Estimation of the high-latitude topside electron heat flux using DMSP plasma density measurements

Abstract

The high-latitude ionosphere interfaces with the hot, tenuous, magnetospheric plasma, and a heat flow into the ionosphere is expected, which has a large impact on the plasma densities and temperatures in the high-latitude ionosphere. The value of this magnetospheric heat flux is unknown. In an effort to estimate the value of the magnetospheric heat flux into the high-latitude ionosphere, and show its effect on the high-latitude ionospheric plasma densities, we ran an ensemble of model runs using the Ionosphere Forecast Model (IFM) with different values of the heat flux through the upper boundary. These model runs included heating from both auroral and solar sources. Then, for each heat flux value, the plasma densities obtained from the model runs, at 840 km, were compared to the corresponding values measured by the DMSP F13 satellite. The heat flux value that gave the best comparison between the measured and calculated plasma densities was considered to be the best estimate for the topside heat flux. The comparison was conducted for a 1-year data set of the DMSP F13 measured plasma densities (4300 consecutive orbits). Our systematic IFM/DMSP plasma density comparisons indicate that when a zero magnetospheric downward heat flux is assumed at the upper boundary of the IFM model, on the average, the IFM underestimates the measured plasma densities by a factor of 2. A good IFM/DMSP plasma density comparison was achieved for each month in 1998 when for each month a constant heat flux was assumed at the upper boundary of the model. For the 12-month period, the heat flux values that gave the best IFM/DMSP plasma density comparisons varied on the average from −0.5×10 10 to −1.5×10 10 eV cm −2 s −1.