Estimating the average energy of auroral electrons from 427.8 nm emission intensity measurements

Abstract

We propose a method for estimating average energy of precipitating electrons from 427.8 nm emission intensity measurements. This method is based on the experimental dependence of the ratio of λ630.0 and λ427.8 nm emission intensities on the λ427.8 emission intensity and model calculations of the dependence of the average auroral electron energy on the I₆₃₀.₀/I₄₂₇.₈ ratio. We present numerical estimates of the influence of three factors on this dependence: the shape of the auroral electron energy spectrum, the atomic oxygen concentration, and the NO concentration. The dependence of the average energy of the auroral electron flux on the 427.8 nm emission intensity is obtained and its analytical approximation is presented.

Keywords

• auroras
• diagnostics
• average energy
• electron precipitation
• emission intensity
• 427.8 nm
• 630.0 nm