Cosmic ray influence on chemical composition of the atmosphere of the earth Original Research Article

Photochemical modeling and satellite data has been used to investigate the response of ozonosphere to solar proton events (SPEs) of the current (23d) maximum of solar activity. First SPE after the minima of solar activity occurred in November 1997. One of the strongest SPE after this occurred in July 2000. It was assumed in photochemical calculations that the ionization caused by solar protons in the atmosphere produced additional amount of the NOX and HOX compounds. Model runs showed strong ozone depletion in the mesosphere after SPE of 14 July 2000 for both polar regions. Corresponding study of ozone variations measured by HALOE instrument placed on board of UARS gave similar picture as the model calculations for North polar region.