The proposers will investigate the origins of high-energy solar energetic particles (SEPs) using data collected from the space-based cosmic-ray detector named the "Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics" or PAMELA. This instrument was successfully launched on a Russian spacecraft by European partners in 2006 and is expected to remain operational until at least the beginning of 2012. PAMELA measures SEPs in the same energy range as the ground level events (GLEs) measured by ground-based neutron monitors, while covering lower energies as well. PAMELA thereby bridges the gap between low energy in situ SEP observations from spacecraft and ground-based observations of GLEs.
By addressing the important scientific problem of the origin of SEPs, this project will provide information that will improve space weather forecasts and enhance our ability to predict charged particle radiation doses to satellites, astronauts, and flight crews. This effort will forge international collaborations with the European and Russian designers of the PAMELA instrument, and provide US scientists access to a very unique and extensive data set that has previously been unavailable to the US community. In addition, two PhD students will be recruited at the University of New Hampshire and at New Mexico State University to work on this project.
