HR: 0800h
AN: SA31A-0348    [Abstracts]
TI: Anomalous Electron Heating and Its Effect on the Electron Density in the Auroral Electrojet
AU: * Milikh, G M
EM: milikh@astro.umd.edu
AF: University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 United States
AU: Goncharenko, L P
EM: lpg@haystack.mit.edu
AF: MIT Haystack Observatory, Off Route 40 , Westford, MA 01886 United States
AU: Dimant, Y S
EM: dimant@bu.edu
AF: Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Ave., Center for Space Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 United States
AU: McCready, M
EM: mary.mccready@sri.com
AF: SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Manlo Park, CA 94025 United States
AB: The auroral electrojet during magnetic storms (anomalous electron heating). This effect correlates with increased magnitude of the convection electric field. It is widely accepted that the primary cause of the anomalous electron heating is the turbulent electric field generated by the Farley-Buneman instability, although some heating effect can be caused by precipitating particles. Another source of the electron temperature enhancement is the conventional frictional heating caused by convection field. However it cannot account in full measure for the observed increase in electron density. Theoretical models of anomalous electron heating were developed during the two last decades. Recently we presented a model of anomalous electron heating in the auroral electrojet due to Farley-Buneman instability [Dimant and Milikh, 2003], which is based on solid physical reasons and provides a good agreement with results of radar observations available in the literature. Anomalous electron heating can also lead to increase in the local electron density, since the electron heating reduces electron-ion recombination rate. The objective of this paper is to study anomalous electron heating measured by incoherent scatter radar at Sondrestrom during magnetic storm 04/17/02, when the particle precipitation was absent. The observations will be checked against our model with special emphasis on the increases in the electron density due to anomalous electron heating. Dimant, Y. S., and G. M. Milikh, J. Geophys. Res., 108A, 1350, doi:10.1029/2002JA009524,2003.
DE: 2407 Auroral ionosphere (2704)
DE: 2435 Ionospheric disturbances
DE: 2471 Plasma waves and instabilities (2772)
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005