Abstract
The article is devoted to a theoretical study of the heating rate of thermal electrons in the superthermal F-region of the ionosphere at altitudes of 150–350 km in a wide range of zenith angle changes of 45°–90°. A universal formula for calculating the heating rate is obtained. To obtain the formula, the generalized Hoegy theory was used, within the framework of which the heating rate is determined by the flow function of superthermal electrons and their energy loss rate. The dependence of the superthermal electron flow is obtained in two ways: direct numerical simulation and using the bi-exponential function (BiEX-function). An analytical expression for the energy loss function is obtained using the Shkarofsky kinetic approach. It is demonstrated that the obtained relationship is in good agreement with the widely used Swartz approximation. It is demonstrated that the heating rate calculations using the formula obtained in the work are in good agreement with the experimental data