The first height-resolved altitude profiles of the Joule heating rate obtained by using the Chatanika, Alaska, incoherent scatter radar are presented. The measured Joule heating rate typically maximizes at an altitude that is well above the altitude of the current density maximum. For a reasonable model neutral atmosphere,it is also found that the maximum Joule heating rate occurs above the altitude of the corresponding Pedersen conductivity maximum. For these data the eastward auroral electrojet was centered near 130 km, while the westward electrojet was centered 10 km lower in altitude during its most intense period. It is inferred that this large difference in height between the two electrojets and the corresponding altitude change in the Joule heating will have a significant effect on the source mechanisms for such phenomena as atmospheric gravity waves, infrasonic waves, and spread F irregularities. One should expect an asymmetry in the occurrence and structure of such events with respect to the Harang discontinuity. This asymmetry is noted for aurorally excited gravity waves. A tentative calibration of the total Joule dissipation in the neutral atmosphere relative to the magnetic field disturbance vector measured by a nearby ground-based magnetometer has been performed. The heating efficiency was found to be 10 times larger in a positive bay than in a negative bay. The heating efficiency for the negative bay event is close to the value deduced by Cole (1971) on theoretical grounds.