An improved parameterization of electron heating, with application to an X17 flare

Ionospheric models typically rely on parameterizations to account for the effects of secondary ionization and heating by photoelectrons. These parameterizations rely on an assumed form for the input solar irradiance; however, during solar flares the shape of the ionizing spectrum can change dramatically. Solomon and Qian [2005] recently updated the parameterization of secondary ionization to account for spectral changes. In this work, we describe a similar improvement to the parameterization of electron heating. The new algorithm is included in a simple ionospheric model and applied to the X17 flare of 28 Oct 2003. With these changes the modeled electron temperature and neutral gas heating rate are shown to increase significantly over previous results. This has particular relevance to the calculation of flare-induced satellite drag.