precipitation at high altitudes. In this work, the processes of NOx production by medium energy electrons and subsequent descent will be investigated by using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) from the National Center for Atmospheric Research. We will first introduce our recently developed parameterization scheme for the electron impact ionization rate calculation, which is applicable for 100 eV to 1 MeV electrons in a Maxwellian energy distribution. The new parameterization method is derived by following Roble and Ridley (1987) but taking into account further functional dependence on the incident electron energy. With highly improved accuracy, the new parameterization method provides a more reliable approach to include medium energy electron precipitation in WACCM. While there is a perception that bremsstrahlung X rays generated by energetic particles dominate the ionization in the stratosphere, little is known about their significance with regard to atmospheric composition on global and long-term scales. In this study, the ionization rates from direct electron impact and associated bremsstrahlung X rays will be investigated using WACCM. The importance of medium energy electron precipitation in producing NOx and modifying stratospheric ozone will then be assessed.

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