Anomalous electron heating effects on the E region ionosphere in TIEGCM
Liu, J., Wang, W., Oppenheim, M., Dimant, Y., Wiltberger, M., & Merkin, S. (2016). Anomalous electron heating effects on the E region ionosphere in TIEGCM. Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 2351-2358. doi:10.1002/2016GL068010
We have recently implemented a new module that includes both the anomalous electron heating and the electron-neutral cooling rate correction associated with the Farley-Buneman Instability (FBI) in the thermosphere-ionosphere electrodynamics global circulation model (TIEGCM). This implementation p... Show moreWe have recently implemented a new module that includes both the anomalous electron heating and the electron-neutral cooling rate correction associated with the Farley-Buneman Instability (FBI) in the thermosphere-ionosphere electrodynamics global circulation model (TIEGCM). This implementation provides, for the first time, a modeling capability to describe macroscopic effects of the FBI on the ionosphere and thermosphere in the context of a first-principle, self-consistent model. The added heating sources primarily operate between 100 and 130 km altitude, and their magnitudes often exceed auroral precipitation heating in the TIEGCM. The induced changes in E region electron temperature in the auroral oval and polar cap by the FBI are remarkable with a maximum Te approaching 2200 K. This is about 4 times larger than the TIEGCM run without FBI heating. This investigation demonstrates how researchers can add the important effects of the FBI to magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere models and simulators. Show less