Analysis of the ionosphere-plasmasphere transport of superthermal electrons. I - Transport in the plasmasphere

Analytical solutions are developed for the kinetic equation which describes the transport of superthermal electrons in the terrestrial plasmasphere, together with a relationship which makes it possible to calculate the transparency of the plasmasphere to these electrons. In addition, analytic expressions are presented for the heating rate of the thermal plasma due to the passage of these superthermal electrons through the plasmasphere.