Thermal electron quenching of N(2D): consequences for the ionospheric photoelectron flux and the thermal electron temperature

This paper examines the effects of quenching of N(2D) by thermal electrons on the ionospheric photoelectron flux and on the thermal electron heating rate. It is shown that the 2.5 eV electrons produced by electron quenching of N(2D) can account for the differences between theoretical and experimental 0-3 eV photoelectron fluxes above 200 km altitude. In addition, the heat transferred to the thermal electron gas amounts to 70% of the photoelectron local heating rate at 250 km altitude. The effect of the extra heating is to increase the electron temperature by approximately 200 K at 250 km. (author)