Implications of Auroral Electron Precipitation During the JOULE Experiment

Four sounding rockets for the JOULE mission were launched three minutes apart during a substorm event on 27 March 2003 from Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska. Two rockets carried scientific instruments for in-situ measurements of phenomena in the auroral region. The other two rockets carried chemical payloads suitable for measuring the neutral winds. This work focuses on a calculation of the electrojet current using two independent methods, with good agreement: (1) In-situ determination of the electric fields and charge-carrier mobilities, and (2) Ground-based measurements of the electrojet current. Implications for calculations of Joule heating will be discussed.