Cosmic Ray Cloud Research Articles

Nonlinear diffusion of cosmic rays escaping from supernova remnants: Cold partially neutral atomic and molecular phases

Aims. We aim to elucidate cosmic ray (CR) propagation in the weakly ionized environments of supernova remnants (SNRs) basing our analysis on the cosmic ray cloud (CRC) model. Methods. We solved two transport equations simultaneously: one for the CR pressure and one for the Alfvén wave energy density where CRs are initially confined in the SNR shock. Cosmic rays trigger a streaming instability and produce slab-type resonant Alfvén modes. The self-generated turbulence is damped by ion-neutral collisions and by noncorrelated interaction with Alfvén modes generated at large scales. Results. We show that CRs leaking in cold dense phases such as those found in cold neutral medium (CNM) and diffuse molecular medium (DiM) can still be confined over distances of a few tens of parsecs from the CRC center for a few thousand years. At 10 TeV, CR diffusion can be suppressed by two or three orders of magnitude. This effect results from a reduced ion-neutral collision damping in the decoupled regime. We calculate the grammage of CRs in these environments. We find that in both single and multi-phase setups at 10 GeV, CNM and DiM media can produce grammage in the range 10–20 g cm−2 in the CNM and DiM phases. At 10 TeV, because of nonlinear propagation the grammage increases to values in the range 0.5–20 g cm−2 in these two phases. We also present preliminary calculations in inhomogeneous interstellar medium combining two or three different phases where we obtain the same trends.

Cloud cover and cosmic ray variations at Lomnický štít high altitude observing site

We studied the relation of cloud cover and cosmic rays during the period 1982–2010 measured at Lomnický štít (2634m above sea level, in the direction of 49.40°N, 20.22°E, geomagnetic vertical cut-off rigidity for cosmic ray ~3.85 GV). Daily means are used. It is seen that the correlations are insignificant for averaging shorter than about one year. We have found weak positive correlation for longer averaging times. Difference in distributions of cosmic ray intensity between the days with cloudless and overcast sky level at α=0.05 is found in the data. In addition to the experiments and clarification of physical mechanisms behind the relations studied here, longer time intervals and analysis at different sites with respect to cut-off rigidity and sea/continents along with the satellite data are important for progress in understanding the cosmic ray–cloud relation questions, at least from the point of view of empirical description of the dependencies.

Investigation of cosmic ray–cloud connections using MISR

Numerous empirical studies have analyzed International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data and reached contradictory conclusions regarding the influence of solar‐modulated galactic cosmic rays on cloud fraction and cloud properties. The Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra satellite has been in continuous operation for 13 years and thus provides an independent (and previously unutilized) cloud data set to investigate purported solar‐cloud links. Furthermore, unlike many previous solar‐climate studies that report cloud fraction MISR measures albedo, which has clearer climatological relevance. Our long‐term analysis of MISR data finds no statistically significant correlations between cosmic rays and global albedo or globally averaged cloud height, and no evidence for any regional or lagged correlations. Moreover, epoch superposition analysis of Forbush decreases reveals no detectable albedo response to cosmic ray decreases, thereby placing an upper limit on the possible influence of cosmic ray variations on global albedo of 0.0029 per 5% decrease. The implications for recent global warming are discussed.

A cosmic ray-climate link and cloud observations

Despite over 35 years of constant satellite-based measurements of cloud, reliable evidence of a long-hypothesized link between changes in solar activity and Earth's cloud cover remains elusive. This work examines evidence of a cosmic ray cloud link from a range of sources, including satellite-based cloud measurements and long-term ground-based climatological measurements. The satellite-based studies can be divided into two categories: 1) monthly to decadal timescale correlations, and 2) daily timescale epoch-superpositional (composite) analysis. The latter analyses frequently focus on high-magnitude reductions in the cosmic ray flux known as Forbush Decrease (FD) events. At present, two long-term independent global satellite cloud datasets are available (ISCCP and MODIS). Although the differences between them are considerable, neither shows evidence of a solar-cloud link at either long or short timescales. Furthermore, reports of observed correlations between solar activity and cloud over the 1983 to 1995 period are attributed to the chance agreement between solar changes and artificially induced cloud trends. It is possible that the satellite cloud datasets and analysis methods may simply be too insensitive to detect a small solar signal. Evidence from ground-based studies suggests that some weak but statistically significant CR-cloud relationships may exist at regional scales, involving mechanisms related to the global electric circuit. However, a poor understanding of these mechanisms and their effects on cloud make the net impacts of such links uncertain. Regardless of this, it is clear that there is no robust evidence of a widespread link between the cosmic ray flux and clouds.

Probing the climatological impact of a cosmic ray–cloud connection through low-frequency radio observations

It has been proposed that cosmic ray events could have a causal relationship with cloud formation rates. Given the weak constraints on the role that cloud formation plays in climate forcing it is essential to understand the role such a relationship could have in shaping the Earth's climate. This issue has been previously investigated in the context of the long-term effect of cosmic ray events on climate. However, in order to establish whether or not such a relationship exists, measurements of short-timescale solar events, individual cosmic ray events, and spatially correlated cloud parameters could be of great significance. Here we propose such a comparison using observations from a pair of radio telescopes arrays, the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) and the Eight-meter-wavelength Transient Array (ETA). These low-frequency radio arrays have a unique ability to simultaneously conduct solar, ionospheric and cosmic rays observations and are thus ideal for such a comparison. We will outline plans for a comparison using data from these instruments, satellite images of cloud formation as well as expected cloud formation rates from numerical models. We present some preliminary results illustrating the efficacy of this type of comparison and discuss future plans to carryout this program.

Sudden cosmic ray decreases: No change of global cloud cover

Currently a cosmic ray cloud connection (CRC) hypothesis is subject of an intense controversial debate. It postulates that galactic cosmic rays (GCR) intruding the Earth's atmosphere influence cloud cover. If correct it would have important consequences for our understanding of climate driving processes. Here we report on an alternative and stringent test of the CRC‐hypothesis by searching for a possible influence of sudden GCR decreases (so‐called Forbush decreases) on clouds. We find no response of global cloud cover to Forbush decreases at any altitude and latitude.

宇宙線と雲形成―フォーブッシュ現象で雲は減るか？―

Possible influences of cosmic rays on terrestrial climate have been studied by many researchers since a good correlation between neutron monitor counts and global cloud amount was reported by Svensmark and Friis-Christensen in 1997. The cosmic ray-cloud relationship may be best tested during Forbush decrease events, in which cosmic rays largely decrease for several days associated with coronal mass ejections. Some cloud parameters are likely to respond to the transient decrease of cosmic rays with a typical time delay of several days, although we do not know the physics behind the cosmic-ray cloud relationship.

Chaos in different far-off cosmic rays: a fractal wave model

The air shower arrival time intervals (ASATIs) were observed for several years at five different far-off stations to study the chaotic feature of the cosmic rays. The total number of chaotic time series of ASATIs is 99 from February 1994 to November 2000. The chaotic ASATIs appear six times simultaneously between two different stations, showing a higher probability of simultaneous chaos detection than the random occurrence as implied by the fractal wave pattern of cosmic ray clouds. The average fractal dimension of the fractional chaotic ASATIs for each station is 3.7 ± 0.1 pm with average duration of 23 h. The distribution of the representative (central) right ascension of air showers among 99 chaotic ASATIs has two peaks around 4 h and 20 h. The time variation of the chaotic feature of the ASATIs for several days shows a quasi-periodic behaviour with the rotation of the earth. These results seem to indicate that the chaotic cosmic rays arrive at the earth, forming wave trains like a fractal pattern which covers an area of the galactic plane surrounding the earth.