On the interplanetary cosmic ray latitudinal gradient

Abstract

Results are presented from measurements, from 1983 to 1990, of the temporal history of the latitudinal and radial gradients of cosmic ray particles with E greater than 70-MeV. The data used include measurements obtained by the Voyager 2 and Pioneer 10 spacecraft near the heliographic equatorial plane, and from Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 at average latitudes of 16 deg and 30 deg, respectively. Using the data from Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 at different altitudes, the altitude dependence of the 26-day-average differential cosmic ray latitudinal gradient was deduced. The gradient was found to be a strong function of latitude when the tilt angle approached zero and became essentially independent of latitude for tilt angles above 30 deg. The relationship between the latitudinal and radial gradients was used to estimate the perpendicular diffusion coefficient for E greater than 7-MeV particles.