In this paper, we have provided an overview of cosmic ray effects on terrestrial processes such as electrical properties, global electric circuit, lightning, cloud formation, cloud coverage, atmospheric temperature, space weather phenomena, climate, etc. It is suggested that cosmic rays control short term and long term variation in climate. There are many basic phenomena which need further study and require new and long term data set. Some of these have been pointed out.
Chapman's model for ozone concentration is studied. In this nonlinear model, the photodissociation coefficients for $O_{2}$ and $O_{3}$ are time-depending due to earth-rotation. From the Kapitsa's method, valid in the high frequency limit, we find the criterion for the existence of equilibrium solutions. These solutions are depending on the frequency, and require a rotation period $T$ which satisfies $T<T_{1}$ or $T>T_{2}$. Where the critical periods $T_{1}$ and $T_{2}$, with $T_{2}>T_{1}$, are a function of the parameters of the system (reaction rates and photodissociation coefficients). Conj…
Recent work by Aplin and Lockwood [1] was interpreted by them as showing that there is a multiplying ratio of order 10$^{12}$ for the infra-red energy absorbed in the ionization produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere to the energy content of the cosmic rays themselves. We argue here that the interpretation of the result in terms of infra-red absorption by ionization is incorrect and that the result is therefore most likely due to a technical artefact
The methane cycle is a key component of the Earth system that links planetary climate, biological metabolism, and the global biogeochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and hydrogen. However, currently lacking is a numerical model capable of simulating a diversity of environments in the ocean where methane can be produced and destroyed, and with the flexibility to be able to explore not only relatively recent perturbations to Earth's methane cycle but also to probe methane cycling and associated climate impacts under the reducing conditions characteristic of most of Earth history and like…
Variations in the flux of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) at Earth during the last 4.6 billion years are constructed from information about the Star Formation Rate (SFR) in the Milky Way and the evolution of solar activity. The variations of GCR show a remarkable resemblance to changes in Earth's climate during the period considered, suggesting that Earths climate is closely linked to the evolution of our Milky Way. The link could be significant in the solution of the 'faint sun climate paradox'.
We herewith attempt to investigate the cosmic rays behavior regarding the scaling features of their time series. Our analysis is based on cosmic ray observations made at four neutron monitor stations in Athens (Greece), Jung (Switzerland) and Oulu (Finland), for the period 2000 to early 2017. Each of these datasets was analyzed by using the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) and Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MF-DFA) in order to investigate intrinsic properties, like self-similarity and the spectrum of singularities. The main result obtained is that the cosmic rays time series …
Based on theoretical and experimental consideration of the first (the Twomey effect) and second indirect aerosol effects the quasianalytic description of physical connection between the galactic cosmic rays intensity and the Earth's cloud cover is obtained. It is shown that the basic equation of the Earth's climate energy-balance model is described by the bifurcation equation (with respect to the temperature of the Earth's surface) in the form of assembly-type catastrophe with the two governing parameters defining the variations of insolation and Earth's magnetic field (or the galactic cosmic …
The Pierre Auger Observatory detects the highest energy cosmic rays. Calorimetric measurements of extensive air showers induced by cosmic rays are performed with a fluorescence detector. Thus, one of the main challenges is the atmospheric monitoring, especially for aerosols in suspension in the atmosphere. Several methods are described which have been developed to measure the aerosol optical depth profile and aerosol phase function, using lasers and other light sources as recorded by the fluorescence detector. The origin of atmospheric aerosols traveling through the Auger site is also presente…
A recently advanced argument against the atmospheric greenhouse effect is refuted. A planet without an infrared absorbing atmosphere is mathematically constrained to have an average temperature less than or equal to the effective radiating temperature. Observed parameters for Earth prove that without infrared absorption by the atmosphere, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be at least 33 K lower than what is observed.
Earth's modern atmosphere is highly oxygenated and is a remotely detectable signal of its surface biosphere. However, the lifespan of oxygen-based biosignatures in Earth's atmosphere remains uncertain, particularly for the distant future. Here we use a combined biogeochemistry and climate model to examine the likely timescale of oxygen-rich atmospheric conditions on Earth. Using a stochastic approach, we find that the mean future lifespan of Earth's atmosphere with oxygen levels more than 1% of the present atmospheric level is 1.08+-0.14 billion years. The model projects that a deoxygenation o…
Remote sensing of atmosphere is conventionally done via a study of extinction / scattering of light from natural (Sun, Moon) or artificial (laser) sources. Cherenkov emission from extensive air showers generated by cosmic rays provides one more natural light source distributed throughout the atmosphere. We show that Cherenkov light carries information on three-dimensional distribution of clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere and on the size distribution and scattering phase function of cloud/aerosol particles. Therefore, it could be used for the atmospheric sounding. The new atmospheric soundi…
We report in this letter for the first time the numerical simulations of muon and neutron flux variations at the surface of the earth with varying air densities in the troposphere and stratosphere. The simulated neutron and muon flux variations are in very good agreement with the measured neutron flux variation in Oulu and the muon flux variation in Atlanta. We conclude from this study that the stratosphere air density variation dominates the effects on the muon flux changes while the density variation in troposphere mainly influences the neutron count variation. These results pave a new path …
Experimental data from the National Air Surveillance Network of Japan from 1974 to 1996 and from independent measurements performed simultaneously in the regions of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Odessa (Ukraine) and the Ukrainian "Academician Vernadsky" Antarctic station (64°15'W; 65°15'S), where the air elemental composition was determined by the standard method of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) collection on nucleopore filters and subsequent neutron activation analysis, were analyzed. Comparative analysis of different pairs of atmospheric PM element concentration data sets, measured in differen…
A high resolution 2 m$^2$ tracking detector, based on timing Resistive Plate Chamber (tRPC) cells, has been installed at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in order to improve our understanding of the cosmic rays arriving at the Earth's surface. Following a short commisioning of the detector, a study of the atmospheric temperature effect of the secondary cosmic ray component was carried out. A method based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been implemented in order to obtain the distribution of temperature coefficients, $W_T(h)$, using as input t…
When analyzing the mean-year trend of the Earth's surface temperature for the past 140 years one can discern two sections of monotone linear increase of temperature during two last industrial centuries. The first one begins somewhere in the period 1906-1909. The previous segment demonstrates a weak decrease in the temperature trend, not increase. For explanation of this sudden break we look for a phenomenon of cosmic scale during this time which could have given rise to beginning of global warming with a significant probability. On the 30th June 1908 Tungus meteorite exploded with the power of…
An overview is given of the helicity of the velocity field (``kinetic'' helicity to distinguish it from the ``magnetic'' helicity used in magnetohydrodynamics, astrophysics, and solar physics; or simply \emph{helicity} in this Chapter) and of the role, which this concept plays in the modern research in atmospheric physics and atmospheric turbulence. General information on helicity is presented including some historical comments and a brief description of the fundamental role that helicity plays in fluid dynamics. Different applications of the helicity concept are discussed to the analysis of v…
Since the late 19th century, several investigators have estimated the mass of the atmosphere. Unlike previous studies, which focus on the average pressures on the earth's surface, this analysis uses the density of air above the earth's surface to predict the mass of the atmosphere. Results are consistent with recent pressure-based estimates. They indicate that changes in the latest estimates can be attributed to improved land elevation measurements between 1 km and 3 km. This work also provides estimates of atmospheric mass by layer and mean and median land elevations.
The first opportunity to detect indications for life outside the Solar System may be provided already within the next decade with upcoming missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) and/or the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL) mission, searching for atmospheric biosignatures on planets in the habitable zone of cool K- and M-stars. Nevertheless, their harsh stellar radiation and particle environment could lead to photochemical loss of atmospheric biosignatures. We aim to study the influence of cosmic ra…
The solution of energy-balance model of the Earth global climate and the EPICA Dome C and Vostok experimental data of the Earth surface palaeotemperature evolution over past 420 and 740 kyr are compared. In the framework of proposed bifurcation model (i) the possible sharp warmings of the Dansgaard-Oeschger type during the last glacial period due to stochastic resonance is theoretically argued; (ii) the concept of climatic sensitivity of water in the atmosphere, whose temperature instability has the form of so-called hysteresis loop, is proposed, and based of this concept the time series of gl…
We present simulations of atmospheres of Earth-like aquaplanets that are tidally locked to their star, that is, planets whose orbital period is equal to the rotation period about their spin axis, so that one side always faces the star and the other side is always dark. As extreme cases illustrating the effects of slow and rapid rotation, we consider planets with rotation periods equal to one current Earth year and one current Earth day. The dynamics responsible for the surface climate (e.g., winds, temperature, precipitation) and the general circulation of the atmosphere are discussed in light…
The origin of life on Earth involves the early appearance of an information-containing molecule such as RNA. The basic building blocks of RNA could have been delivered by carbon-rich meteorites, or produced in situ by processes beginning with the synthesis of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in the early Earth's atmosphere. Here, we construct a robust physical and non-equilibrium chemical model of the early Earth atmosphere. The atmosphere is supplied with hydrogen from impact degassing of meteorites, sourced with water evaporated from the oceans, carbon dioxide from volcanoes, and methane from undersea…
