We compare optical observations of ring current particle precipitation from a near equatorial site in Brazil with variations in the AE and Dst indices. Precipitation occurs during ring current injection when AE is large, but for AE large without ring current injection, little precipitation is seen. Comparisons are also made with 630-nm observations of thermospheric heating made simultaneously in Peru. The thermospheric temperatures have been corrected for instrumental drift and temperature enhancements of several hundred kelvins are present. It is not possible to associate clearly the heating with direct precipitation nor in the short term with transport of heat from higher latitudes. On a longer time scale it is likely that both mid-latitude ring current sources and high-latitude Joule heating sources are involved. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988