INELASTIC SCATTERING EFFECTS ON PHOTOELECTRON SPECTRA AND IONOSPHERIC ELECTRON TEMPERATURE.

Three sets of inelastic scattering cross sections have been used by various investigators in energy degradation computations of photoelectrons. The effects of the three sets upon photoelectron spectra in the ionosphere, electron heating rates and temperature, and day-glow emissions are examined for solar minimum and solar maximum conditions. Comparison of individual cross sections shows large differences among the three sets but the overall inelastic scattering, summed over states and species, is sufficiently similar such that the effect on the electron heating rate and temperature is only minor. The major difference is found in the excitation and emission rates of some features in the dayglow spectrum.