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Short-Term Periodicities Observed in Neutron Monitor Counting Rates

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Abstract

Neutron monitor counting rates and solar wind velocity, interplanetary magnetic field, sunspot number and total solar irradiance measurements from 2013 to 2018 corresponding to the end of solar maximum and the decreasing phase of the Solar Cycle 24 have been used. The main objective is to check whether the periodicities observed in the cosmic rays are affected by the magnetic rigidity or the height at which the neutron monitors are placed. A Global Neutron Monitor (GNM) has been defined as representative of the neutron monitor global network. This GNM is constructed by averaging the counting rates of a set of selected neutron monitors. The selection process is based on the combination of three new data quality criteria, which are applied to neutron monitors in the Neutron Monitor Data Base giving a final pool of 22 selected neutron monitors. Morlet wavelet analysis is applied to the GNM and the selected solar activity parameters to find the common periodicities. Short-term periodicities of 13.5, 27, 48, 92, 132 and 298 days have been observed in cosmic ray intensity. A clear inverse relationship between rigidity and spectral power has been obtained for the 13.5-, 48-, 92-, 132-day periods. A not so clear but still observed direct relationship between the height of the neutron monitors and the spectral power for the 48-, 92-, 132-day periods has been also found. The periodicity of 92 days is the one which shows the highest dependence with rigidity cutoff and height. As far as we know, this is the first time that these dependencies are reported. We think that these observations could be explained by assuming some cosmic ray intensity energy dependence in such periodicities and a competitive effect between rigidity and height.

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Abbreviations

CR:

Cosmic Rays

CRI:

Cosmic Rays Intensity

HCS:

Heliospheric Current Sheet

NM:

Neutron Monitor

NMDB:

Neutron Monitor Database

SC:

Solar Cycle

TSI:

Total Solar Irradiance

SSN:

Sunspot number

WPS:

Wavelet Power Spectrum

GWS:

Global Wavelet Spectrum

GNM:

Global Neutron Monitor

m.a.s.l.:

meters above sea level

PCP:

Percentage of Corrected Points

\(B\) :

module of interplanetary magnetic field

\(B_{z}\) :

\(z\)-component in GSE (Geocentric Solar Ecliptic) coordinates of interplanetary magnetic field

\(B_{r}\) :

parallel component to the ecliptic plane of interplanetary magnetic field

\(V\) :

module of solar wind speed

\(V_{x}\) :

\(x\)-component in GSE (Geocentric Solar Ecliptic) coordinates of solar wind speed

\(V_{\mathrm{perp}}\) :

perpendicular component to the ecliptic plane of solar wind speed

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to MINECO - FPI 2017 Program cofinanced by the European Social Fund. This work has been supported by the project CTM2016-77325-C2-1-P funded by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and by the European Regional Development Fund, FEDER. Data of neutron monitors has been downloaded from NMDB page: http://www.nmdb.eu/nest/. Athens neutron monitor data were kindly provided by the Physics Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The neutron monitor data from Inuvik, Norm-Amberd, Newark, Peawanuck and Thule are provided by the University of Delaware Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute. The neutron monitor data from the South Pole Bares and South Pole are provided by the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. The neutron monitor data from Oulu are provided by Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory. Terra Adelie neutron monitor data were kindly provided by Observatoire de Paris and the French polar institute (IPEV), France. Mexico City neutron monitor data were kindly provided by the Cosmic Ray Group, Geophysical Institute, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico. Rome neutron monitor (SVIRCO NM) is supported by INAF/IAPS-UNIRoma3 COLLABORATION. Almaty Neutron Monitor data were kindly provided by the Institute of Ionosphere, Kazakhstan Potchefstroom and Hermanus Neutron Monitor data were kindly provided by the North-West University of South Africa. Jungfraujoch neutron monitor data were kindly provided by the Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Switzerland. Mirny Neutron Monitor data were kindly provided by Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and radio wave propagation (IZMIRAN) of Russian Academy of Science. Apatity Neutron Monitor data were kindly provided by Polar Geophysical Institute Russian Academy of Sciences. Tixie-Bay and Yakutsk neutron monitor data were kindly provided by the Institute OF COSMOPHYSICAL RESEARCH AND AERONOIMY of Russian Academy of Science. CaLMa neutron monitor data were kindly provided by the Space Research Group (SRG-UAH), University of Alcala, Spain.

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  1. Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

    A. López-Comazzi & J. J. Blanco

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  1. A. López-Comazzi
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Appendix

Appendix

See Figs. 12–17.

Figure 12
figure 12

The WPS and GWS of Alma-Ata, Apatity, Athens, CaLMa and Hermanus NM.

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Figure 13
figure 13

The WPS and GWS of Hermanus, Inuvik, Jungfraujoch and Lomnicky Stit NM.

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Figure 14
figure 14

The WPS and GWS of Mirny, Mexico City, Nain and Norm-Amberd NM.

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Figure 15
figure 15

The WPS and GWS of Newark, Oulu, Potchefstroom and Peawanuck NM.

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Figure 16
figure 16

The WPS and GWS of Rome, South Pole 12-Bares, South Pole and Terra Adelie NM.

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Figure 17
figure 17

The WPS and GWS of Thule and Yakutsk NM.

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López-Comazzi, A., Blanco, J.J. Short-Term Periodicities Observed in Neutron Monitor Counting Rates. Sol Phys 295, 81 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-020-01649-5

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