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