Neutralized ring current particles are thought to be responsible for a number of different disturbance effects in the upper atmosphere. Here the energy deposition and radiation production by these particles are investigated. It is found that the particle heating is not sufficient to explain the geomagnetic activity effect at low latitudes. In contrast, the H&agr; and H&bgr; emission rates predicted by our model calculations are above the general background level and compare well with the observations. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993