Galactic cosmic rays are deflected by the Sun’s magnetic field, leading to significant energydependent temporal and spatial variations in their intensity. The muons observed at GRAPES-3 arise from extensive air showers originating in the interactions of these cosmic rays with the upper atmosphere. A clear anti-correlation has been observed between the muon flux measured by GRAPES3 and the upper atmospheric temperature, as well as the solar magnetic field. This makes atmospheric muon flux a promising tool for monitoring both the upper atmosphere temperature and the interplanetary magnetic field in real time. We shall discuss the analysis of 15 years of GRAPES-3 data, and present the results obtained so far.
|