Electron collisions with constituents of planetary atmospheres

Collisions between electrons and neutral species play an important role in the energy balance of upper atmospheres throughout the Solar System. These processes, and the subsequent photon emissions produced, provide one of the primary means for probing, diagnosing and understanding the dynamics of these environments. Modelling of these plasmas and interpretation of optical observations requires accurate knowledge of atomic/molecular parameters such as oscillator strengths and predissociation yields along with cross sections for electron impact excitation (and emission) with the constituent species of these atmospheres. In this paper, our recent work involving electron collisions with two of the most important atmospheric species in our Solar System, namely N₂ and H₂, will be reviewed. Preliminary differential cross sections for excitation of the B ¹Σ⁺_u and C ¹Π_u states out of the X ¹Σ_g⁺(v^'' = 1) ground state level of H₂ are presented.