The Interaction of Auroral Electron Precipitation with the Thermosphere During the JOULE Experiment

The Joule experiment included a full complement of rocket and ground--based experiments to study phenomena associated with Joule heating in the auroral region. The present work concentrates on determining the amount of thermospheric heating present during the experiment. Heating from electron precipitation is estimated directly from the observed electron fluxes and from optical measurements of auroral emissions. The Joule heating rate is estimated using conductivities based on charge-carrier mobilities in the thermospheric gas in conjunction with the measured electric fields and winds.