TREx ATM#

TREx-ATM is designed to simulate the transport of suprathermal (give energy range) electrons in the atmosphere, including impact ionization and secondary/tertiary electron production, electron heating, as well as the impact excitation of neutrals. The model incorporates comprehensive ionospheric chemistry and can solve plasma density, temperature, and volume emission rates of most major auroral lines/bands, along a magnetic field line with given energetic (e.g., for e- 10eV to 1MeV) particle precipitation input on top of the field line. The model accepts user-provided electron precipitation spectrum and neutral profile. Some of the important outputs of the forward model include: Altitude profiles of plasma densities and temperatures, conductivities, volume emission rates and column optical intensities seen on the ground, and impact production rates of individual ion species. The model is also capable of inverse calculation, namely using multi-wavelength auroral observations to infer the incident precipitation parameters, including the total energy flux and the mean energy of the electron precipitation.

Contact: Jun Liang, Eric Donovan

Citation#

Use of the TREx ATM should cite:

  • Liang, J., Donovan, E., Jackel, B., Spanswick, E., & Gillies, M. (2016). On the 630nmred-linepulsating aurora: Red-line emission geospace observatory observations and model simulations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 121, 7988–8012. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022901

  • Liang, J., Yang, B., Donovan, E., Burchill, J., & Knudsen, D. (2017). Ionospheric electron heating associated with pulsating auroras: A Swarm survey and model simulation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 122, 8781–8807. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA024127

Usage#

There are three methods available for interacting with the TREx ATM:

  • Python via PyAuroraX

  • IDL via IDL-AuroraX

  • or directly using our RESTful HTTP API

Python examples can be found here, and IDL examples can be found here.

To interact with TREx ATM using the API directly, below are links to the specific endpoints:

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