Speaker
Description
Effects of solar activity on the near-earth space are observed in several environments, like ionosphere, magnetosphere, radiation belts, etc., as well as in technological infrastructures in space and on the ground. The atmospheric muon flux in the cosmic ray cascades is one of the most significant indicators of solar activity and of the interactions of energetic particles with the atmosphere. MAT - Muon Antarctic Telescope – with directional and spectral sensitivity, is operated in polar regions to be more sensitive to the low-energy component of galactic cosmic rays and to the high-energy tail of solar energetic particles. The first telescope has been installed at Concordia Station in Antarctica. We discuss the instrument's sensitivity and the perspectives for a network of distributed detectors in the polar regions.