Modeling the influence of magnetospheric heat fluxes on the electron temperature in the subauroral ionosphere

Abstract

We present results of modeling of the electron temperature distribution in the F region of the subauroral ionosphere for different helio-geomagnetic conditions with consideration for magnetospheric heat fluxes. It is shown that under quiet geomagnetic condi-tions during a winter period in the dawn and dusk sec-tors “hot” zones with a higher electron temperature are formed, and under disturbed geomagnetic conditions an annular “hot” region is formed in a time interval 04–06 UT as a result of heat inflow from Earth’s magnetosphere along magnetic field lines. The analysis of the DE-2 satellite data demonstrates that such zones can be formed during geomagnetic disturbances.

Keywords

• subauroral ionosphere
• electron temperature
• heat flux
• three-dimensional model
• ring current
• F2 region
• elevated electron temperature regions
• longitudinal features