Electron Heat Fluxes for the Global Ionospheric Networks

Abstract This paper proposes an alternative approach for calculating electron heat fluxes by combining the Belgian 3D Plasmaspheric Model (Pierrard, Botek, & Darrouzet, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2021.681401 ) and an analytical electron temperature formalism developed by Khazanov (2011), https://doi.org/10.1007/978‐1‐4419‐6797‐8 . Such information is essential for 3D ionospheric modeling networks, which use the heat flux parameter as an upper boundary condition to calculate electron temperature, T e , at altitudes below 700–800 km. The theoretical approach presented in this letter does not identify the nature of the magnetospheric cold electron temperature heating sources. Instead, it relies on the empirical thermal structure that is incorporated in the Belgian plasmasphere model and their calculation of total plasmaspheric cold plasma content. We also extended our results to plasmaspheric altitudes and provided cold electron heating rates along the geomagnetic field lines from the southern to the northern hemisphere for different magnetic and solar activities.