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Ann. Geophys., 22, 2047-2052, 2004
www.ann-geophys.net/22/2047/2004/
© European Geosciences Union 2004
Enhancement in electron and ion temperatures due to solar flares as measured by SROSS-C2 satellite
D. K. Sharma1,2, J. Rai1, M. Israil2, P. Subrahmanyam3, P. Chopra3, and S. C. Garg3
1Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee 247 667, India
2Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee 247 667, India
3Radio & Atmospheric Science Division, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, India
Abstract. The observations on the ionospheric electron and ion temperatures (Te
and Ti) measured by the RPA payload aboard the SROSS-C2 satellite have been
used to study the effect of solar flares on ionospheric heating. The data on
solar flare has been obtained from the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)
Boulder, Colorado (USA). It has been found that the electron and ion
temperatures have a consistent enhancement during the solar flares on the
dayside Earth's ionosphere. The estimated enhancement for the average
electron temperature is from 1.3 to 1.9 times whereas for ion temperature it
is from 1.2 to 1.4 times to the normal days average temperature. The
enhancement of ionospheric temperatures due to solar flares is correlated
with the diurnal variation of normal days' ionospheric temperatures. The
solar flare does not have any significant effect on the nightside
ionosphere. A comparison with the temperature obtained from the IRI-95 model
also shows a similar enhancement.
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