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Ann. Geophys., 19, 257-261, 2001
www.ann-geophys.net/19/257/2001/
© European Geosciences Union 2001
Letter to the Editor
Effects of hot oxygen in the ionosphere: TRANSCAR simulations
D. Alcaydé1, P.-L. Blelly1, W. Kofman2, A. Litvin3, and W. L. Oliver3
1CESR, CNRS, Toulouse, France
2LPG, CNRS, Grenoble, France
3Boston University, Massachusetts, USA
Correspondence to: D. Alcaydé (Denis.Alcayde@cesr.fr)
Abstract. Recent studies of the ion
energy balance in the mid-latitude ionosphere have led to the suggestion that
hot neutral atomic oxygen may play a significant role; the presence of a
population of hot O could explain some of the problems met in balancing the ion
energy budget for Incoherent Scatter (IS) observations. The aim of the
present study is to look at such effects by using numerical simulation. The TRANSCAR
model is a time-dependent, 13-moment ionosphere model developed for high
latitude studies. It was first adapted for mid-latitude conditions. In a first
step the model was calibrated and cross-checked with St. Santin IS measurements
for the winter case of 27 January 1972 around noon using, in particular, the MSIS
neutral atmosphere model. This provides a reference diurnal variation of the
ionosphere. The second step investigated the influence of a maxwellian
population of hot neutral atomic oxygen introduced in addition to the standard
neutral atmosphere. The paper describes the initial comparison between the model
and St. Santin IS data, and then the effects induced by a hot atomic
oxygen population.
Key words. Ionosphere (ionosphere-atmosphere
interactions; ion chemistry and composition; mid-latitude ionosphere)
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