Statistical Analysis of Flux Enhancements of Energetic Electrons in the Low-Latitudinal Ionosphere According to the Data from the NOAA/POES and MetOp Satellites from 1998 to 2022

Abstract

The intense precipitation of energetic electrons from the Earth’s radiation belt (ERB) is one of the most important sources of ionization in the ionosphere and atmosphere. A large-scale statistical analysis is carried out of the data from continuous low-orbit satellite observations of solar-cycle variations in the flux enhancements of the ERB electrons with energy >30 keV at an altitude of 850 km, acquired from the NOAA/POES and MetOp satellites in the interval from 1998 to 2022. The basic features of artificial failures in the satellite database with high-time resolution measurements in the interval from 2014 to 2022 are found and described. Appropriate data correction is carried out. It is shown that the average annual number of days with electron flux enhancements increases rapidly within three years after the solar-cycle maximum and reaches its greatest value near the middle of the declining phase of solar activity. Then the frequency of event occurrence begins to decrease noticeably within an 8-year interval, including the minimum, rising, and maximum phases of the solar cycle. The minimum level is achieved at the maximum solar activity.