The World Neutron Monitor Network as a tool for the study of solar neutrons

Abstract

The use of the World Neutron Monitor Network to detect high-energy solar neutrons is discussed in detail. It is shown that the existing network can be used for the routine detection of intense sporadic solar-neutron events whenever they occur. A technique is suggested involving the weighted summation of responses of separate monitors to solar neutrons. It is demonstrated that the use of this method improves the significance of solar-neutron event detection. Different results of the simulation of the neutron-monitor sensitivity to solar neutrons have been tested with respect to their application for practical use. It is shown that the total number of neutrons with energy above 300 MeV injected from the Sun during a solar flare can be estimated directly from the time-integrated neutron-monitor response to solar neutrons without any model assumptions. The estimation technique has been developed.