A NEW APPROACH TO CALCULATE THE EXCITATION OF ATMOSPHERIC GASES BY AURORAL ELECTRON-IMPACT

The altitude profiles of the ratio of auroral electron energy spent on the excitation of the concrete atmospheric gas (N2, O2, O) to the production rate of the concrete excited state of this gas have been calculated by the Monte-Carlo simulation of electron transport in the Earth's atmosphere. We call this ratio the ''excitation energy cost''. Calculation results show that ''excitation energy costs'' are independent of the initial energy as well as of the penetration depth of the electron flux. These properties of the energetic costs provide the basis for a new method of calculating the production rate of ionospheric species excited by auroral electrons. This method allows the solution of the electron transport equation to be avoided and may be used for real time modeling of various auroral phenomena. A comparison is made between the results obtained by the new method and by the more accurate Monte-Carlo method.