HR: 1330h
AN: SA13A-04    [Abstracts]
TI: On the possible correlation of impulsive polar nitrate enhancements and solar energetic particle events
AU: * Kepko, E L
EM: lkepko@bu.edu
AF: Boston University Center for Space Physics, 725 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215 United States
AU: McConnell, J
EM: jmcconn@dri.edu
AF: Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV 89512 United States
AU: Spence, H E
EM: spence@bu.edu
AF: Boston University Center for Space Physics, 725 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215 United States
AU: Shea, P A
EM: sssrc@msn.com
AF: Emeritus, Air Force Research Laboratory, Hanscom AFB, Bedford, MA 01945 United States
AU: Smart, D
EM: sssrc@msn.com
AF: Emeritus, Air Force Research Laboratory, Hanscom AFB, Bedford, MA 01945 United States
AB: It is known that energetic solar proton events can penetrate deep into the Earth's polar atmosphere, dissociating O₃ and N₂ and leading to the formation of odd nitrogen compounds (or generically referred to as NO_y). Several recent works have examined ice core nitrate data and observed impulsive nitrate enhancements within weeks of large known solar proton events. It has been suggested that the nitrate molecules produced by large solar proton events can precipitate downward rapidly and be deposited by snowfall into polar regions. In the past few years, advancements in ice core analysis techniques have allowed for the production of much higher-resolution data than previously available. In this paper we present the results of a comparison between extremely high-resolution ice core measurements and space-based cosmic ray data. The nitrate data are the highest-resolution available today, are accurately dated, and come from multiple cores. We will address the question of whether the previously observed correlation, which was based on a limited number of events, is reproducible.
DE: 1827 Glaciology (1863)
DE: 2114 Energetic particles, heliospheric (7514)
DE: 2455 Particle precipitation
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly