Ionization Effects Caused by Precipitation of Energetic Electrons during Geomagnetic Disturbances

Energetic electron precipitation (EEP) into the Earth’s atmosphere/ionosphere caused by various physical mechanisms and recorded by various instruments are studied separately. EEP events detected in balloon observations in the Murmansk region and from low-orbit Meteor-M2 satellite were used to estimate EEP effects on the atmosphere/ionosphere. Satellite energy channels from hundreds of keV to MeV were used to reconstruct the EEP energy spectra. To determine the atmospheric-ionospheric response to EEP during geomagnetic disturbances, calculated ionization rates were used based on spectra obtained from both satellites and balloon observations. The EEP spectra from satellites and balloon observations have practically the same slope, and only the particle flux intensity changes. The ionization rates throughout the altitude range on the last day of substorm activity are lower than during substorm activity maximum.