Improved electron and ion temperatures and application to the Nov-24-12 substorm

Abstract:

Improved energy equations have been implemented for both electrons and ions in the Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model (GITM). The sources of the electron temperature include heating due to photoionization, elastic collisions with ions, elastic and inelastic collisions with neutrals, as well as energy fluxes from the magnetosphere. The sources of the ion temperature include elastic collisions with electrons, and energy exchanges with neutrals accounting for Joule heating and due to temperature difference. The model was constructed using a semi-implicit method on the thermal conduction and all of the temperature-dependent source terms [Huba and Joyce, 2000]. The Nov-24-2012 substorm is investigated using the improved model. The Joule heating and its effect on the ion and neutral temperatures in high-latitudes between the improved and basic models are compared. It is also shown that a decrease in the electron temperature exists in the region of the aurora oval with high electron densities. The partitioning of energy between different source terms and loss terms is investigated throughout the substorm and as a function of location.