Modeling of the Earth atmosphere ionization by a galactic cosmic ray protons with RUSCOSMICS©

Abstract

One of main sources of the Earth's atmosphere ionization is the cosmic rays, galactic (GCR) and solar (SCR). Primary cosmic rays, consisting mainly of protons, ionize the upper layers of the atmosphere, and also interact with the nuclei of the surrounding matter (mainly nitrogen and oxygen), giving a secondary cosmic ray cascades, which in turn also participate in the ionization of the entire lower atmosphere. At the present day the cosmic ray (CR) physics uses a considerable variety of methods for the study of CR characteristics, and both a primary and a secondary fluxes, respectively. The experimental methods make the main contribution using various types of detectors, but the numerical methods complement it increasingly since the computer technology active development. This approach provides the researchers the most extensive information about the details of the process or phenomenon and allows you to make the most competent conclusions. This paper presents the use of the RUSCOSMIC© software package based on the GEANT4 toolkit for calculation of the ionization rate for a various latitude and longitude values. The ionization profiles are plotted as a function of altitude and their specific numerical estimates are given.