Quantitative studies of energetic particle precipitation using incoherent scatter radar

Abstract

The most direct effect of energetic particle precipitation in the upper atmosphere is electron density enhancement. Measurements of the altitude profile of electron density and its time variations can in many circumstances be used for quantitative studies of the parameters of the energetic particle flux. The inversion techniques which have been previously developed to relate typical animal particle fluxes to measurements of electron density in the E-region, and some of the results obtained, are briefly reviewed. Newly developed techniques which allow the inversion procedure to be extended to D-region electron densities and to correspondingly more energetic particles are described. Some tests of these techniques are presented and their application to substorm aurora, pulsating aurora and a polar cap absorption event are illustrated. © 1995, Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. All rights reserved.