Aurorae

Density Perturbations in the Upper Atmosphere Caused by the Dissipation of Solar Wind Energy

“…Van Allen et al 1959;Jastrow 1960) current belt generate a continuous flux of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), part of which impinges upon the upper atmosphere (Dessler et al 1961). This energy transfer mechanism is of special interest because it supplies energy to the low-latitude upper atmosphere (Krassovsky 1968). Accordingly, this heat source has been repeatedly invoked to explain density perturbations observed in this region (e.g.…”

“…Third, partial ring currents closing in the ionosphere were made responsible for Joule heating in the subauroral region (Cummings and Dessler 1967;). Finally, charge exchange interactions within the ring Table 1 Heat sources for the disturbed upper atmosphere discussed in the literature (1) Absorption of solar high-energy electrons (b rays) Petersen (1927a, b) (2) Absorption of a flash of solar ultraviolet radiation Maris and Hulburt (1929a, b) (3) Joule heating by (sub)storm currents Chapman 1937, Cole (1962a (4) Absorption of solar audio-frequency waves Menzel and Salisbury (1948) (5) Heat conduction from the disturbed solar corona Chapman (1959) (6) Heating by solar corpuscular radiation Jacchia (1959) a (7) Energy deposition by storm-generated MHD waves Dessler (1959a, b), Nicolet (1962) (8) Joule heating by currents induced in loops of magnetospheric flux tubes exposed to the variable interplanetary magnetic field Krassovsky (1959) (9) Heat input by precipitating auroral particles Ishikawa (1959), Bates (1960), Chamberlain (1961) (10) Viscous heating by gravity waves generated in the polar upper atmosphere Gold, in Hines (1965) (11) Heat conduction from the ring current Cole (1965) (12) Absorption of energetic ions precipitated from the ring current Galperin et al (1966) b (13) Viscous heating by gravity waves generated in the middle atmosphere Newell (1966) (14) Joule heating by partial ring currents closing in the ionosphere Cummings and Dessler (1967) (15) Heat addition by heat conduction waves excited by MHD waves Volland (1967) (16) Absorption of neutralized energetic ring current particles Krassovsky (1968) (17) Direct absorption of solar wind particles in the cusp region Olson (1972) a This heat source had been considered earlier in ionospheric storm studies (see Martyn 1953) b Earlier, the outer radiation belt had been considered a potential heat source of the quiet-time upper atmosphere (e.g. Van Allen et al 1959;Jastrow 1960) current belt generate a continuous flux of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), part of which impinges upon the upper atmosphere (Dessler et al 1961).…”

Energetic neutral atom precipitation during magnetic storms: Optical emission, ionization, and energy deposition at low and middle latitudes

“…The thermal, ionospheric, and dynamic effects of energy input into low latitudes during magnetic storms have been observed for many decades by ionosonde, airglow, and satellite measurements [e.g., Berkner et al, 1939;Jacchia, 1959]. The question of relative importance of heating by ring current neutrals in comparison to heating by other mechanisms has been a matter of discussion in the past [Krassovsky, 1968;Evans, 1970;Mizera and Blake, 1973;Pr61ss et al, 1973;Priilss, 1973a]. The uncertainties in many of the important parameters have prevented firm conclusions from being reached, but with improved understanding of the nature of the ring current, and the ability now to measure the associated optical emission and ionization, we should soon have fairly accurate measures of the energy involved.…”

“…The loss of ions from the ring current is considered to be consistent with, and yield data complementary to, satellite mainly by charge exchange with neutral hydrogen in the measurements and readily explain measurements of upper E geocorona [Dessler and Parker, 1959;Liemohn, 1961; Swisher region ionization production during magnetic storms. Second, and Frank, 1968;Priilss, 1973b;Tinsley, 1976], and some of the the earlier calculation of the latitude variation of the precipienergetic neutrals thereby produced will precipitate into the atmosphere [Dessler et al, 1961] and be a source of heating [Krassovsky, 1968;Evans, 1970;Priilss, 1971Priilss, , 1973aPr•lss et al, 1973;Allan, 1974], of optical emission [Priilss, 1973a;Meier and Weller, 1975;Levasseur and Blamont, 1973a, b;Levasseur, 1976;Tinsley, 1976Tinsley, , 1977a, and of ionization tated energetic neutrals is shown to be unrealistic, and new calculations of the latitude and time variations are presented. Third, the method of inferring the gain and loss of ring current energy from changes of the horizontal component of the earth's magnetic field near the equator is briefly reviewed, and it is concluded that the maximum energetic neutral influx is to [Tinsley, 1977b[Tinsley, , 1978Lyons and Richmond, 1978].…”

Response of low-latitude ionosphere of the Indian region during the supergeomagnetic storm of 31 March 2001

“…The energetic protons present in the ring current undergo a charge exchange reaction with the ambient hydrogen atom. These energetic neutralized hydrogen atoms are no longer in a constraint to follow the magnetic field and can directly precipitate in to the Earth's denser atmosphere [ Dessler et al , 1961] which is in turn is responsible for producing heating in the upper atmosphere [ Krassovsky , 1968; Evans , 1970; Prolss , 1971, 1973]. The direct insertion of energy from the ring current in the form of particle precipitation into the upper thermosphere is also believed to play a crucial role over the equatorial and low‐latitude region [ Tinsley , 1981].…”