Effective non-vertical and apparent cutoff rigidities for a cosmic ray latitude survey from Antarctica to Italy in minimum of solar activity

In this paper we will report the results of the computation of cutoff rigidities of vertical and non-vertical incident cosmic ray particles. Non-vertical effective cutoff rigidities have been computed by tracing particle trajectories through the “real” geomagnetic magnetic field comprising the International Geomagnetic Reference Field model (IGRF95, IAGA Division 5 Working Group 8, 1996: Sabaka, T.J., Langel, R.A., Baldwin, R.T., Conrad, J.A. The geomagnetic field, 1900–1995, including the large scale fields from magnetospheric sources and NASA candidate models for the 1995 IGRF revision. J. Geomag. Geoelect. 49, 157–206, 1997.) and the Tsyganenko [Tsyganenko, N.A. A magnetospheric magnetic field model with a warped tail current sheet. Planet. Space Sci. 37, 5–20, 1989.] magnetosphere model. The computation have been done for the backward route (from Antarctica to Italy) of the Italian Antarctic ship survey 1996–1997, for geographic points corresponding to the daily average coordinates of the ship; for zenith angles 15°, 30°, 45° and 60°, and azimuth angles from 0° to 360° in steps of 45°. By means of the obtained non-vertical cutoffs the apparent cutoff rigidities have been calculated. The information on integral multiplicities of secondary neutrons detected by the neutron monitor in dependence of the zenith angle of incoming primary cosmic ray particles have also been used. This information is based on the theoretical calculations of meson-nuclear cascades of primary protons with different rigidities arriving to the Earth’s atmosphere at the zenith angles of 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 75°. The difference between the computed apparent and vertical cutoff rigidities reaches ∼1 GV at rigidities >7–8 GV. At rigidities of 10–16 GV, the difference between the apparent and vertical cutoff rigidities is larger than that obtained earlier by Clem et al. [Clem, J.M., Bieber, J.W., Duldig, M., Evenson, P., Hall, D., Humble, J.E. Contribution of obliquely incident particles to neutron monitor counting rate. J. Geophys. Res. 102, 26919–26926, 1997.] and Dorman et al. [Dorman, L.I., Villoresi, G., Iucci, N., Parisi, M., Tyasto, M.I., Danilova, O.A., Ptitsyna, N.G. Cosmic ray survey to Antarctica and coupling functions for neutron component near solar minimum (1996–1997), 3. Geomagnetic effects and coupling functions. J. Geophys. Res. 105, 21047–21056, 2000.].     

Possible physical properties of the flow in the vicinity of the heliopause

An interface between the fully ionized hydrogen plasma of the solar wind (SW) and the partially ionized hydrogen gas flow of the local interstellar medium (LISM) is formed as a region where there is a strong interaction between these two flows. The interface is bounded by the solar wind termination shock (TS) and the LISM bow shock (BS) and is separated on two regions by the heliopause (HP) separating the solar wind and charged component of the LISM (plasma component below). The BS is formed due to the deceleration of the supersonic LISM flow relative to the solar system. Regions of the interface between the TS and HP and between the HP and BS were in literature named as the inner and outer heliosheaths, respectively. An investigation of the structure and physical properties of the heliosheath is at present especially interested due to the fact that Voyager-1 and Voyager-2 have crossed the TS in December 2004 (Burlaga, L.F., Ness, N.F., Acuna, M.Y., et al. Crossing the termination shock into the the heliosheath. Magnetic fields. Science 309, 2027–2029, 2005; Fisk, L.A. Journey into the unknown beyond. Science 309, 2016–2017, 2005; Decker, R.B., Krimigis, S.M., Roelof, E.C., et al. Voyager 1 in the foreshock, termination shock and heliosheath. Science 309, 2020–2024, 2005; Stone, E.C., Cummings, A.C., McDonald, F.B., et al. Voyager 1 explores the termination shock region and the heliosheath beyond. Science 309, 2017–2020, 2005) and in September 2007 (Jokipii, J.R. A shock for Voyager 2. Nature 454, 38–39, 2008; Gurnett, D.A., Kurth, W.S. Intense plasma waves at and near the solar wind termination shock. Nature 454, 78–80, 2008. doi: 10.1038/nature07023; Wang, L., Lin, R.P., Larson, D.E., Luhmann, J.G. Domination of heliosheath pressure by shock-accelerated pickup ions from observations of neutral atoms. Nature 454, 81–83, 2008. doi: 10.1038/nature07068.14; Burlaga, L.F., Ness, N.F., Acuna, M.H., et al. Magnetic fields at the solar wind termination shock. Nature 454, 75–77, 2008. doi: 10.1038/nature07029; Richardson, J.D., Kasper, J.C., Wang, C., et al. Cool heliosheath plasma and deceleration of the upstream solar wind at the termination shock. Nature 454, 63–66, 2008. doi: 10.1038/nature07024; Stone, E.C., Cummings, A.C., McDonald, F.B., et al. An asymmetric solar wind termination shock. Nature 454, 71–74, 2008. doi: 10.1038/nature07022; Decker, R.B., Krimigis, S.M., Roelof, E.C., et al. Mediation of the solar wind termination shock by non-thermal ions. Nature 454, 67–70, 2008. doi: 10.1038/nature 07030), respectively, and entered to the inner heliosheath.     

Physics of ion acceleration in the solar flare on 2005 September 7 determines γ-ray and neutron production

Relativistic neutrons were observed by the neutron monitors at Mt. Chacaltaya and Mexico City and by the solar neutron telescopes at Chacaltaya and Mt. Sierra Negra in association with an X17.0 flare on 2005 September 7. The neutron signal continued for more than 20 min with high statistical significance. Intense emissions of γ-rays were also registered by INTEGRAL, and during the decay phase by RHESSI. We analyzed these data using the solar-flare magnetic-loop transport and interaction model of Hua et al. [Hua, X.-M., Kozlovsky, B., Lingenfelter, R.E. et al. Angular and energy-dependent neutron emission from solar flare magnetic loops, Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 140, 563–579, 2002], and found that the model could successfully fit the data with intermediate values of loop magnetic convergence and pitch-angle scattering parameters. These results indicate that solar neutrons were produced at the same time as the γ-ray line emission and that ions were continuously accelerated at the emission site.     

Simultaneous observations of the plasma density on the same field line by the CPMN ground magnetometers and the Cluster satellites

By applying the cross-phase method and the amplitude-ratio method to magnetic field data obtained from two ground stations located close to each other, we can determine the frequency of the field line resonance (FLR), or the field line eigenfrequency, for the field line running through the midpoint of the two stations. From thus identified FLR frequency we can estimate the equatorial plasma mass density (ρ)$(\rho )$ by using the T05s magnetospheric field model [Tsyganenko, N.A., Sitnov, M.I. Modeling the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere during strong geomagnetic storms, J. Geophys. Res. 110, A03208, 2005] and the equation of Singer et al. [Singer, H.J., Southwood, D.J., Walker, R.J., Kivelson, M.G. Alfven wave resonances in a realistic magnetospheric magnetic field geometry, J. Geophys. Res. 86 (A6) 4589–4596, 1981].     

CME-geometry and cosmic-ray anisotropy observed by a prototype muon detector network

We analyze the cosmic-ray anisotropy observed by a prototype network of muon detectors during geomagnetic storms associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The network currently consists of multidirectional surface muon detectors at Nagoya (Japan) and Hobart (Australia), together with a prototype detector at São Martinho (Brazil) which has been in operation since March, 2001. In this report, we analyze the anisotropy recorded in both the muon detector and neutron monitor (the Spaceship Earth) networks and find significant enhancements of cosmic-ray anisotropy during geomagnetic storms. Following the analysis by Bieber and Evenson [Bieber, J.W., Evenson, P. CME geometry in relation to cosmic ray anisotropy. Geophys. Res. Lett. 25 (1998) 2955–2958] for the neutron monitor data at 10 GeV, we also derive cosmic-ray density gradients from muon data at higher-energy (50 GeV), possibly reflecting the larger-scale geometry of CMEs causing geomagnetic storms. We particularly find in some events the anisotropy enhancement clearly starting prior to the storm onset in both the muon and neutron data. This is the first result of the CME-geometry derived from simultaneous observations of the anisotropy with networks of multidirectional muon detectors and neutron monitors.     

New He neutron monitor for Chilean Cosmic-Ray Observatories from the Altiplanic zone to the Antarctic zone

We present the results of three years of continuous operations and the principal characteristics of our new ³He neutron monitors installed in the Chilean Network of Cosmic-Ray Observatories. During the years 2004 and 2005, we began the construction of this International Geophysical Year (IGY)-type ³He neutron monitor, with the intention of replacing the older proportional tubes of the BF₃. These new monitors are installed in stations at locations ranging from the near-equatorial zone to the Antarctic zone. As a reference system, we used our own BF₃ neutron monitors and previously complemented the collected data with a Monte Carlo simulation for the proton-yield function response of the Putre neutron monitor. Herein, we present for the first time the data obtained from our new high-mountain observatory located in the Altiplanic zone.     

23rd solar cycle: Solar activity parameters and associated Forbush decreases

We report Forbush decreases (FD) in cosmic ray intensity from January 1996 to December 2008, the whole Solar Cycle 23rd. Statistical analysis is done for only 152 events for which associated solar flare position, flare classes, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) speed are given. We applied FD parameters taken from the Forbush Effects and Interplanetary Disturbances databases maintained by the Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radiowave Propagation (IZMIRAN), obtained by processing the data of the worldwide neutron monitor network using the global survey method (GSM) (A. Belov et al., 2018). For the said number of events, we examine their effect on interplanetary space and the decrease of the galactic cosmic rays (GCR) near Earth. We found that the 11–20° latitudinal belt shows more FD- associated flare events than the other latitudinal belts, and on this belt, the Southern hemisphere is more active. The results reveal that FDs and solar flares are well correlated. Statistical analysis is carried out for the magnitude of the CR decrease with solar and geomagnetic parameters.     

Neutron monitor asymptotic directions of viewing during the event of 13 December 2006

During the recent ground level enhancement of 13 December 2006, also known as GLE70, solar cosmic ray particles of energy bigger that ∼500 MeV/nucleon propagated inside the Earth’s magnetosphere and finally accessed low-altitude satellites and ground level neutron monitors. The magnitude and the characteristics of this event registered at different neutron monitor stations of the worldwide network can be interpreted adequately on the basis of an estimation of the solar particle trajectories in the near Earth interplanetary space. In this work, an extended representation of the Earth’s magnetic field was realized applying the Tsyganenko 1989 model. Using a numerical back-tracing technique the solar proton trajectories inside the magnetospheric field of the Earth were calculated for a variety of particles, initializing their travel at different locations, covering a wide range of energies. In this way, the asymptotic directions of viewing were calculated for a significant number of neutron monitor stations, providing crucial information on the Earth’s “magnetospheric optics” for primary solar cosmic rays, on the top of the atmosphere, during the big solar event of December 2006. The neutron monitor network has been treated, therefore, as a multidimensional tool that gives insights into the arrival directions of solar cosmic ray particles as well as their spatial and energy distributions during extreme solar events.     

The variability of the proton cosmic ray flux on the Sun’s way around the galactic center

The discovery of direct evidences for the acceleration of high energetic particles at the shell supernova remnant RXJ1713.7-3946 underlined the need to calculate the cosmic ray (CR) distribution in the Galaxy on a spatial grid fine enough to resolve the changes in the CR density due to these kind of objects. It was shown before by Büsching et al. [Büsching, I., Kopp, A., Pohl, M., Schlickeiser, R., Perrot, C., Grenier, I. Cosmic-ray propagation properties for an origin in supernova remnants. ApJ 619, 314–326, 2005] that the discrete nature (both in space and time) of super novae (SN) as sources of Galactic CR leads to CR spectra changing in space and time, resulting in a range of possible CR spectra at a given location in the Galaxy. As the most frequent SN types Ib and II are found within spiral arms, one can expect a significant difference of the range of possible spectra in and outside spiral arms. We investigate the variability of the local interstellar CR proton spectrum during the motion of the Sun in and out of spiral arms in its journey around the Galactic center. Using the code described by Büsching et al. [Büsching, I., Kopp, A., Pohl, M., Schlickeiser, R., Perrot, C., Grenier, I. Cosmic-ray propagation properties for an origin in supernova remnants. ApJ 619, 314–326, 2005], the proton CR density in the Galaxy is calculated with high spatial and temporal resolution (75 pc in galactocentric radius r and azimuth φ at the position of the Sun and 20 pc in z (perpendicular to the galactic plane), with a time step of 1 kyr), assuming stochastically distributed point sources with a probability distribution that resembles the spiral structure of our Galaxy. We find the averaged CR flux outside the spiral arm to be about 50% of that inside a spiral arm. We further find spatial and temporal variations of the CR flux inside spiral arms.     

Real-time GLE alert in the ANMODAP Center for December 13, 2006

Within the last years, a real-time system to monitor high energy cosmic rays for space weather use has been operated at Athens cosmic ray station. Neutron monitors and satellite high resolution data in real time are used, making it possible to observe cosmic rays in dual energy range observations. In large solar energetic particle (SEP) events, ground level enhancement (GLE) can provide the earliest alert for the onset of the SEP event. This system watches for count rate increases recorded in real time by 23 neutron monitors, which triggers an alarm if a ground level enhancement (GLE) of cosmic ray intensity is detected.     

Two-spacecraft observations of reconnection at the magnetopause: Model results and data comparison

We revisit an example of “quasi-steady” magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause on February 11, 1998, observed by Equator-S and Geotail at the dawnside magnetopause. Phan et al. [Phan, T.D. et al., 2000. Extended magnetic reconnection at the Earth’s magnetopause from detection of bi-directional jets. Nature 404, 848–850.] reported oppositely directed jets at these spacecrafts and inferred a length of the reconnection line of about 38R_E. Pinnock et al. [Pinnock, M., Chisham, G., Coleman, I.J., Freeman, M.P., Hairston, M., Villain, J.-P., 2003. The location and rate of dayside reconnection during an interval of southward interplanetary magnetic field. Ann. Geophys. 21, 1467–1482.] used measurements from SuperDARN radars to show that the reconnection electric field was variable. Here we complement this work by obtaining snapshots of the reconnection electric field from the in situ observations. To do this, we apply a reconstruction method based on a model of compressible Petschek-type magnetic reconnection. This independent method uses magnetic field observations as input data to calculate the reconnection electric field. We obtain average values of E_rec in the range of 0.4–2.4 mV/m. Further we infer a distance perpendicular to the reconnection line of 0.4–0.6R_E. The model results are compared with the two studies mentioned above. It thus appears that while the transfer of momentum for this event is indeed large-scale, the actual rate depends on the time it is measured.     

A first step towards proton flux forecasting

We present a preliminary version of a potential tool for real time proton flux prediction which provides proton flux profiles and cumulative fluence profiles at 0.5 and 2 MeV of solar energetic particle events, from their onset up to the arrival of the interplanetary shock at the spacecraft position (located at 1 or 0.4 AU). Based on the proton transportation model by Lario et al. [Lario, D., Sanahuja, B., Heras, A.M. Energetic particle events: efficiency of interplanetary shocks as 50 keV E < 100 MeV proton accelerators. Astrophys. J. 509, 415–434, 1998] and the magnetohydrodynamic shock propagation model of Wu et al. [Wu, S.T., Dryer, M., Han, S.M. Non-planar MHD model for solar flare-generated disturbances in the Heliospheric equatorial plane. Sol. Phys. 84, 395–418, 1983], we have generated a database containing “synthetic” profiles of the proton fluxes and cumulative fluences of 384 solar energetic particle events. We are currently validating the applicability of this code for space weather forecasting by comparing the resulting “synthetic” flux profiles with those of several real events.     

On transmissivity of low energy cosmic rays in disturbed magnetosphere

Access of low energy cosmic rays to any position on the Earth depends on the state of the magnetosphere. Anisotropy of cosmic rays, deduced from the neutron monitor network, must assume the variable transmissivity of the magnetosphere especially during the geomagnetic disturbances. We illustrate that computations based on different available models of geomagnetic field during selected strong geomagnetic disturbances in 2003 and 2004 imply different profiles of cut-off rigidities in time, different transmissivity functions and different asymptotic directions. Using of cosmic ray records by neutron monitors at middle and low latitudes during geomagnetically active periods, in addition to cosmic ray anisotropy in interplanetary space deduced from high and low energy cosmic ray ground based measurements, may be used for checking validity of geomagnetic field models.     

Numeric simulations of in situ observations of interacting ejecta near 1 AU

We use a simple numerical model (González-Esparza, J.A., Santillán, A., Ferrer, J. A numerical study of the interaction between two ejecta in the interplanetary medium: one and two dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, Ann. Geophys. 22, 3741–3749, 2004) to study the evolution of three events in the solar wind reported by Wang et al. (Wang, Y.M., Ye, P.Z., Wang, S. Multiple magnetic clouds: several examples during March–April 2001. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 1370, 2003, doi:10.1029/2003JA009850), where two interacting ejecta detected in situ by ACE near 1 AU were related to CMEs observed previously by SOHO-LASCO. The study is based on a 1-D hydrodynamic model using the ZEUS code (Stone, J.M., Norman, M. ZEUS 2-D: A radiation magnetohydrodynamics code for astrophysical flows in two dimensions, I, the hydrodynamics algorithms and tests, Astrophys. J. 80, 753, 1992). Although this model cannot address either the magnetic field dynamics or the complex geometrical effects intrinsic in the three-dimensional nature of the phenomena, it illuminates the transferring of momentum and evolution of interacting large-scale solar wind disturbances in those cases where there is no merging (magnetic reconnection) between the two ejecta. This model can reproduce, in some cases, characteristics of the events such as transit times and flow signatures as inferred from the two-point measurements from spacecraft.     

Multi-spacecraft tracing of turbulent boundary layer

Multi-spacecraft tracing of the high latitude magnetopause (MP) and boundary layers and Interball-1 statistics indicate that:

1. (a) The turbulent boundary layer (TBL) is a persistent feature in the region of the cusp and ‘sash’, a noticeable part of the disturbances weakly depends on the interplanetary magnetic field By component; TBL is a major site for magnetosheath (MSH) plasma penetration inside the magnetosphere through percolation and local reconnection.

2. (b) The TBL disturbances are mainly inherent with the characteristic kinked double-slope spectra and, most probably, 3-wave cascading. The bi-spectral phase coupling indicates self-organization of the TBL as the entire region with features of the non-equilibrium multi-scale and multi-phase system in the near-critical state.

3. (c) We've found the different outer cusp topologies in summer/winter periods: the summer cusp throat is open for the decelerated MSH flows, the winter one is closed by the distant MP with a large-scale (several Re) diamagnetic ‘plasma ball’ inside the MP; the ‘ball’ is filled from MSH through patchy merging rather than large-scale reconnection.

4. (d) A mechanism for the energy release and mass inflow is the local TBL reconnection, which operates at the larger scales for the average anti-parallel fields and at the smaller scales for the nonlinear fluctuating fields; the latter is operative throughout the TBL. The remote from TBL anti-parallel reconnection seems to happen independently.

Interplanetary proton cumulated fluence model update

Solar particle events leading to important increase of particle fluxes at energies of order of magnitude ranging from MeV to GeV constitute an important hazard for space missions. They may lead to effects seen in microelectronics or damage to solar cells and constitute a potential hazard for manned missions. Cumulative damage is commonly expressed as a function of fluence which is defined as the integral of the flux over time. A priori deterministic estimates of the expected fluence cannot be made because over the time scale of a space mission, the fluence can be dominated by the contribution of a few rare and unpredictable high intensity events. Therefore, statistical approaches are required in order to estimate fluences likely to be encountered by a space mission in advance. This paper extends work done by Rosenqvist et al. [Rosenqvist, L., Hilgers, A., Evans, H., Daly, E., Hapgood, M., Stamper, R., Zwickl, R., Bourdarie, S., Boscher, D. Toolkit for updating interplanetary proton-cumulated fluence models. J. Spacecraft Rockets, 42(6), 1077–1090, 2005] to describe an updated predictive engineering model for the proton interplanetary fluence with energies >30 MeV. This model is derived from a complete list of solar proton fluences based on data from a number of calibrated sources covering almost three solar cycles.     

Is there an instrumental drift in the counting rate of some high latitude neutron monitors?

For the last six decades the neutron monitors have provided a continuous string of very reliable data to the heliophysics community. Although neutron monitors are not the primary source of data for the galactic cosmic rays, these data serve as a baseline reference for the data collected by the detectors on board the satellites and deep space probes, far away from earth orbit. The pressure corrected hourly data are available from the World Data Centers. These data have been used to derive deep insights pertaining to the electromagnetic states of the heliosphere and the modes of transport of energetic charged particles in the tangled interplanetary magnetic fields. We present evidence that some of the high latitude neutron monitors are undergoing long-term drifts in their baselines. In particular, we argue that there is no physical basis to justify the observed long-term downward trend in the baseline of the South Pole neutron monitor. The real reason may have to do with its maintenance at a distant location with challenging logistics and an improper normalization of its data after the 26 months break in the 1970s.     

Rigidity dependence of Forbush decreases in the energy region exceeding the sensitivity of neutron monitors

Applicability of our present setup for solar modulation studies in a shallow underground laboratory is tested on four prominent examples of Forbush decrease during solar cycle 24. Forbush decreases are of interest in space weather application and study of energy-dependent solar modulation, and they have been studied extensively. The characteristics of these events, as recorded by various neutron monitors and our detectors, were compared, and rigidity spectrum was found. Linear regression was performed to find power indices that correspond to each event. As expected, a steeper spectrum during more intense extreme solar events with strong X-flares shows a greater modulation of galactic cosmic rays. Presented comparative analysis illustrates the applicability of our setup for studies of solar modulation in the energy region exceeding the sensitivity of neutron monitors.     

Change in the rigidity dependence of the galactic cosmic ray modulation in 2008–2009

Observations of charged particle fluxes in the stratosphere of the polar regions represent the cosmic rays variations with energy above 100 MeV. At the end of 2009 these fluxes reached the highest level for the time of observations from mid 1957 and were by 17% higher than the previous extremum value of May 1965. In the mean time the ground-based neutron monitors showed the remarkably less count rate enhancement. These results argue for the significant change in the energy spectrum of incoming particles in 2008–2009 in the energy range of ∼100–1500 MeV/n.     

Investigation of the Mars Express HRSC color channel calibration

The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the Mars Express spacecraft in orbit about Mars has four detector channels dedicated to produce images in four spectral channels. Utilizing these spectrophotometric data requires understanding the instrument radiometric calibration and other photometric properties of the data. We present here some results of our investigation into the HRSC color data characteristics. This covers comparison of HRSC measurements with those of telescopes and the Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activité (OMEGA) instrument, also on Mars Express. We also investigate the dependence of HRSC Color measurements on solar phase angle and altitude of the Mars surface. These results confirm and extend our earlier findings [McCord, T.B., Adams, J.B., Bellucci, G., Combe, J.-Ph., Hansen, G., Hoffman, H., Jaumann, R., Lumme, K., Neukum, G., Pinet, P., Poulet, F., the HRSC Co-I Team, The Mars Express high Resolution Stereo Camera spectrophotometric data: characteristics and science analysis. J. Geophys. Res. 112, E6, 2007.]. A basic finding from our study is that there are nearly constant offsets between the I/F value derived from the HRSC data and those determined from OMEGA and groundbased telescope measurements, especially in the HRSC red bandpass. These offsets are nearly independent of solar phase angle and Mars surface altitude but are considerably larger for the one comparison at Phobos we were able to make. Several hypotheses could explain these effects: atmospheric scattering, surface photometric effects, shift of the spatial registration or calibration. All these possibilities were investigated.