RESEARCH FROM A. CHILINGARIAN ET AL BROADENS UNDERSTANDING OF SPACE RESEARCH

Defense & Aerospace Business
April 21, 2010

"To improve the physical understanding of the Forbush decreases (FD)
and to explore the Space Weather drivers, we need to measure as much
geospace parameter as possible, including the changing fluxes of
secondary cosmic rays. At the Aragats Space Environmental Center
(ASEC) are routinely measured the neutral and charged fluxes of
secondary cosmic rays," researchers in Yerevan, Armenia report.

"Each of species has different most probable energy of primary
"parent" proton/nuclei. Therefore, the energy range of the Galactic
Cosmic Rays (GCR) affected by Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejection
(ICME) can be effectively estimated using data of the ASEC monitors.

We presented relations of the magnitude of FD observed in different
secondary particle fluxes to the most probable energy of the primary
protons. We investigate the correlations between the magnitude of
FD with the size, speed, density and magnetic field of the ICME,"
wrote A. Chilingarian and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: "We demonstrate that the attenuation of
the GCR flux incident on the Earth’s atmosphere due to passing of the
ICME is dependent on the speed and size of the ICME and the magnetic
field strength."

Chilingarian and colleagues published their study in Advances in Space
Research (On the relation of the Forbush decreases detected by ASEC
monitors during the 23rd solar activity cycle with ICME parameters.

Advances in Space Research, 2010;45(5):614-621).

For additional information, contact N. Bostanjyan, Alikhanyan Phys
Inst, Cosm Ray Div, Alikhanyan Bros 2, Yerevan 375036, Armenia.

Publisher contact information for the journal Advances in Space
Research is: Elsevier Science Ltd., the Boulevard, Langford Lane,
Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, Oxon, England.