Abstract:
The flux of Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) can undergo a so-called Forbush decrease (FD) during the passage of a shock, sheath region, or magnetic flux rope associated with a coronal mass ejection. Cosmic ray observations during FDs could provide information complementary to in situ observations of the local plasma and magnetic field, because cosmic ray distributions allow remote sensing of distant conditions. Here we develop techniques to determine the GCR flux and anisotropy before and during a FD using data from the worldwide network of neutron monitors (NMs), for a case study of the FD starting on 2013 April 13th. We find that the main GCR flux decrease was not at the time of arrival of the shock or magnetic flux rope, but rather at a time of strong magnetic fluctuations and scattering in the sheath region. There was an anisotropic precursory decrease at numerous NM stations as their asymptotic viewing directions rotated into a loss cone that expanded with the approach of that scattering structure. We confirm a theoretically expected pattern that stronger magnetic fluctuations cause scattering that decreases the parallel anisotropy and increases the perpendicular anisotropy. At times of weak scattering, there was a strong unilateral anisotropy in the direction predicted from a theory of drift motions into one leg of the magnetic flux rope and out the other, confirming that the anisotropy can remotely sense a large scale flow of GCRs through a magnetic flux structure.