Effects of photoelectron heating and interhemisphere transport on day-time plasma temperatures at low latitudes

Abstract

The thermal balance of the plasma in the day-time equatorial F region is examined. Steady-state solutions of electron and ion temperatures are obtained, assuming the ions are O + and H +. The theoretical concentrations of O + and H + and the field-aligned velocity were obtained following Moffett and Hanson (1973), while theoretical photoelectron heating rates of the electron gas were taken from Swartz et al. (1975). The results demonstrate the gross features in the electron and ion temperatures as observed at the Jicamarca Observatory and in the ion temperatures observed on the OGO-6 satellite. The rapid increase in electron temperature above 500 km at the magnetic equator is due to heating by photoelectrons created at higher latitudes and travelling up along the field lines. The rapid increase in ion temperature is due to good thermal contact with the electrons rather than the neutrals. It is shown that field-aligned interhemispheric thermal plasma flows appreciably affect these temperatures, and that, with a net plasma flow from the summer hemisphere to the winter hemisphere, the temperatures are higher in the winter hemisphere. These effects are related to the character of the ion temperature minimum observed by OGO-6 near the magnetic equator.