Energy Input into the Auroral Region Lower Thermosphere

Details Energy Input into the Auroral Region Lower Thermosphere Energy Input into the Auroral Region Lower Thermosphere

Dec 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufmsa41b0745b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #SA41B-0745

Other

0300 Atmospheric Composition And Structure, 0355 Thermosphere: Composition And Chemistry, 0358 Thermosphere: Energy Deposition

Scientific paper

Global images of nitric oxide density at 106 km acquired by the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE) earth-orbiting satellite are used to determine the energy input into the auroral region from precipitating electrons. A time-dependent, photochemical model is used to calculate the nitric oxide density in the lower thermosphere. The energy inputs into this model are auroral electrons, solar soft x-rays, and solar extreme ultraviolet radiation. The results of the model calculation are compared to the observed nitric oxide density at 106 km (the peak of nitric oxide in the thermosphere) in the auroral region and the auroral electron flux is adjusted until agreement with the observations is achieved. Calculations of NO, N4S, and N2D are made every hour during the day and night and every 15 minutes at sunrise and sunset. The calculations are made over a latitude-longitude grid at 9 evenly-spaced latitudes between 40 and 80 degrees north and 15 evenly-spaced longitudes. SNOE measurements of the solar soft x-ray irradiances are used in the calculations. The time-dependent model is run for one day with no auroral precipitation to obtain the initial conditions. The model is then run for another day with auroral precipitation between 6 PM and 12 PM local time. The model is then run for an additional day with the aurora off and the observations made at 10:30 AM local time are compared with the SNOE observations. The SNOE spacecraft is in a sun-synchronous orbit with the northbound equatorial crossing at 10:30 AM. Averages of nitric oxide density for thirty day periods centered at the equinoxes, the winter solstice, and the summer solstice are compared to model calculations. The results show that the auroral electron flux is greatest between geomagnetic latitudes 60-70 degrees north and that there is longitudinal variation in electron flux with larger values in the western geomagnetic hemisphere.

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