Auroral precipitation—energetic magnetospheric particles entering the upper atmosphere—is a fundamental yet incompletely understood process in space physics. Multiple mechanisms drive precipitation, producing diverse energy spectra, spatial structures, and variability under different solar wind and geomagnetic conditions. As a key ionization source in the ionosphere-thermosphere (I-T) system, auroral precipitation modifies high-latitude conductivity and influences magnetosphere–ionosphere–thermosphere (MIT) coupling processes, including plasma convection, electrojets, ion drag, and Joule heating, with impacts extending regionally and globally.

Recent advances in observations and modeling have improved our ability to characterize precipitation and quantify its role in MIT coupling and global I-T dynamics. This session invites contributions addressing the drivers, characteristics, and variability of auroral precipitation, as well as its regional and global impacts under varying geomagnetic conditions, using observational, theoretical, and modeling approaches.

• SM - SPA-Magnetospheric Physics