On the global mean structure of the thermosphere

Journal Article · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA092iA08p08745· OSTI ID:5527526

Roble, R G; Ridley, E C; Dickinson, R E ^[1]

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1. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

A self-consistent global average model of the coupled thermosphere and ionosphere has been developed and used to examine the global mean structure of these regions for solar minimum and maximum conditions. The model uses a parameterized version of the solar EUV and UV flux measured from the Atmospheric Explorer satellite to calculate photoionization rates of the major ion species and photo-dissociation rates for O{sub 2} and N{sub 2}. The ionospheric calculation solves for the vertical distributions of O{sup +}, including ambipolar diffusion, and of NO{sup +}, O{sub 2}{sup +}, N{sub 2}{sup +}, and N{sup +}, assuming photochemical equilibrium with respect to O{sup +}. It also solves the electron and ion energy equations as well as the coupled minor neutral constituent diffusion equations for N({sup 2}D), N({sup 4}S), and NO. The neutral gas energy equation is solved considering heating form photoelectrons, O{sub 2} absorption in the Schumann-Rungee continuum and bands, excess energy from exothermic ion-neutral chemical reactions, thermal electron, ion, and neutral collisions, O{sub 3} absorption in the Hartley bands, and atomic oxygen recombination and cooling from molecular and eddy thermal conduction and NO and CO{sub 2} IR radiation. The O{sub 2} photodissociation rates are used in a model of major species diffusion to solve for the O, O{sub 2}, and N{sub 2} number densities. From specified lower-boundary conditions and arbitrary initial conditions, both the thermospheric and the ionospheric structure evolve self consistently with time for specified solar flux values.

• OSTI ID: 5527526
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 92:A8; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
IONOSPHERE
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
THERMOSPHERE
MORPHOLOGY
AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION
AURORAE
CHARGED-PARTICLE PRECIPITATION
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COLLISIONS
ENERGY TRANSFER
GLOBAL ASPECTS
JOULE HEATING
NITROGEN
OXYGEN
PHOTOIONIZATION
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR RADIATION
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
DIFFUSION
DISTRIBUTION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELECTRIC HEATING
ELEMENTS
HEATING
IONIZATION
NONMETALS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
PLASMA HEATING
RADIATIONS
RESISTANCE HEATING
STELLAR RADIATION
661320* - Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena- (1992-)