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Large Forbush Decreases and their Solar Sources: Features and Characteristics

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Abstract

One of the factors responsible for the wide variety of Forbush decreases is the different solar sources related to them. In this investigation the different features and characteristics of Forbush decreases, with emphasis on large Forbush decreases and their association with solar sources, are examined. Initially, a wider selection of events from the Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences Forbush decreases database served as a starting point for this study, which was then narrowed down to a group of large Forbush decreases. According to the helio-longitude of the solar source, the events under study were separated into three subcategories: western (\(21^{\circ} \leq \mbox{helio-longitude} \leq 60^{\circ}\)), eastern (\(-60^{\circ} \leq \mbox{helio-longitude} \leq -21^{\circ}\)), and central (\(-20^{\circ} \leq \mbox{helio-longitude} \leq 20^{\circ}\)). The selected events cover the period 1967 – 2017. The “Global Survey Method” was used for analyzing the aforementioned Forbush decreases, along with data on solar flares, solar-wind speed, geomagnetic indices (Kp and Dst), and interplanetary magnetic field. The superimposed epoch method was applied to display the temporal profiles for the selected events. This detailed analysis reveals interesting results concerning the features of cosmic-ray decreases in relation to the helio-longitude of the solar sources. Specifically, Forbush decreases related to central or eastern solar sources are more often observed, have a greater magnitude, and present a slower development than Forbush decreases related to western sources, which are rarer, have a smaller magnitude, and have a shorter lifespan. Nevertheless, regardless of the helio-longitude of the solar source, large Forbush decreases are accompanied by increased geomagnetic activity and increased anisotropy, including anisotropy before the events, which can serve as a typical precursor of Forbush decreases.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the NMDB database (www.nmdb.eu), founded under the European Union’s FP7 Program (contract no. 213007) for providing high-resolution cosmic-ray data. They would also like to thank all PIs and their colleagues of the neutron-monitor stations for kindly providing their data for this study. This work was partly supported by the Basic Research Program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences No. 3 and 12, the RFBR grants 18-02-00451 and 20-02-00774. Work is based on the experimental data of the “Russian National Network of Cosmic Ray Stations” (SCR Network). This work was partly supported by the project ISEST/MiniMax24 (International Study of Earth-affecting Solar Transients) in the VarSITI. We would also acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their useful suggestions significantly improving this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear and Particle Physics Department, Faculty of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784, Athens, Greece

    M. Papailiou & H. Mavromichalaki

  2. Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation Russian Academy of Sciences (IZMIRAN), Troitsk, Moscow, 108840, Russia

    M. Abunina, A. Belov, E. Eroshenko & V. Yanke

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  1. M. Papailiou
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  2. M. Abunina
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  3. A. Belov
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  4. E. Eroshenko
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  6. H. Mavromichalaki
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Correspondence to H. Mavromichalaki.

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Papailiou, M., Abunina, M., Belov, A. et al. Large Forbush Decreases and their Solar Sources: Features and Characteristics. Sol Phys 295, 164 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-020-01735-8

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