Cosmic-ray yield and response functions in the atmosphere

Abstract

Since the middle 1950s, neutron monitors have provided a continuous record of the intensity of secondary atmospheric particles produced by the primary cosmic radiation above the atmosphere. The number of counts due to these secondary particles is related to the primary spectrum above the atmosphere through the so-called atmospheric yield function. This yield function includes the secondary particles produced in the atmosphere, as well as inside the particular detector. In this paper the primary focus is to recalculate the yield function for neutron monitors. The motivation for this study is that the quality of the experimental observations has increased to such an extent that it has become possible to reduce uncertainties in the yield function down to approximately 10%. It thus becomes possible to refine our knowledge of the atmospheric cascade process considerably. We parameterize the yield functions in a simple way; we also make reference to the yield and response functions of muon, Cherenkov and stratospheric balloon detectors, and we compare their response to that of the neutron monitors