The Relationship of Cosmic Rays to the Environment Erwin O. Flückiger Physikalisches Institut University of Bern ECRS 2008 – Košice – 11 September 2008

Nuclear Interactions * Particle Fluxes, Spectra * Cosmogenic Isotopes Ionisation * Ionisation Rate * Ion Concentration * Global Electric Circuit - Commmunication - E-Fields, Lightnings, Thunderclouds - Air Conductivity - Hurricanes * Catalytic Reactions - Ozone - Nitrates * Weather and Climate - Mesosphere – lower Thermosphere Dynamics - Temperature - Rain - Lightning - CR and Clouds Radiation Effects Epidemic Flu Genetic Mutations CR as Diagnostic Tool

Review Papers e.g. Bazilevskaya, G.A, M.B. Krainev, and V.S. Makhmutov, Effects of cosmic rays on the Earth‘s environment, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62, 1577–1586, 2000 Stozhkov, Y.I., The role of cosmic rays in atmospheric processes, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part Phys. 29, , 2003

Laurent Desorgher4 Simulation of the Cascades in the Atmoshere PLANETOCOSMICS GEANT4 Application Interaction of cosmic rays with Planet Atmospheres and Soils Atmospheric cascade initiated by a 1 GeV proton

Cosmic Rays in the Earth‘s Atmosphere Neutrons are still a problem!

Cosmic Ray Contribution to Radiation Dose Rule of Thumb ~ 5 μSv / hr

Radiation Exposure at Aircraft Altitude LIULIN measurements of GLE 60 during PRG-JFK flight Beck et al., 2006

The 13 December 2006 Solar Particle Event Radiation Exposure at Aircraft Altitude Flückiger et al., ICRC 2007 Workshop

The 13 December 2006 Solar Particle Event Radiation Exposure at Aircraft Altitude Flückiger et al., ICRC 2007 Workshop

Ion Production in the Earth‘s Atmosphere Electromagnetic Radiation UV & X-ray GCR Magnetospheric Particles Radioactive Constituents Lightning SCR Geomagnetic Storms At altitudes of ~3 to 35 km, cosmic rays are practically the only ionisation source

Ion Production and Ion Concentration in the Earth‘s Atmosphere Ion production rate qq = I ρ σ / M where I = I (h, R c, Φ) cosmic ray flux ρ air density σ effective ionisation cross section  2 x cm 2 at h ≤ 20 km M average mass of air atom Ion concentration nq = α n 2 α 3D recombination coefficient Stozhkov, 2003 q(h) = β(h) n(h) β(h) linear recombination coefficient

Bazilevskaya et al., 2007 Ionization by GCR Monthly averaged fluxes of ionizing particles in the atmosphere over Murmansk region as measured by an omnidirectional Geiger counter

Ionization by GCR & SCR Desorgher et al., AOGS 2004 Bern Model:

Global Electric Circuit adapted from Stozhkov, 2003 Q ≈ C E ≈ V/m J a ≈ A m -2 Total atmospheric current ~ 1800 A Troposphere Stratosphere ΔV ≈ V The thunderclouds are the generators of the global electric circuit quietperturbed Atmosphere

Stozhkov, 2003 CR & Atmospheric Current Yearly averages of atmospheric electric current J (Roble 1985) and cosmic ray flux I at h  20 km in the polar region

Stozhkov, 2003 Yearly number of lightning L detected in the USA in (black points; Orville & Huffines, 1999) and ion production rate q in the air column (h = 2 – 10 km) at middle latitudes (open points). CR & Lightning

CR & Precipitation Stozhkov, 2003 Changes in the daily precipitation level D [%], relative to the mean value during one month before (days -30 to -1) and one month after (days 1 to 30) the event Left: Forbush decrease - Right: GLE Fd GLE

Ozone, Nitrates and Temperature Rohen et al., 2005 Scenario of large solar proton event energetic protons ionize major atmospheric constituents → transformation to intermediate water clusters → further clustering and dissociative recombination → production of H and OH („odd hydrogen“ ). NO is the result of dissociation of N 2 and a series of recombination reactions involving nitrogen and its ions. Enhanced production of „odd nitrogen“ (complex of nitrate radicals designated by the symbol NO y ). Ozone destruction: 2 Cycles HO x (H, OH, HO 2 ) above 50 km Ozone depletion through HO x follows the time profile of the ionization nearly instantaneously NO x (NO, NO 2 ) below 50 km NO x induced ozone depletion has a long time constant Temperature drop

Ozone Destruction OH + O → H + O 2 NO 2 + O → NO + O 2 H + O 3 → OH + O 2 NO + O 3 → NO 2 + O 2 Net O + O 3 → O 2 + O 2 O + O 3 → O 2 + O 2 mainly above 50 km mainly below 50 km follows the time profile of the long time constant ionization nearly instantaneously

HNO 3 (15-31/01/2005 HNO 3 (a good proxy for NOy): 15-31/01/2005 Contours of averaged HNO 3 (volume mixing ratio) values during the second part of January 2005). Selected location: ~ 75°-82°N. The HNO 3 increase can be the result of: - the OH and NO 2 raise during SEP events; - through the reaction of water cluster ions with NO 3. ICRC 2007, Paper 1009, Storini & Damiani

Funke et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys. 8, , 2008 October / November 2003 SCR Induced N 2 O Variations Data from MIPAS instrument (limb emission Fourier transform spectrometer) onboard ENVISAT satellite: Northern Polar Hemisphere (40°N - 90°N) distributions of N 2 O (in ppbv, parts per billion by volume) for days from 26 October to 11 November 2003 at an altitude of 58 km. Nighttime data only. Contours are zonally smoothed within 700 km.

Funke et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys. 8, , 2008 October / November 2003 SCR Induced N 2 O Variations Time series of N 2 O abundance (in ppbv) after the solar proton events of October–November 2003 for the Northern Hemisphere polar cap (70°–90°N) during nighttime conditions. Left: MIPAS measurements. Right: Simulations by the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model

SCR Induced OH, NO, and O 3 Variations Model Calculations for October 1989 at 70°N, 30°E Ondrášková & Krivolutsky, J. Atm. & Solar-Terrestrial Physics 67, , 2005 Ionisation rate [cm -3 s -1 ] Midday OH changes [%] Midday NO changes [%] Midday O3 changes [%]

SCR & Sulfate/Nitrate Aerosol 20 January 2005 GLE Sites from the TOMS aerosol index data set Evidence for an increase in the concentration of sulfate or nitrate aerosol on the second day after the GLE in the south magnetic pole region with the maximum penetration of solar cosmic rays. Aerosol optical depth index (AI) TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) Mirinova et al., 2008

Ozone depletion rates above 60°N geomagnetic latitude (solid line), model results (stars) and GOES-11 15–40 MeV proton flux (blue points). The altitude is 54.4 km and the observation and model data are daily and zonally averaged. The reference period is 20–24 October, SCR Induced Ozone Change Rohen et al., JGR 110, A09S39, 2005

SCR Induced Ozone Change Change of ozone concentration at 49 km altitude in the NH and SH in a global view. Changes are shown for different time periods in each hemisphere, respectively. The reference period is 20–24 October Evidently the ozone depletion is confined to the geographic and geomagnetic poles. Rohen et al., JGR 110, A09S39, 2005

Pancheva et al., J. Atm. & Solar-Terrestrial Physics 69, , 2007 October / November 2003 GOES-11 Andenes ~ 90 km ΔT > 25K SCR Induced Temperature Change

GLE induced Nitrate in Ice Cores Scenario according to CR community Enhanced production of „odd nitrogen“ during large solar proton event Some of the HNO 3 is transported to the troposphere, where it is precipitated within short time (~ 1yr) downward to the surface → deposition in polar ice Atmospheric chemists and physicist do not (yet) believe this last point! However: Contemporary state-of-the-art measurements of the denitrification of the polar atmosphere find significant nitric acid trihydrate particles (called NAT rocks) in the polar stratospheric clouds.

ICRC 2007, Paper 725, Kepko et al. Observations of Impulsive Nitrate Enhancements Associated With Ground-Level Cosmic Ray Events 1-4 ( )

The Carrington Event Carrington [1860] and Hodgson [1860] independently observed a white light flare on September 1, 1859, which was accompanied by a large geomagnetic crochet. omnidirectional fluence (>30 MeV): 18.8 x 10 9 cm -2 McCracken et al.,JGR,106(A10), 21’585–21’598, 2001

Identification of Super GLEs in Ice 70 Impulsive Nitrate Events (30 MeV Proton Fluence >2 x 10 9 cm -2 ) between 1561–1950 McCracken et al., JGR 106(A10), 21’585–21’598, 2001

Different Communities Cosmic Rays Cosmic Ray Detectors (ground based and in space) Ionisation Models - Oulu Model (Usoskin) - Bern Model (Desorgher) - Sofia Model (Velinov) - BOB 2 Model (Kallenrode) - ….. Environmental Research Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Cutting edge sensors onboard satellites - MIPAS (HNO3 NO2) - GOMOS (NO2) - HALOE (NH, NOx Ozone) - POAM - SAGE - OSIRIS - …. Multi-Satellite Data Analysis Atmospheric Models WACCM3 Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model CMAM Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model TIME-GCM Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Electrodynamic General Circulation Model GCM General Circulation Model and 3D chemical global transport- photochemical middle atmosphere model SLIMCAT Transport and full chemistry, coupling between chemistry, transport and circulation …..

Atmospheric front approaching Moscow region 26/06/05 08:22 Cosmic Rays as Diagnostic Tools ICRC 2007, Paper 296, Timashkov et al.

Analysis of muon flux variations during the hurricane in Dubna (June 26, 2005) ICRC 2007, Paper 296, Timashkov et al.

Summary The relations between galactic / solar cosmic rays and our environment are manifold: via nuclear reactions → Cosmic ray shower → Radiation effects → Production of cosmogenic isotopes via ionisation → Global electric circuit → Nitrate enhancement → Ozone depletion → Temperature changes → ??? via using CR as diagnostic tools Cosmic ray community must become more active and bring in expertise The environmental science community is working extensively on the effects of SPEs on atmospheric chemistry and physics, using state of the art satellite instruments and complex models Inter- / Transdisciplinary Resarch