Long-term variations of muon flux angular distribution

Abstract

Intensity of the atmospheric muon flux depends on a number of factors: energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays (PCR), heliospheric conditions, state of the magnetosphere and atmosphere of the Earth. The wide-aperture muon hodoscope URAGAN (Moscow, Russia, 55.7°N, 37.7°E, 173 m a.s.l.) makes it possible to investigate not only variations of the intensity of muon flux, but also temporal changes of its angular distribution. For the analysis of angular distribution variations, the vector of local anisotropy is used. The vector of local anisotropy is the sum of individual vectors (directions of the reconstructed muon tracks) normalized to the total number of reconstructed tracks. The vector of local anisotropy and its projections show different sensitivities to parameters of the processes of modulation of PCR in the heliosphere and the Earth's magnetosphere, and the passage of secondary cosmic rays through the terrestrial atmosphere. In the work, results of the analysis of long-term variations of hourly average projections of the vector of local anisotropy obtained from the URAGAN data during experimental series of 2007-2011 are presented.