A. Schlesier et al., NON-COLLISIONAL IONIZATION AND TEMPERATURE LAYERS IN THE AURORAL E F-1 LAYER - EISCAT OBSERVATIONS/, Geophysical research letters, 24(11), 1997, pp. 1407-1410
EISCAT observations of thin layers of enhanced ionization and elevated
electron temperature during auroral precipitations, similar to the ph
enomenon of tile 'Enhanced Aurora', are presented and described. Being
well narrower than those predicted by the conventional collisional ap
proach, the layers are likely caused by plasma turbulence generated by
precipitating elections and field-aligned currents in the altitude ra
nge 110-170 km. The results are in a qualitative agreement with the mo
del of the plasma turbulence layer which takes the influence of collis
ions upon the beam-plasma interaction into account.