JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

We propose to set up a European digital repository for cosmic ray data
by pooling existing data archives and by developing a real-time database
with the data of as many European neutron monitor stations as possible.
The data will be available through internet. Cosmic rays provide a
diagnostic tool to analyze processes in interplanetary space and at the
Sun. Cosmic rays also directly affect the terrestrial environment and
serve as indicators of solar variability and non-anthropogenic climate
changes on Earth. In the fifties of the last century a worldwide network
of standardized neutron monitors was developed to examine temporal and
spatial variations in our space environment. Despite decades of
tradition, neutron monitors remain the state-of-the-art instrumentation
for measuring GeV cosmic rays that cannot be measured by space
experiments. Therefore the worldwide network, which presently consists
of about 50 stations, ideally complements cosmic ray observations in
space. Since the beginning of the coordinated neutron monitor
measurements the data have been collected in world data centers. A big
shortcoming of these data centers for today's demands is the fact that
the data are not available in real-time and only with a time resolution
of one hour. Cosmic ray applications, e.g. space weather warnings
(geomagnetic storms, solar energetic particle events) need access to
neutron monitor measurements in real-time and with high time resolution.
Reliable forecasts of geomagnetic storms are important in many technical
areas (radio communication, electric power lines, etc.). Confident alert
prediction of solar energetic particle events is highly important for
manned space missions and for airline crews and passengers. The proposal
unifies for the first time the cosmic ray community of the European
neutron monitor network in a coordinated effort to advance the use of
cosmic ray data in cutting-edge applications, as e.g. space weather.