Hydrodynamic planetary thermosphere model: 2. Coupling of an electron transport/energy deposition model

An electron transport/energy deposition model is expanded to include atomic nitrogen and is coupled with a 1-D hydrodynamic thermosphere model. The coupled model is used to investigate the response of the Earth's thermosphere under extreme solar EUV conditions and is compared with previous studies. It is found that (1) the parameterization of Swartz and Nisbet (1972) underestimates the ambient electron heating by photoelectrons significantly in the upper thermosphere of the Earth under conditions with greater than 3 times the present solar EUV irradiance; (2) the transition of the Earth's thermosphere from a hydrostatic equilibrium regime to a hydrodynamic regime occurs at a smaller solar EUV flux condition when enhanced, more realistic, and self-consistent, ambient electron heating by photoelectrons is accounted for; (3) atomic nitrogen becomes the dominant neutral species in the upper thermosphere (competing against atomic oxygen) under extreme solar EUV conditions, and the electron impact processes of atomic nitrogen are important for both the chemistry and energetics in the corresponding thermosphere/ionosphere; (4) N+ remains a minor ion compared to O+, even when atomic nitrogen dominates the exobase; and (5) adiabatic cooling does not play an important role in electron gas energy budget. These findings highlight the importance of an electron transport/energy deposition model when investigating the thermosphere and ionosphere of terrestrial planets in their early evolutionary stages.

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An edited version of this article was published by the American Geophysical Union. Copyright 2008 AGU.


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Author Tian, Feng
Solomon, Stanley
Qian, Liying
Lei, Jiuhou
Roble, Raymond
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2008-05-31T00:00:00
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:44:11.818549
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:17403
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Tian, Feng, Solomon, Stanley, Qian, Liying, Lei, Jiuhou, Roble, Raymond. (2008). Hydrodynamic planetary thermosphere model: 2. Coupling of an electron transport/energy deposition model. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7rx9dck. Accessed 22 July 2025.

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