A New MEPED-Based Precipitating Electron Data Set.

Area of Science:

• Space Physics and Atmospheric Science
• Climate Modeling
• Geophysics

Background:

• Energetic electron precipitation (EEP) significantly impacts atmospheric chemistry and climate.
• Existing datasets for EEP lack sufficient detail for accurate climate model integration.
• Previous methods for calculating electron fluxes had limitations in spatial and spectral resolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel dataset for energetic electron precipitation (EEP) suitable for climate model simulations.
• To enhance the accuracy of EEP representation in climate models.
• To investigate the impact of improved EEP data on atmospheric chemistry, specifically ozone concentrations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from Medium Energy Proton and Electron Detector (MEPED) instruments on POES and MetOp satellites.
• Computed global maps of precipitating electron fluxes using both 0° and 90° MEPED detectors.
• Employed Delaunay triangulation for 2D map creation and a linear combination of analytical functions for spectral flux conversion.

Main Results:

• The new EEP dataset demonstrated improved agreement with observed odd nitrogen levels in Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) simulations.
• Simulations indicated that EEP-driven odd nitrogen increases led to over 15% ozone loss in the polar stratosphere.
• The refined data processing accounts for sparse satellite sampling more effectively than previous methods.

Conclusions:

• The developed EEP dataset offers a more accurate representation of electron precipitation for climate modeling.
• Accurate EEP data is crucial for understanding and predicting atmospheric chemistry, including ozone layer dynamics.
• This work provides a foundation for more reliable climate change projections influenced by space weather events.