WHY ARE THE SPACESHIP EARTH STATIONS
AT HIGH LATITUDE ?
Because of the combined effects of Earth's magnetic
field and atmosphere, high latitude sites have superior directional sensitivity,
relative to low latitude sites. The cosmic rays are "in focus."
Cosmic rays arriving at low and mid latitude
stations (e.g., Newark, Delaware, above) arrive from widely dispersed directions.
When the neutron monitor observes something, it can be difficult to determine the
source direction.
Cosmic
rays at high latitude sites (e.g., Inuvik, Canada, above) arrive from a
narrow range of directions. The source direction is clear.
