Calculations of auroral intensities from electron impact

Abstract

The energy deposited in the excited states of N2, O2, and O from the slowdown of electrons in the 0.1–30-kev range is calculated from the extensive sets of electron impact cross sections of Green et al. These results are then used to calculate the radiation from many of the important auroral transitions. Comparison with experiment is then obtained by normalizing to the first negative bands of N2+. Also, the average ev/ion pair in the slowdown process was calculated with consideration given to the details of the low-energy secondaries and tertiaries.