Long‐Term and Solar Cycle Variation of Galactic Cosmic Rays: Evidence for Variable Heliospheric Turbulence

Abstract

AbstractThe Sun modulates the flux of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) reaching the Earth's orbit. GCR flux has been measured by ground‐based neutron monitors (NMs) for several decades, which provides an interesting long‐term monitor of solar activity and the heliospheric magnetic field. Here we study the long‐term evolution of the power spectrum of GCR over the last six solar cycles, using the power law slope in the frequency range 5.56·10−6 to 2.14·10−6 Hz (between 50 and 130 hr). We use data from 31 neutron monitors during 1953–2016. We show that the power law slopes vary within the solar cycle, with a Kolmogorov‐type slope observed at solar minimum and a random‐walk‐type slope observed at solar maximum. This implies that the different conditions in the different phases of the solar cycle affect the scaling properties of heliospheric turbulence and, thereby, cosmic ray variability.