Investigation of the influence of galactic cosmic rays on clouds and climate in Antarctica

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of galactic cosmic rays on clouds and snow-fall rates in Antarctica using nine years of data (2001-2009) covering the long deep solar minimum (2007-2009) for the first time. Measurements of the fair-weather air earth current (Jz) at the Indian Antarctic station Maitri (70°45'S, 11°43'E), and equivalent galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux from the neutron monitor measurements made at the American station McMurdo (77°51'S, 166°40'E) are used for the study. Meteorological data from the Antarctic stations Maitri, Vostok (78°27'S,106°52'E), Scott Base (77°51'S, 166°46'E) and Antarctic Data base are also used. The results show that low level cloud coverage (pressure <680 hPa) is positively correlated to GCR flux with the maximum correlation (31%) being at the long solar minimum (2007-2009) when snow-fall increased by 14%. The observed link between cosmic rays and climate in Antarctica is discussed in terms of ion-Aerosol clear-sky hypothesis and ion-Aerosol near-cloud hypothesis. GCR enhanced the cloud formation, and the increased low level clouds have invigoration to reflect more heat back to space.