Anomalous Component Of Cosmic Rays Research Articles

Ion Composition of the Earth’s Radiation Belts in the Range from 100 keV to 100 MeV / nucleon $100\mbox{ MeV}/\mbox{nucleon}$ : Fifty Years of Research

Spatial, energy and angular distributions of ion fluxes in the Earth’s radiation belts (ERB) near the equatorial plane, at middle geomagnetic latitudes and at low altitudes are systematically reviewed herein. Distributions of all main ion components, from protons to Fe (including hydrogen and helium isotopes), and their variations under the action of solar and geomagnetic activity are considered. For ions with $Z\geq 2$ and especially for ions with $Z \geq 9$ , these variations are much more than for protons, and these have no direct connection with the intensity of magnetic storms ( $Z$ is the charge of the atomic nucleus with respect to the charge of the proton). The main physical mechanisms for the generation of ion fluxes in the ERB and the losses of these ions are considered. Solar wind, Solar Cosmic Rays (SCR), Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR), and Anomalous component of Cosmic Rays (ACR) as sources of ions in the ERB are considered.

The MONICA Experiment for Investigating the Ion Composition of Solar Cosmic Rays

The MONICA satellite-based experiment is described. In this experiment, fluxes of cosmic-ray ions from H to Ni are investigated near the Earth in the energy range of 10–300 MeV/nucleon. The main scientific objectives of the MONICA experiment are to measure the ion and isotope compositions and the energy spectra of solar cosmic rays for individual solar events and to study the evolution of these characteristics over time. The MONICA experiment will help to investigate the ion and isotope composition of the anomalous component of cosmic rays, galactic cosmic rays, and nuclear fluxes in the Earth’s radiation belt. Observations of ion fluxes will be carried out using the MONICA high-aperture multilayer semiconductor spectrometer–telescope installed on board a spacecraft with a low-Earth circular polar orbit at a height of approximately 600 km. This orbit will make it possible to perform the method for measuring the charge of ions with energies above 10 MeV/nucleon, which is based on the use of the Earth’s magnetic field as a particle- charge separator. The geometric factor of the instrument is 100 cm2 sr and the angular resolution is 1°.

Current status of the MONICA experiment to study the ionic composition of solar cosmic rays

The current status of the MONICA experiment to study fluxes of cosmic ray ions from H to Ni in the energy range of 10–300 MeV in the vicinity of the Earth is described. The main scientific objective of the MONICA experiment is to measure the ionic and isotope compositions and energy spectra of solar cosmic rays for individual solar events, and to study the time evolution of these characteristics. The MONICA experiment will also allow us to investigate the ionic and isotope compositions of the anomalous cosmic ray component, galactic cosmic rays, and fluxes of nuclei in the Earth’s radiation belt. Ion fluxes will be observed using the MONICA large-aperture multilayer semiconductor spectrometer telescope on board a spacecraft in a circumterrestrial polar orbit with an altitude on the order of 600 km. This will enable us to measure the charges of ions with energies over 10 MeV/nucleon by using the Earth’s magnetic field as a charge separator. The geometric factor of the instrument is 100 cm2 sr; its angular resolution is 1°.

The structure of the Heliopause

Voyager 1 has explored the solar wind-interstellar medium interaction region between the Terminal Shock and the Heliopause, following the intensity distribution of the shock accelerated anomalous component of cosmic rays in the MeV energy range. The sudden disappearance of this component at 121.7 AU from the sun is discussed in terms of three models for the transition into the interstellar plasma flow. Particles trapped flowing parallel to the boundary may penetrate up to one Larmour radius beyond. If the boundary is stationary, Voyager 1 directly samples this distance. The boundary could flap, depending on Heliosheath pressure changes and Voyager 1 then samples the extent of this motion. Finally, a turbulent boundary layer is considered in which the MeV particle distribution falls off with distance, thus measuring diffusion within the layer.

Dense interstellar clouds and ionization of the atmosphere and soil of mars

Using the standard GEANT4 code, we calculated the ionization rate of the Mars atmosphere and the dose absorbed by the planet’s soil caused by the galactic cosmic rays and the anomalous cosmic ray component in the heliosphere. Cases of the solar system passing through dense molecular clouds leading to an increase of the energetic particle flux at the orbit of Mars and cases of thickness variation of the atmosphere itself are considered.

The heliospheric transport and modulation of multiple charged anomalous oxygen revisited

Context. Since the crossings of the solar wind termination shock by the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, much speculation has surrounded the acceleration mechanism and region where the anomalous cosmic ray component is accelerated. A peculiar, and mostly overlooked feature of the observed anomalous oxygen spectrum near the termination shock, is the power law form of the roll-over (cut-off )a t the high energy range of this spectrum. Aims. We investigate, using a numerical model, why this deviation from the expected exponential form of the cut-off part of the anomalous oxygen spectrum occurs, and if the observed power law form can be explained in terms of the acceleration of multiple charged anomalous oxygen. Methods. Multiple charged anomalous cosmic rays are incorporated in a numerical model, based on the standard Parker transport equation, including acceleration at the solar wind termination shock. This is done by specifying an energy dependent charge state, constrained by observations. Results. Comparing computational results with spacecraft observations, it is found that the inclusion of multiply charged anomalous cosmic rays in the modulation model can explain the observed spectrum of anomalous oxygen in the energy range from 10−70 MeV per nucleon. The more effective acceleration of these multiple charge anomalous particles at the solar wind termination shock causes a significant deviation from the usual exponential cut-off spectrum to display instead a power law decrease up to 70 MeV per nucleon where galactic oxygen starts to dominate. In addition, the model reproduces the features of multiple charged oxygen at Earth so that a good comparison is obtained between computations and observations.

Empirical model of cosmic ray spectrum in energy interval 1 MeV–100 GeV during 11-year solar cycle

The galactic cosmic rays (GCR) are the main ionization source at altitude of ∼3–35 km in the atmosphere. For high latitude anomalous cosmic ray (ACR) component has also a significant influence on the atmospheric ionization. We propose an empirical model for differential spectra D( E) of galactic and anomalous cosmic rays in energy interval 1 MeV–100 GeV during solar cycle. In the model data are used which cover three solar cycles: 20, 22 and 23. The LEAP87, IMAX92, CAPRICE94, AMS98 and BESS experimental spectra for protons and alpha particles are fitted to the proposed empirical model. The modulated GCR differential spectra are compared with force-field approximation to the one-dimensional transport equation and with solutions of two-dimensional cosmic ray transport equation. For experimental spectra, the calculation of the model parameters is performed by Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm, applied to the special case of least squares. Algorithm that combines the rapid local convergence of Newton–Raphson method with globally convergent method for non-linear systems of equations is applied for theoretically obtained differential spectra. The described programmes are realized in algorithmic language C++. The proposed model gives practical possibility for investigation of experimental data from measurements of galactic cosmic rays and their anomalous component.

Acceleration of the anomalous component of cosmic rays revisited

Acceleration of the anomalous component of cosmic rays revisited

Composition of Anomalous Cosmic Rays

The “classic” anomalous cosmic ray (ACR) component originates as interstellar neutral atoms that drift into the heliosphere, become ionized and picked up by the solar wind, and carried to the outer heliosphere where the pickup ions are accelerated to hundreds of MeV, presumably at the solar wind termination shock. These interstellar ACRs are predominantly singly charged, although higher charge states are present and become dominant above ∼350 MeV. Their isotopic composition is like that of the solar system and unlike that of the source of galactic cosmic rays. A comparison of their energy spectra with the estimated flux of pickup ions flowing into the termination shock reveals a mass-dependent acceleration efficiency that favors heavier ions. There is also a heliospheric ACR component as evidenced by “minor” ACR ions, such as Na, Mg, S, and Si that appear to be singly-ionized ions from a source likely in the outer heliosphere.

ENERGETIC PARTICLES IN THE HELIOSPHERE

The heliosphere is the region around the Sun that is filled by the solar wind and its embedded magnetic field. The interaction of the supersonic solar wind with the local interstellar medium leads to a transition from supersonic to subsonic speeds at the heliospheric termination shock. The latter is regarded to be the source of the anomalous component of cosmic rays. Within the heliosphere "local" energetic particle sources, like the Sun and interplanetary shock waves contribute to the cosmic ray flux, too. At energies below a few GeV the observed galactic and anomalous cosmic ray intensities are modulated by the heliospheric magnetic field. In my contribution, both the current knowledge and hypotheses about modulation and the transport of cosmic rays in the heliosphere are reviewed.

Catastrophic ozone loss during passage of the Solar system through an interstellar cloud

When Solar system passes through moderately dense interstellar clouds, Earth experiences a dramatic increase in the flux of the anomalous component of cosmic rays (ACRs) along with an increased flux of galactic cosmic rays. ACR flux across the Earth's orbit lasts as long as it takes to cross a moderately dense interstellar cloud, about 1 Myr years. A period of ∼1 Myr is long enough for Earth to experience at least one magnetic reversal allowing penetration of the cosmic rays deep into the atmosphere even at low latitudes. Such increased cosmic ray fluxes would enhance the abundance of stratospheric NOx ∼100 times between 20–40 km, which in turn would decrease the ozone column globally by at least 40% and in the polar regions up to 80%. Such ozone loss would last for the duration of the magnetic reversal and could trigger global extinctions.

Acceleration of multiply charged ions of the anomalous cosmic-ray component at the heliosphere boundary

The formation of the energy spectra of heavy ions at the front of a parallel shock is considered taking into account ionization and recombination during the acceleration. An analytic solution for ions with three possible charge states is obtained and applied to the acceleration of the anomalous cosmic-ray component at the boundary of the heliosphere. In addition, a more general numerical model for such acceleration at a spherical shock front is developed and used to obtain the energy dependence of the mean charges for C, N, O, Ne, Si, S, Ar, and Fe ions. The model implies that highly excited ions begin to dominate over ions with low charges at energies above 1 MeV/nucleon, in agreement with observational data.

Method for calculation of ionization profiles caused by cosmic rays in giant planet ionospheres from Jovian group

As a continuation of our studies of cosmic ray (CR) ionization in the atmospheres of the planets in the Solar system [Adv. Space Res. 27 (11) 1901, 2001a] we present a new method for the calculation of the electron production rate q( h) profiles due to particles of all energy intervals: galactic CR, anomalous CR component and other types of high energy particles. In the above mentioned paper, ionospheres of terrestrial planets are investigated, where the spherical model is used. For giant planets which have significant oblateness in spite of the isotropic penetration of the galactic CR in their atmospheres, the trivial integration on the azimuth angle is not applicable, because of the presentation of the planets as rotational ellipsoids and the azimuth dependence of the integrand function. The difference between profiles for spherical q S and ellipsoidal q E models of the terrestrial planets (Earth, Venus and Mars) is small. These differences in the q S and q E profiles increase significantly in the upper atmospheric layers of outer major planets. This requires the introduction of a modified Chapman function for oblate planet in the particle depth parameter (PDP), while considering the CR influence and ionization processes in the ionospheres of the giant planets. New calculations for relative profiles q E/ q S in the atmosphere of Saturn are presented. For this purpose an improved primary CR spectrum with a new type of smoothing function f with tangens hyperbolicus is used.

Numerical Simulation of Geomagnetic Trapping of Anomalous Cosmic Ray Ions

A method for simulating the propagation processes for ions of the anomalous component of cosmic rays in the Earth's magnetic field is described with allowance made for a step-by-step stripping of the ions in the residual atmosphere and their trapping by the geomagnetic field. Numerical results are presented for the geomagnetic trapping of high-energy singly charged oxygen ions penetrating into the stripping region from interplanetary space.

The “injection problem” for quasiparallel shocks

For a particle to be accelerated diffusively at a shock by the first-order Fermi acceleration mechanism, the particle must be sufficiently energetic that it can scatter across all the micro- and macrostructure of the shock, experiencing compression between the converging upstream and downstream states. This is the well-known “injection problem.” Here the interaction of ions with the ramp of a quasiparallel shock is investigated. Some ions incident on the shock experience specular reflection, caused either by the cross-shock electrostatic potential or by mirroring as the magnetic field is bent and compressed through the ramp. Scattering of reflected ions by self-generated and pre-existing turbulence in the region upstream of the shock then acts to trap backstreaming ions and return them to the ramp, where some experience further reflections. Such repeated reflections and scattering energize a subpopulation of ions up to energies sufficiently large that they can be diffusively shock accelerated. Two ion distributions are considered: pickup ions which are assumed to be described by a shell distribution, are thermal solar wind ions which may be described by a kappa distribution. Injection efficiencies are found analytically to be very high for pickup ions and much lower for thermal solar wind ions, suggesting that this injection mechanism, stochastic reflected ion or SRI acceleration, is a natural precursor for the acceleration of the anomalous cosmic ray component at a quasiparallel shock. While significantly less efficient, SRI acceleration is also viable for thermal solar wind ions described by a kappa distribution.

Self‐consistent injection and acceleration of pickup ions at the solar wind termination shock

A unified description of pickup and anomalous cosmic ray proton transport in the near ecliptic regions of the upwind heliosphere is presented. Multiply reflected ion acceleration theory is used for the injection of pickup protons into the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism, so yielding the anomalous cosmic ray component at the quasi‐perpendicular termination shock. The results show that both the multiply reflected and simultaneously accelerated pickup protons and the anomalous protons significantly modify the termination shock. Although the shock mediation lowers the cut‐off speed of the accelerated pickup protons, a sufficient large population of anomalous protons is accelerated at the termination shock to give a favorable comparison of the modulated anomalous proton spectra up‐stream with observations at large heliocentric distances.

Signature of a three-dimensional heliosphere in the spectra of anomalous cosmic rays

A steady-state transport model of the Anomalous component of Cosmic Rays (ACRs) that takes into account convection, spatial diffusion and adiabatic deceleration in a three-dimensional heliosphere is applied to compute ACR spectra in the kinetic energy range 2 keV to several GeV. The spectra are investigated with respect to their longitudinal gradients due to the three-dimensional structure of the heliosphere, defined by a latitudinally varying solar wind that is terminated by a heliospheric shock. The results significantly refine earlier studies based on the integrated spectra, i.e. the cosmic ray pressure. With the full spectral information at our disposal, we can identify the spectral regimes exhibiting the largest longitudinal gradients.

The Injection, Acceleration, And Dynamical Influence Of Interstellar Pickup Ions At The Solar Wind Termination Shock

The interaction of interstellar pickup ions with the solar wind termination shock is reviewed and assessed. The pickup ions mass and momentum load the wind and increase its pressure, effects which decrease the strength of the shock and its distance from the Sun. The pickup hydrogen may contribute substantially to the “reflected” ion population, which should provide most of the dissipation at the supercritical quasi-perpendicular shock. A fraction of the pickup ions impinging on the shock is “injected” into the process of diffusive shock acceleration to form the anomalous cosmic ray component. An injection mechanism which accounts for the apparent absence of solar wind ions in the anomalous component is “shock surfing”, in which pickup ions which approach the shock slowly may be trapped between the upstream Lorentz force and the shock potential and accelerated in the motional electric field beyond the energy threshold for diffusive shock acceleration. However, the simplest interpretation of shock surfing would favor less massive pickup ion species, in contradiction with Voyager observations of anomalous component composition. A possible extension of the shock surfing mechanism is considered, as well as other injection mechanisms. Finally, the pressure of the anomalous component may modify the structure of the termination shock, which in turn may influence injection rates.

The Solar Isotope Spectrometer for the Advanced Composition Explorer

The Solar Isotope Spectrometer (SIS), one of nine instruments on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), is designed to provide high-resolution measurements of the isotopic composition of energetic nuclei from He to Zn (Z = 2 to 30) over the energy range from ∼ 10 to ∼ 100 MeV nucl-1. During large solar events SIS will measure the isotopic abundances of solar energetic particles to determine directly the composition of the solar corona and to study particle acceleration processes. During solar quiet times SIS will measure the isotopes of low-energy cosmic rays from the Galaxy and isotopes of the anomalous cosmic-ray component, which originates in the nearby interstellar medium. SIS has two telescopes composed of silicon solid-state detectors that provide measurements of the nuclear charge, mass, and kinetic energy of incident nuclei. Within each telescope, particle trajectories are measured with a pair of two-dimensional silicon-strip detectors instrumented with custom, very large-scale integrated (VLSI) electronics to provide both position and energy-loss measurements. SIS was especially designed to achieve excellent mass resolution under the extreme, high flux conditions encountered in large solar particle events. It provides a geometry factor of ∼ 40 cm2 sr, significantly greater than earlier solar particle isotope spectrometers. A microprocessor controls the instrument operation, sorts events into prioritized buffers on the basis of their charge, range, angle of incidence, and quality of trajectory determination, and formats data for readout by the spacecraft. This paper describes the design and operation of SIS and the scientific objectives that the instrument will address.

The Ulysses north polar pass: Latitudinal gradients of anomalous cosmic ray O, N And Ne

A key finding of the Ulysses mission has been the absence of large latitudinal gradients in the Anomalous Cosmic Ray (ACR) component. Studies using data from several satellites have consistently shown a small (∼ 2%/deg.) positive latitudinal gradient for anomalous O, N and Ne in the energy range 4 to 30 MeV/n, and even smaller gradients for ACR He. In this paper we use data from the COSPIN/LET experiment on board Ulysses to investigate (a) the behaviour of the ACR latitudinal gradients during the passage over the northern polar regions, and (b) possible north‐south asymmetries. The descent from the north pole has taken place under solar minimum conditions, providing a unique opportunity to study fully developed latitudinal effects. Our data survey covers three ACR species, O (4 to 20 MeV/n), N (4 to 20 MeV/n) and Ne (4 to 30 MeV/n). ACR gradients have been calculated for three different regions: 0°–20° (∼ 5%/deg.), 20°–60° (∼ 3%/deg.) and 60°–80.2° (∼ 1%/deg.). Comparison of data from the northern and southern hemishere at a given latitude shows an asymmetry with higher fluxes in the north than in the south at a given latitude.