Comparison of absolute photoelectron fluxes measured on AE-C and AE-E with theoretical fluxes and predicted and measured N2 2PG 3371Å volume emission rates |
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| Authors: | S.P. Hernandez J.P. Doering V.J. Abreu G.A. Victor |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A.;Space Physics Research Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, U.S.A.;Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | As part of the continuing effort to improve the accuracy of the absolute measurements of the ambient photoelectron flux in the thermosphere from the Atmosphere Explorer Satellite Photoelectron Spectrometer experiments (PES), we present a detailed comparison of experimental photoelectron fluxes from AE-C and AE-E together with theoretical calculations of the ambient flux for the same geophysical conditions. As an additional check, the various experimental and theoretical fluxes are used to calculate the expected N2 2PG (0, 0) volume emission rate expected at 3371Å and these results are compared to AE-C Visible Airglow Experimental (VAE) experimental results. The comparisons clearly show that because of spacecraft shielding of the sensor on AE-C, the agreement with AE-E spectra for similar geophysical conditions ranges from good when shielding is minimal to poor for severe shielding cases. The calculated fluxes are lower by approx. a factor of 1.5–2.0 in absolute magnitude than the AE-E or unshielded AE-C fluxes. The N2 2PG volume emission rates calculated from the measured ambient electron fluxes overestimate the measured VAE volume emission rates by 20–30% while those calculated from the theoretical fluxes underestimate the measured emission rate by typically 30%. These data suggest therefore that the measured AE-E fluxes are 20–30% high. |
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