Revised calculations ofFregion ambient electron heating by photoelectrons

Abstract

Photoelectron energy degradation calculations have been performed with the improved analytic expression for the photoelectron to ambient electron energy transfer rate given by Swartz et al. (1971). On the basis of these calculations, two curves for the mean energy transferred per photoelectron to the ambient electrons are given as functions of the electron-neutral density ratio. One curve is based on the primary-photoelectron production rate, and the other on the total production rate. When the electron-neutral density ratio falls between 10−6 and 10−3, these curves provide good estimates of the electron heating rates over a wide range of F region conditions. The large differences between the energy transfer rate coefficients used in these calculations and the Butler and Buckingham (1962) form used in most previous investigations do not result in a major modification of the ambient electron heating rate.