In this paper we present a method to compute ionization rates induced by relativistic electron precipitation with non-vertical incidence. Atmospheric ionization for monoenergetic (>100 keV) relativistic electron precipitation including explicitly ionization via bremsstrahlung radiation is considered. Two peaks of energy deposition can be identified for the ionization profiles caused by relativistic electrons. The first ionization peak is related to direct ionization of primary relativistic electrons and the second corresponds to bremsstrahlung radiation. The ionization rates are presented in Lookup Tables for vertical, isotropic and angular distributions as well as with 15, 30 and 45 angles of electron incidences. A computation scheme is provided to compute ionization for an arbitrary angular distribution of precipitation electrons.

We retrieve ionization rates in the atmosphere caused by energetic electron precipitation from balloon observations in the polar atmosphere and compare them against ionization rates recommended for the Phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. In our retrieval procedure, we consider the precipitating electrons with energies from about tens of keV to 5 MeV. Our simulations with 1‐D radiative‐convective model with interactive neutral and ion chemistry show that the difference of the Phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project and balloon‐based ionization rate can lead to underestimation of the NOx enhancement by more than 100% and ozone loss up to 25% in the mesosphere. The atmospheric response is different below 50 km due to considering highly energetic electrons, but it is not important because the absolute values of atmospheric impact is tiny. Ionization rates obtained from the balloon observations reveal a high variability.

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A new model of the family of CRAC models, CRAC:EPII (Cosmic Ray Atmospheric Cascade: Electron Precipitation Induced Ionization), is presented. The model calculates atmospheric ionization induced by precipitating electrons and uses the formalism of ionization yield functions. The CRAC:EPII model is based on a full Monte Carlo simulation of electron propagation and interaction with the air molecules. It explicitly considers various physical processes, namely, pair production, Compton scattering, generation of bremsstrahlung high‐energy photons, photoionization, annihilation of positrons, and multiple scattering. The simulations were performed using GEANT 4 simulation tool PLANETOCOSMICS with NRLMSISE 00 atmospheric model. The CRAC:EPII model is applicable to the entire atmosphere. The results from the simulations are given as look‐up table representing the ionization yield function. The table allows one to compute ionization due to precipitating electrons for a given altitude and location considering a given electron spectrum. Application of the model for computation of ion production during electron precipitation events using spectra from balloon‐borne measurements is presented.

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