GROUND LEVEL ENHANCEMENT IN THE 2014 JANUARY 6 SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE EVENT
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)
We present a study of the 2014 January 6 solar energetic particle event which produced a small ground level enhancement (GLE), making it the second GLE of this unusual solar cycle 24. This event was primarily observed by the South Pole neutron monitors (increase of ∼2.5%) while a few other neutron monitors recorded smaller increases. The associated coronal mass ejection (CME) originated behind the western limb and had a speed of 1960 km s{sup –1}. The height of the CME at the start of the associated metric type II radio burst, which indicates the formation of a strong shock, was measured to be 1.61 Rs using a direct image from STEREO-A/EUVI. The CME height at the time of the GLE particle release (determined using the South Pole neutron monitor data) was directly measured as 2.96 Rs based on STEREO-A/COR1 white-light observations. These CME heights are consistent with those obtained for GLE71, the only other GLE of the current cycle, as well as cycle-23 GLEs derived using back-extrapolation. GLE72 is of special interest because it is one of only two GLEs of cycle 24, one of two behind-the-limb GLEs, and one of the two smallest GLEs of cycles 23 and 24.
- OSTI ID:
- 22365533
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 790, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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