HR: 0800h
AN: A21C-0892    [Abstracts]
TI: The Correlation of Polar Nitrates in Ice Cores and Solar Cosmic Rays
AU: * Kepko, E L
EM: lkepko@bu.edu
AF: Boston University Center for Space Physics, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 United States
AU: Spence, H E
EM: spence@bu.edu
AF: Boston University Center for Space Physics, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 United States
AU: Shea, M A
EM: sssrc@msn.com
AF: CSPAR, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899 United States
AU: Smart, D F
EM: sssrc@msn.com
AF: CSPAR, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899 United States
AB: It is known that energetic solar protons can penetrate deep into the Earth's polar atmosphere leading to the formation of odd nitrogen compounds (NOx). Previous studies of ice core records have suggested that NOx compounds produced by large fluence solar proton events can precipitate downward rapidly and be deposited by snowfall into polar regions. These short-lived events appear as impulsive increases in the ice-core nitrate record. We have recently completed a continuous-flow analysis of nitrate in a 30-m core obtained from Summit, Greenland in the summer of 2004. The nitrate record obtained from this core extends back over approximately 60 years, and is high-resolution. In this paper we present the results of a comparison between these high-resolution ice core measurements and space-based cosmic ray data and ground-level neutron monitor data. We show that the impulsive nitrate events identified in this recent ice core correspond to either known solar particle events or Ground-Level Enhancements (GLEs). We additionally address a solar cycle dependence observed in the nitrate background.
DE: 0724 Ice cores (4932)
DE: 4904 Atmospheric transport and circulation
DE: 4906 Aerosols (0305, 4801)
DE: 4932 Ice cores (0724)
DE: 7514 Energetic particles (2114)
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005