M. Galand et al., PROTON TRANSPORT MODEL IN THE IONOSPHERE .1. MULTISTREAM APPROACH OF THE TRANSPORT-EQUATIONS, J GEO R-S P, 102(A10), 1997, pp. 22261-22272
The suprathermal particles, electrons and protons, coming from the mag
netosphere and precipitating into the high-latitude atmosphere are an
energy source of the Earth's ionosphere. They interact with ambient th
ermal gas through inelastic and elastic collisions. The physical quant
ities perturbed by these precipitations, such as the heating rate, the
electron production rate, or the emission intensities, can be provide
d in solving the kinetic stationary Boltzmann equation. This equation
yields particle fluxes as a function of altitude, energy, and pitch an
gle. While this equation has been solved through different ways for th
e electron transport and fully tested, the proton transport is more co
mplicated. Because of charge-changing reactions, the latter is a set o
f two-coupled transport equations that must be solved: one for protons
and the other for H atoms. We present here a new approach that solves
the multistream proton/hydrogen transport equations encompassing the
collision angular redistributions and the magnetic mirroring effect. I
n order to validate our model we discuss the energy conservation and w
e compare with another model under the same inputs and with rocket obs
ervations. The influence of the angular redistributions is discussed i
n a forthcoming paper.