No Arabic abstract
Precise measurements of the time-dependent intensity of the low energy ($<50$ GeV) galactic cosmic rays are fundamental to test and improve the models which describe their propagation inside the heliosphere. Especially, data spanning different solar activity periods, i.e. from minimum to maximum, are needed to achieve comprehensive understanding of such physical phenomenon. The minimum phase between the 23$^{rd}$ and the 24$^{th}$ solar cycles was peculiarly long, extending up to the beginning of 2010 and followed by the maximum phase, reached during early 2014. In this paper, we present proton differential spectra measured from January 2010 to February 2014 by the PAMELA experiment. For the first time the galactic cosmic ray proton intensity was studied over a wide energy range (0.08-50 GeV) by a single apparatus from a minimum to a maximum period of solar activity. The large statistics allowed the time variation to be investigated on a nearly monthly basis. Data were compared and interpreted in the context of a state-of-the-art three-dimensional model describing the galactic cosmic rays propagation through the heliosphere.
We present a precise measurement of downward-going albedo proton fluxes for kinetic energy above $sim$ 70 MeV performed by the PAMELA experiment at an altitude between 350 and 610 km. On the basis of a trajectory tracing simulation, the analyzed protons were classified into quasi-trapped, concentrating in the magnetic equatorial region, and un-trapped spreading over all latitudes, including both short-lived (precipitating) and long-lived (pseudo-trapped) components. In addition, features of the penumbra region around the geomagnetic cutoff were investigated in detail. PAMELA results significantly improve the characterization of the high energy albedo proton populations at low Earth orbits.
We report an accurate measurement of the geomagnetically trapped proton fluxes for kinetic energy above > 70 MeV performed by the PAMELA mission at low Earth orbits (350-610 km). Data were analyzed in the frame of the adiabatic theory of charged particle motion in the geomagnetic field. Flux properties were investigated in detail, providing a full characterization of the particle radiation in the South Atlantic Anomaly region, including locations, energy spectra and pitch angle distributions. PAMELA results significantly improve the description of the Earths radiation environment at low altitudes placing important constraints on the trapping and interaction processes, and can be used to validate current trapped particle radiation models.
Unconditional and conditional statistics is used for studying the histograms of magnetic field multi-scale fluctuations in the solar wind near the solar cycle minimum in 2008. The unconditional statistics involves the magnetic data during the whole year 2008. The conditional statistics involves the magnetic field time series splitted into concatenated subsets of data according to a threshold in dynamic pressure. The threshold separates fast stream leading edge compressional and trailing edge uncompressional fluctuations. The histograms obtained from these data sets are associated with both large-scale (B) and small-scale ({delta}B) magnetic fluctuations, the latter corresponding to time-delayed differences. It is shown here that, by keeping flexibility but avoiding the unnecessary redundancy in modeling, the histograms can be effectively described by a limited set of theoretical probability distribution functions (PDFs), such as the normal, log-normal, kappa and logkappa functions. In a statistical sense the model PDFs correspond to additive and multiplicative processes exhibiting correlations. It is demonstrated here that the skewed small-scale histograms inherent in turbulent cascades are better described by the skewed log-kappa than by the symmetric kappa model. Nevertheless, the observed skewness is rather small, resulting in potential difficulties of estimation of the third-order moments. This paper also investigates the dependence of the statistical convergence of PDF model parameters, goodness of fit and skewness on the data sample size. It is shown that the minimum lengths of data intervals required for the robust estimation of parameters is scale, process and model dependent.
The energy spectra of galactic cosmic rays carry fundamental information regarding their origin and propagation. These spectra, when measured near Earth, are significantly affected by the solar magnetic field. A comprehensive description of the cosmic radiation must therefore include the transport and modulation of cosmic rays inside the heliosphere. During the end of the last decade the Sun underwent a peculiarly long quiet phase well suited to study modulation processes. In this paper we present proton spectra measured from July 2006 to December 2009 by PAMELA. The large collected statistics of protons allowed the time variation to be followed on a nearly monthly basis down to 400 MV. Data are compared with a state-of-the-art three-dimensional model of solar modulation.
We present a study of the solar-cycle variations of >80 MeV proton flux intensities in the lower edge of the inner radiation belt, based on the measurements of the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) mission. The analyzed data sample covers an ~8 year interval from 2006 July to 2014 September, thus spanning from the decaying phase of the 23rd solar cycle to the maximum of the 24th cycle. We explored the intensity temporal variations as a function of drift shell and proton energy, also providing an explicit investigation of the solar-modulation effects at different equatorial pitch angles. PAMELA observations offer new important constraints for the modeling of low-altitude particle radiation environment at the highest trapping energies.