Analytical description of height-integrated conductivity distribution Original Research Article

The height-integrated conductivity model is necessary for applications and for studying the magnetosphere — ionosphere electrodynamic connection. In the last decades various models distinguished by different measurements, local time, magnetic activity levels, calculating methods, etc., have been produced. A need has arisen to compare and generalize the conductivity derived from the different observations. We examine several empirical models of height — integrated conductivity obtained from satellite measurements of precipitating auroral electrons at different levels of geomagnetic activity. The aim is to describe the height-integrated conductivity in a simple manner. The method of model comparison we use consists of comparing the shape and location of the height-integrated conductivity maximum and boundary curves. We approximate the height-integrated maximum and boundary curves as circles.