Secondary electron emission from meteoric smoke particles inside the polar ionosphere
The charging by secondary electron emission (SEE) from particles is known as a significant charging process in astrophysical plasmas. This work aims at evaluating the significance of SEE for charging of meteoric smoke particles (MSPs) in the Earth's polar atmosphere. Here, the atmosphere is...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-06-01
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| Series: | Annales Geophysicae |
| Online Access: | https://www.ann-geophys.net/34/573/2016/angeo-34-573-2016.pdf |
| Summary: | The charging by secondary electron emission (SEE) from particles is known as
a significant charging process in astrophysical plasmas. This work aims at
evaluating the significance of SEE for charging of meteoric smoke particles
(MSPs) in the Earth's polar atmosphere. Here, the atmosphere is subject
to a bombardment of energetic electrons from the magnetosphere (and partly
the sun). We employ the SEE formalism to MSPs in the upper mesosphere using
electron precipitation fluxes for three different precipitation strengths. In
addition, we address the possible effect of tertiary electron emission (TEE)
from MSPs induced by atmospheric secondary electrons for one precipitation
case. The SEE and TEE rates from MSPs of different sizes are compared to
plasma attachment and photodetachment and photoionization rates of MSPs. The
needed concentration of electrons and ions have been modeled with the
Sodankylä Ion and Neutral Chemistry (SIC) model with included electron
precipitation spectra as an additional ionization source. We find that
secondary electron emission from MSPs is not a relevant charging mechanism
for MSPs. The electron attachment to MSPs and photodetachment of negatively
charged MSPs are the most important processes also during energetic electron
precipitation. |
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| ISSN: | 0992-7689 1432-0576 |