The altitude variation of the ionospheric photoelectron flux A comparison of theory and measurement

The 145 to 300-km altitude variation of the measured photoelectron flux in the 13 to 18 eV, 28 to 34 eV, and 50 to 55 eV energy regions are compared with the variations expected from theory. There is a strong linear relationship between the measured photoelectron flux and the attenuation of the solar EUV flux at these energies. Therefore, the photoelectron flux is sensitive to changes in the solar zenith angle, neutral density scale height, and total neutral density. However, contrary to previous assertions, the photoelectron flux at most energies is not sensitive to the relative densities of the neutral constituents. In addition, good agreement between theory and measurement is obtained. By using the concept of photoelectron production frequencies, the usually complex evaluation of the local equilibrium photoelectron flux is reduced to a trivial calculation so that the steps in the calculation can be readily verified.