Monitoring of solar proton events at altitudes up to 1000 km: Data from the Russian space experiments. Solar proton effects in the Earth’s ozonosphere

Abstract

The paper illustrates the opportunities provided by the use of data from Russian satellite experiments (CORONAS and Universitetsky-Tatiana of Meteor series) on the measurement of fluxes and spectra of solar cosmic rays at altitudes of 370–1000 km for simulation of the ozonosphere state. The results of photochemical simulation and observational data analysis showing the influence of solar protons on polar ozonosphere and lower ionosphere in periods of solar proton events (SPE) on November 4, 2001, October 28, 2003, and January 16, 2005 are presented. It is shown that the solar proton action causes ozone depletion in the mesosphere above the polar regions. The strongest depletion (up to 70%) was caused by the SPE that occurred on October 28, 2003.