Solar Energetic Particle Events with Protons Above 500 MeV Between 1995 and 2015 Measured with SOHO/EPHIN

Abstract

The Sun is an effective particle accelerator that produces solar energetic particle (SEP) events, during which particles of up to several GeVs can be observed. These events, when they are observed at Earth with the neutron monitor network, are called ground-level enhancements (GLEs). Although these events with their high-energy component have been investigated for several decades, a clear relation between the spectral shape of the SEPs outside the Earth's magnetosphere and the increase in neutron monitor count rate has yet to be established. Hence, an analysis of these events is of interest for the space weather and for the solar event community.