Contribution of proton precipitation to space-based auroral FUV observations

Details Contribution of proton precipitation to space-based auroral FUV observations Contribution of proton precipitation to space-based auroral FUV observations

Dec 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufmsa52a0395g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #SA52A-0395

Physics

2407 Auroral Ionosphere (2704), 2455 Particle Precipitation, 2704 Auroral Phenomena (2407)

Scientific paper

Energetic electrons and protons precipitating from the magnetosphere are a major energy source in the high latitude regions inducing significant ionospheric and thermospheric perturbations through ionization and heating. The aurora is the optical manifestation of the interaction of these energetic particles with atmospheric neutrals. Auroral brightnesses and brightness ratios can be used to determine the particle characteristics for estimation of the subsequent atmospheric response or for tracking magnetospheric processes. Imaging from space offers a unique way to access to the global picture, and its temporal varibility, of the particle energy input over the auroral ovals. Usually only the electron component of the precipitation is considered. Electron characteristics are inferred from the analysis of auroral images taken from space in two different spectral bands in UV or visible. In the aurora most of the energy is carried by electrons, but at some locations and certain times protons are a major energy source, that is, a major ionization source of the atmosphere. The response of POLAR/UVI, IMAGE/WIC and SI13, and TIMED/GUVI -used for retrieving the electron components- to proton precipitation will be estimated. Secondary electrons produced within the proton beam also contribute to auroral emissions. Since they are less energetic than the secondary electrons produced in electron precipitation, they have a different spectral signature. In addition, for a given energy flux, protons are usually more efficient at ionizing than electrons and yield larger values of the Pedersen ionospheric conductance. Therefore, the difference between proton and electron aurora can lead to misinterpretation when brightness ratios are used to derive ionospheric conductances with parameterizations that are based on electron aurora. The validation and limitations of auroral analysis will be discussed, especially in the winter cusp region and at the equatorward edge of the afternoon oval, where protons are expected to be a significant energy source.

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