The Electron Heat Fluxes Associated with Electron Precipitation in the Region of Diffuse Aurora
Electron heat flux that comes from the magnetosphere to the upper ionospheric altitudes controls the value of electron temperature in the core plasma, and, as a result, the total electron density content that is required for different kinds of space weather applications. Knowing the thermal electron heat flux at the upper ionospheric boundaries is the Achilles' heel of all ionospheric models. Such a thermal heat flux setting is especially difficult to justify in the region of the diffuse aurora that is connected to a large energy reservoir of electrons with energies of a few kiloelectron volts, the Earth's plasma sheet, where magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes are strongly interconnected. We use the simulated heat flux provided by SuperThermal Electron Transport (STET) code to estimate electron temperatures at the upper ionospheric altitudes and compare these results with corresponding observations from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite during Saint Patrick's Days 2013 and 2015 Geomagnetic Storms.