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Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299
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Variations of geomagnetic cutoff rigidity in the southern

hemisphere close to 70°W (South-Atlantic Anomaly and
Antarctic zones) in the period 1975–2010
E.G. Cordaro a,b,⇑, P. Venegas-Aravena a,c,d, D. Laroze e,f
a
Observatorios de Radiación Cósmica, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile
b
Facultad de Ingenierı́a, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Pedro de Valdivia 425, Santiago, Chile
c
Departamento de Geofı́sica, Universidad de Chile, Blanco Encalada 2002, Santiago, Chile
d
Department of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860,
Macul, Santiago, Chile
e
Instituto de Alta Investigación, CEDENNA, Universidad de Tarapacá, Casilla 7D, Arica, Chile
f
Departamento de Fı́sica y Matemática Aplicada, Universidad de Navarra, 31080 Pamplona, Spain

Received 2 February 2018; received in revised form 11 December 2018; accepted 15 December 2018
Available online 26 December 2018

Abstract

We report the existence of rapid variations in (effective) geomagnetic cutoff rigidity (Rc) between the equatorial and Antarctic zones
adjacent to the Andes Mountains, revealed by the variation rate of geomagnetic cutoff rigidity (VRc) in the period 1975–2010. Our anal-
ysis is based on empirical records and theoretical models of the variations in cosmic rays and on the structure of geomagnetic fields.
These have given us a different view of variations in Rc in time and space along the 70°W meridian, where secular variations in the geo-
magnetic field are strongly influenced by the proximity of the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA), one of the most important
characteristics of the terrestrial magnetic field that affects our planet, close from the equator to the 50°S parallel and from South America
to South Africa. The VRc presents rapid changes in mid-latitudes where SAMA exerts its influence despite the existence of smooth
changes in the geomagnetic field. This shows that these changes occur mainly in the spatial configuration, rather than in the temporal
evolution of Rc. The analysis was performed using measurements from the Chilean Network of Cosmic Rays and Geomagnetism Obser-
vatories, equipped with BF-3 and latest generation He-3 neutron monitors, Fluxgate magnetometers, geomagnetic reference field (IGRF)
and Tsyganenko 2001 model (just for completeness).
Ó 2018 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Geomagnetic field; Geomagnetic cutoff rigidity; South Atlantic magnetic anomaly; Latitudinal variation rate of geomagnetic cutoff rigidity;
Altiplano to Antarctica

1. Introduction netic Anomaly (SAMA) region produces partial changes in

the values of the (effective) geomagnetic cutoff rigidity (Rc).
The aim of this paper is to corroborate that the secular Specifically, this article shows that the decreasing geomag-
variation of the magnetic field in the South Atlantic Mag- netic field causes a decrease in the Rc, which subsequently
affects cosmic ray measurements at three southern hemi-
sphere stations, in the Chilean and Antarctic regions in
⇑ Corresponding author.
the period 1975–2010.
E-mail addresses: ecordaro@dfi.uchile.cl (E.G. Cordaro), patricio.
venegas@ing.uchile.cl (P. Venegas-Aravena), dlarozen@uta.cl (D. Lar- We consider the cutoff rigidity for a selected location as
oze). the lowest rigidity that a charged particle must have to

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.12.019
0273-1177/Ó 2018 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 E.G. Cordaro et al. / Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299 2291

reach the surface of the Earth at this location from a Herbst et al. (2013) corroborate that Rc depends on the
selected direction of incidence at the top of the atmosphere. configuration of the geomagnetic field, and that it also
The variation of the effective geomagnetic cutoff rigidity reflects the secular variation of the Earth’s magnetic field,
(VRc) depends on location and time. As the cutoff rigidity altering the path of charged particles. Further, the trajecto-
depends on the geomagnetic field, the interactions between ries of the particles also depend on the height of atmo-
cosmic rays and geomagnetic fields are related to Rc and to sphere on the site of measurement (we consider 20 km as
VRc (Sauer, 1963; Pomerantz, 1971; Smart and Shea, the top of atmospheres) (Herbst et al., 2013; Cordaro
2009), which is the main rationale for us to study Rc in et al., 2016), i.e. if there is a gradient in the geomagnetic
South America and the components of the geomagnetic field which varies over time, particle movement will also
! be affected. This information is interesting for the interpre-
field B (Bx, By and Bz indicate its north, east and vertical
components respectively), where the westward drift of tation of the observed variability of cosmic rays intensity as
SAMA shows unexpected behaviours of the vertical com- the results imply an updating of the previous ones which
ponent of magnetic field (Bz) for low (equatorial) and were calculated by other authors only for one station
mid-latitude stations across the Chilean Network of sta- (LARC) and until the year 1995 (Storini et al., 1999,
tions in the study period. 2002). We found the largest variations of Rc in time (rapid
SAMA is the area where the Earth’s magnetic field is decrease) close to 0.0357 GV/year at Los Cerrillos Obser-
strongly decreasing with time and it extends from the equa- vatory, and emphasize their coincidence mainly with the
tor to the 50°S parallel and from South America to South Bx and By components in all seasons, which we consider
Africa thus covering near 1/3 of the surface of the southern of extraordinary importance as only a few articles about
hemisphere; therefore, it is one of the most important char- the change of Rc in the region not distant from SAMA
acteristics of the Earth’s magnetic field (Love, 2008; have been published. This fact inspired the analysis of the
Tarduno et al., 2015; Pavón-Carrasco and De Santis, phenomenon based on the relation between the Bz compo-
2016). Studies of SAMA have even revealed that the nent of the geomagnetic field and the vertical entry of
changes in the intensity of the magnetic field are possibly charged particles.
related with the composition and flow in the Core-Mantle In order to obtain the values of geomagnetic cutoff rigid-
boundary beneath the South-Africa region and the South ity and its variation, we start by mentioning some varia-
Atlantic Ocean (Tarduno et al., 2015; Pavón-Carrasco tions of the geomagnetic field and the main geomagnetic
and De Santis, 2016). Because the area affected has a very characteristics of the study in Section 2, which also includes
weak magnetic field, energetic particles can enter the mag- the geomagnetic effect detected in the trajectory of the par-
netosphere and reach the Earth’s surface (Vernov et al., ticles and the specification of the main equipment used in
1967; Heirtzler, 2002). Consequently, it seems of the the monitoring stations. In Section 3, we show the calcu-
utmost importance to understand how charged particles lated values of Rc and VRc. The results and discussion
move in the magnetic field. The information that this work are found in Section 4, while the conclusions are listed in
provides to the scientific community has not been repli- Section 5.
cated since our team is the only scientific team conducting
regular measurements of neutrons, muons of the secondary 2. Magnetic field B in the southern hemisphere,
component of the cosmic rays and magnetic field values in magnetometers and neutron monitors network
areas where the magnetic field changes rapidly, and due to
the fact that this data can also show some evidence between Measurements of the geomagnetic components (uncer-
the relation of VRc and significant geological points along tainty of ±5 nT) may be affected by phenomena resulting
the southern hemisphere as shown by Cordaro et al. (2018). from different regimes of solar wind that were analysed in
We associate the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity as the shield- (Cordaro et al., 1990; Cordaro and Storini, 1992; Diego
ing exercised by the Earth’s magnetic field against charged et al., 2005; Storini et al., 2005; Damiani et al., 2006), which
particles (Smart and Shea, 2001, 2005), where the interaction also contemplate atmospheric disturbances such as varia-
between charged particles which arrive at a location on the tions in the ozone concentration and absorption coeffi-
Earth’s surface from vertical direction of incidence and the cients (Cordaro and Storini, 1992; Diego et al., 2005).
geomagnetic field reveals the dependence on latitude of the Previous studies (Cooke et al., 1991; Kudela and Storini,
geomagnetic cutoff rigidity (the ‘‘Latitude Effect”) 2001; Storini et al., 2002) on the transport of energetic
(Pomerantz, 1971). However, this effect is not constant over charged particles through the Earth’s magnetic field and
long periods; Rc and VRc indicate that the vertical arrival of its access to the LARC, Los Cerrillos and Putre stations,
cosmic rays on the Earth’s surface depends on the secular agree with the numerical models for these sites (Storini
geomagnetic variation and changes in the magnetic moment et al., 2005), supporting the reliability of the cosmic rays
as a result of the changes of position of the magnetic dipole and geomagnetism measurements (see Table 1) for a
due changes in the external nucleus (Shea, 1971; Grigoryan description of the stations). Other geomagnetic characteris-
et al., 2008). That is why we also use the geomagnetic refer- tics from http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/poles/polesexp.
ence field (IGRF) for the stations used in this paper. html may be found in Table 2, which shows that the mag-
2292 E.G. Cordaro et al. / Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299

Table 1
The Altiplano-Pacific-Antarctica Network of Cosmic Ray and Geomagnetic observatories (APAN) consists of the high mountain observatories of Putre at
equatorial latitude, Los Cerrillos at mid latitude and LARC at polar latitude (see Storini et al., 2002; Cordaro et al., 2012, 2016, 2018). The table presents
the main characteristics of the stations: location, altitude, atmospheric depth, type of detectors, and time in operation. For the technical specifications of
UCLA-Fluxgate magnetometers see Russell et al. (2008) and for neutron detectors see Hatton (1971) and Knollt (2000).
Observatory Location Geographical Altitude Atmospheric Instruments Operation
coordinate [m.a.s.l] depth [g/cm2] begin
PUTRE (OP) The Andes 18°110 47.800 S. 69° 3.600 666 Magnetometer, UCLA-Vectorial-Flux Gate. 2003
Mountains, Chile 330 10.900 W Muon telescope, 3 channels. Neutron monitor
IGY, 3 channels, He 3. UTC by GPS receiver
Los Cerrillos Santiago de Chile, 33°290 42.200 S. 70° 570 955 Magnetometer, UCLA-Vectorial-Flux Gate. 1958
(OLC) Chile 420 59.81W Multi-directional muon telescope, 7 channels.
Neutron monitor 6NM64, 3 channels, BF-3.
UTC by GPS receiver
LARC King George 62°120 900 S. 40 980 Magnetometer, UCLA-Vectorial-Flux Gate. 1990
Island, 58°570 4200 W Neutron monitor 6NM64 - BF-3BF-3. 6
Antarctic channels. Neutron monitor 3NM64 – He-3. 3
channels, Neutron monitor 3NM64 – He-3.
[Flux meter] 3 channels. UTC by GPS receiver

Table 2
Geographic coordinates of the north and south geomagnetic poles, the magnetic poles and the moment of the magnetic dipole evaluated for 1955, 1990
and 2010 (for details see: http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/poles/polesexp.html).
Year Geomagnetic north pole Geomagnetic south pole Magnetic north pole Magnetic south pole Magnetic moment 1022
[Lat, Lon] [Lat, Lon] [Lat, Lon] [Lat, Lon] [A m2]
1955 78.5N, 69.2W 78.5S, 110.8E 75.2N, 101.4W 67.2S, 141.5E 8.05
1990 79.1N, 71.1W 79.1S, 108.9E 78.1N, 103.7W 64.9S, 138.9E 7.84
2010 80.0N, 72.2W 80.0S, 107.8E 85.0N, 132.6W 64.4S, 137.3E 7.75

netic center of SAMA has moved approximately 400 km network consists of the high mountain observatory of
towards the Pacific in the last 55 years. Its magnetic Putre at equatorial latitude, Los Cerrillos at mid latitude
moment has decreased by 3.72% in that period. and LARC at polar latitude (Cordaro et al., 2012, 2016).
To calculate and evaluate cutoff rigidity variation, the Selected neutron monitor and muon telescope measure-
magnetic component of the 2010 International Geomag- ments with different time resolutions, in addition to the
netic Reference Field model (IGRF-11) was used. (See time evolution of Rc are shown in the papers: Cordaro
https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf_old_models. and Storini (1995), Massetti et al. (1998), Storini et al.
html) Fig. 1 shows the behaviour of the magnetic compo- (1999, 2002) or Cordaro et al. (2016).
nents in the stations listed in Table 1 and also its decrease
as a consequence of SAMA’s westward drift. 2.1. Cutoff rigidity inside the South Atlantic Magnetic
On the other hand, Fig. 2 shows the asymptotic Anomaly (SAMA)
directions for the stations listed in Table 1. For details on
trajectory calculations, see Smart et al. (2000). Likewise, Cutoff rigidity values have shown a decreasing trend in
Fig. 2 also shows a shift in the center of SAMA and the the latest investigations in zones close to South America
change of the isomagnetic field strengths 24,000 nT and (Shea and Smart, 1990; Cooke et al., 1991; Sabaka et al.,
28,000 nT between 1975 and 2010. 1996; Storini et al., 1995, 1999; Kudela and Storini, 2001;
It should be noted that the westward drift of the geo- Shea and Smart, 2001; Storini et al., 2002; Gvozdevsky
magnetic field is relevant as it is related with the spatial et al., 2015; Cordaro et al., 2018). It is therefore important
and temporal variations of Rc, since the spatial behaviour to emphasize the significance of the locations of the Putre
of the geomagnetic field is similar to Rc (Herbst et al., and Los Cerrillos observatories, since their main character-
2013), implying that the presence of a decreasing magnetic istic is that they are only 1700 km away from the center of
field should affect the cutoff rigidity in the area of SAMA SAMA (see Fig. 2), and 1700 km apart from each other.
(Cordaro et al., 2016, 2018). The measurements confirm low Bz values at the station
We also highlight the work of the Network of Cosmic Putre. The instrument error of the geomagnetic measure-
Ray and geomagnetic observatories, which covers the ments is of the order of 5 nT (Cordaro, 1991; Cordaro
Altiplano-Pacific-Antarctica zone, allowing us to obtain et al., 2012), enabling us to study in detail zones affected
uninterrupted measurements at low (equatorial), mid and by SAMA, as the measured magnetic field values vary
high (Antarctic) latitudes, covering some 6000 km along significantly over 5 nT, i.e. from approximately 30,000
the 70°W meridian in the southern hemisphere. The nT around the edges to 22,000 nT in the center
 E.G. Cordaro et al. / Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299 2293

ray particles (in order to corroborate results) and models

for the variation in the magnetic field at ground level for
each observatory (for details see Storini et al, 1995;
Kassovicova and Kudela, 1998; Storini et al., 1999;
Smart et al., 2000; Smart and Shea, 2001; Storini et al.,
2005; Smart and Shea, 2009, among others). In particular,
the external disturbances must be considered in the mag-
netic field model as these contributions may be important
due to the low magnetic field strength in the SAMA region;
it was for this reason that we had to use the IGRF model as
the internal contribution to the geomagnetic field and
external contribution (magnetic field that has not been cre-
ated by external core, mantle or lithosphere) values at the
same time, in order to generate a realistic model (for details
see Tsyganenko, 2002a, 2002b). However, the incorpora-
tion of Tsyganenko 2001 model has little impact on
changes in the vertical cutoff rigidity.
The Rc values were calculated at the LARC, Los Cerril-
los and Putre stations in 1975, 1995 and 2010 (see Table 3),
all close to SAMA but at different latitudes and altitudes.
As expected, the reduction in the geomagnetic field would
allow an increase in particle access in Antarctica due to
low Rc values (see Fig. 3).
The cutoff rigidities in the LARC, Los Cerrillos and
Putre stations were 3.5 GV, 10.76 GV and 12.54 GV
respectively (in 1975) and 2.71 GV, 9.53 GV and 11.73
GV respectively (in 2010). This decrease of Rc over the
time interval 1955–2010 can be easily observed in the three
stations. These values again corroborate that the shielding
effect provided by the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity is weaker
at polar areas, compared to mid-latitudes (Los Cerrillos)
(Smart and Shea, 2001, 2005).
On the other hand, the decrease in the magnetic field due
to SAMA also influences the behaviour of the Van Allen
inner radiation belt, which is located a few hundred kilo-
metres from the Earth’s surface (Cordaro et al., 2016),
where the magnetic field decrease in time is so strong,
Fig. 1. Intensity of the annual magnetic field and its components,
implying that the neutron monitor counting rate increases
evaluated using IGRF-11 model for the Putre, Los Cerrillos, O’Higgins about 1.5% per year at Putre due to the decreasing effective
and LARC stations from 1955 to 2010. Total intensity (BF), north (Bx), cutoff rigidity (for measurement details see Cordaro et al.,
east (By) and vertical (Bz) components. 8000 nT has been subtracted from 2016) in the magnetosphere implying the need for addi-
the Bz component of Putre to be able to better compare with the Bz tional shielding of some communication satellites, or the
component of Cerrillos.
interruption of the acquisition of data from some devices
(Turner et al., 2015). According to Pavón-Carrasco and De in its passage through SAMA, as for example the Hubble
Santis (2016), the limit values of the SAMA contour were Space Telescope (McFee, 1999; Pavón-Carrasco and De
established around 32,000 nT. Within the anomaly, the Santis, 2016).
Putre station has varied between 22,400nT to 25,000 nT;
in particular in the 2003–2010 period, the horizontal field 3. Upper and lower cutoff rigidities and variations observed
value measured was 23,330 nT (23,355.8 nT from IGRF).
To calculate the Rc in different SAMA areas, it was There exists three rigidity ranges: The first is where all
imperative to include the data of geomagnetic measure- the trajectories are allowed. The second is where all the tra-
ments, arrival direction (which can determine different jectories are forbidden and the third correspond to the
groups of trajectories in data processing according to their region between allowed and forbidden trajectories that is
obliquity (Clem et al., 1997; Smart et al., 2000; Cordaro called penumbra. This penumbra zone lies between the
et al., 2016); nevertheless, in this study we only show the upper (RU) and lower (RL) cutoff rigidity (Cooke et al.,
results of vertical arrivals direction), intensity of cosmic 1991).
2294 E.G. Cordaro et al. / Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299

13
OO O O 13 12.3
16 O O
50 13 O 12.7
OO
Putre O OOO 11.9
300

O Rigidity
[GV]
12
OO O
OOO
16 11.1
300 OOO10.5
O
OO 10.1
Los Cerrillos O 50

IGRF 1975
IGRF 1995
IGRF 2010

8 O
OO
O 4
3 3.2
O
O O OO O
16 O
4 3.9
50
O
OO
LARC O300
SAMA center in 1975
∆ SAMA center in 2010

28000 nT
24000 nT

Putre
Los Cerrillos

Fig. 2. Above: Three maps showing the asymptotic directions of arrival of positive particles from the east at the stations, traversing low magnetic
intensities for the same period at polar (LARC), mid (Los Cerrillos) and equatorial latitudes (Putre). Each point represents the part of the celestial sphere
from which the charged particles with the rigidity indicated (in GV) arrive at the station from the zenith direction (if the interaction of particles with the
atmosphere is negligible) and the intensity of the geomagnetic field in the SAMA. Fig. 2 below: The three rings within the SAMA indicate the magnetic
field strengths 24,000 nT and 28,000 nT for the years 1975, 1995, and 2010. The center of the anomaly has a mean value of 22,000 nT (Square and Triangle
for 1975 and 2010 respectively). The red arrow indicates the westward drift of the magnetic anomaly. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this
figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Table 3
The upper, lower and effective cutoff rigidity at the observatories Putre (OP), Los Cerrillos (OLC) and LARC for 1975, 1995 and 2010, were calculated
using the data from the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF-11) and Tsyganenko 2001 model.
IGRF Rigidity [GV] OP OLC LARC Rigidity [GV] OP OLC LARC Rigidity [GV] OP OLC LARC
1975 Rupper 12.54 10.97 3.58 Rlower 12.54 10.36 3.09 Reffective 12.54 10.76 3.50
1995 Rupper 12.08 10.37 3.21 Rlower 12.03 9.68 2.87 Reffective 12.07 10.16 3.03
2010 Rupper 11.74 9.93 2.88 Rlower 11.68 9.17 2.43 Reffective 11.73 9.53 2.71
 E.G. Cordaro et al. / Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299 2295

Fig. 3. The penumbra spectrum of allowed and forbidden rigidities at Putre, Los Cerrillos and LARC sites for the years 1975, 1995, and 2010. Here Rc is
used as the effective cutoff rigidity. The black and white areas represent the rigidity of allowed and prohibited particles trajectories. To calculate the upper
(RU), lower (RL) and effective (Rc) cutoff rigidity, we used a version of the model and program developed by Smart and Shea (2001). The magnetic field
was calculated using IGRF 1975–2010 and Tsyganenko 2001 model, while we used the Geant4/Magnetocosmics application for the complete (internal
+ external) magnetosphere model. The structure in estimated penumbra regions between RL and RU depends on the geomagnetic field model used (IGRF
and Tsyganenko 2001 model).

Fig. 4. The effective cutoff rigidity was obtained for specific geographic locations between latitudes 18°S and 80°S, for the period 1955–2010.

To calculate the upper and lower cutoff rigidities and http://cosray.unibe.ch/laurent/magnetocosmics]. The model
their variations we used the Definitive Geomagnetic Refer- considers the effects of the geomagnetic field on cosmic ray
ence Field model (DGRF) for the 1955–1990 period particles trajectory computation, where we start on a
(Bloxham, 1995; Kassovicova and Kudela, 1998; Bobik selected altitude 20 Km over sea level and compute the
et al., 2003). We also used the model developed by Smart trajectory backwards away from the Earth. (Storini et al.,
et al., 2000, to calculate the upper, lower and effective 1999; Cordaro and Storini, 2001; Kudela and Storini,
cutoff rigidity (Rc) (theoretical details can be seen in 2001; Bobik et al., 2003; Cordaro et al., 2016).
Appendix A from Herbst et al., 2013). The magnetic field For the determination of the cutoff rigidity one determi-
for the 1975–2010 period was used in the Geant4/Magneto- nes the trajectory at a rigidity above the upper cutoff rigid-
cosmics application [http://geant4.web.cern.ch/geant4/ and ity and then executes trajectory computations for discrete
2296 E.G. Cordaro et al. / Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299

decreasing rigidities with a step size of 0.01 GV and checks 2010. The latitudinal effect is clearly shown in Fig. 4
if the computed trajectory is allowed or forbidden (Bobik (Pomerantz, 1971).
et al., 2003). It should also be noted that some authors The right side of Fig. 5 shows the average change of RU,
use the Kp index to calculate the upper and lower cutoff RL and Rc in GV per year; specifically between 1955 and
rigidities, which introduces small changes affecting geo- 2010 at longitude 70°W and between latitudes 18°S and
magnetic cutoff rigidity (Smart and Shea, 2005). However, 80°S, where the variation of Rc showed two significant
the most effective method (which has been used in this arti- peaks (Fig. 5 right side). These peaks were projected (pur-
cle) to study and compare the access of charged particles to ple arrows) on a map showing the edges of tectonic plates
the Putre, Los Cerrilos and LARC observatories uses all (blue lines). These significant values in the Rc variation rate
the inner (IGRF model) and outer (Tsyganenko model) show peaks in specific points of the southern hemisphere,
contributions to the Earth´s magnetic field. The Tsyga- e.g. triple point junctions between three tectonic plates.
nenko 2001 model uses several external parameters that However, this issue is not the object of this article, and
were used for the study period such as: solar wind dynamic the point must be approached carefully, as new evidence
pressure, solar wind speed, disturbance storm time Dst exists which may relate geomagnetic and geodynamic beha-
index and the interplanetary magnetic field. However, it viours (see for example Biggin et al., 2012; Cordaro et al.,
was only possible to consider the Tsyganenko 2001 model 2018).
from 1975 due to the lack of precision of these parameters.
The Tsyganenko 2001 model was used for completeness, 4. Results and discussion
however, this model does not affect the vertical cutoff val-
ues too much at station locations, so it could not be used Before entering into this discussion, we should note that
in new studies. Some results of upper, lower and effective there are two major groups studying different areas of the
cutoff rigidity (RU, RL and Rc) are summarised in Table 3. geomagnetic field: one group studies cosmic radiation
We calculated the effective cutoff rigidity Rc adjacent to the and the other one the Earth’s magnetic field. Each group
70°W meridian, from 18°S to 80°S, in the period 1955 to has its own definitions and points of view. For this reason,
we have been very careful to define concepts that are not
generally in the background of one group or the other.
In the 1990s, Shea and Smart attempted to build a bridge
between both groups (Shea and Smart, 1990).
This investigation considers the fact that the geomagnetic
field is not static, but constantly changing in time and space;
moreover, there are phenomena occurring at different time
scales where internal and external variations (from earth’s
core or space) can be detected. For example, external varia-
tion in the magnetic field due to diurnal variation, Forbush
decrease, magnetic storms, coronal mass ejections, Geo-
magnetic Pulsations or the co-rotational effect (Tsurutani
et al., 1995, Baumjohann and Nakamura, 2015).
The annual intensity of the magnetic field and its com-
ponents using only the IGRF-11 model at the location of
the Altiplano-Pacific-Antarctica station network is shown
in Fig. 1. The values obtained from the geomagnetic mod-
els agree with the values detected in the Putre and Los Cer-
rillos magnetometers. Using 6-month data periods (internal
model) in addition at the Putre, Los Cerrillos and LARC
observatories located close to the 70°W meridian, we
obtained cutoff rigidities from 1955 to 2010. For the Putre
observatory, the upper cutoff rigidity (RU) shows transi-
tion values between prohibited and allowed particle trajec-
tories, which may be associated with the westward drift; its
values oscillate, but the trend is a constant decrease. The
annual decrease rate of Rc is small, while the RL values
Fig. 5. Left: Map of study area (blue lines indicate the edge of tectonic are low, with more prominent oscillations. The values for
plates, and black lines indicate coast line and the country’s borders). Los Cerrillos decrease more strongly. For the Antarctica
Right: Variability rate of Rc at locations close to the 70°W meridian from
observatory, the decrease in the cutoff rigidity is
the Atacama Trench (18°S) to the Union Glacier in Antarctica (79°S). The
change rate of Rc can be related with triple junction points on the tectonic more marked, as confirmed by the values obtained
plates (arrows in purple). (For interpretation of the references to colour in empirically from the different stations along the meridian
this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) (62°W to 70°W). The values obtained for the upper, lower
 E.G. Cordaro et al. / Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299 2297

Table 4
Variation rate of the upper, lower and effective cutoff rigidity at the observatories Putre, Los Cerrillos and LARC from 1955 to 2010. Calculated using the
data from the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF-11).
Period 1955–2010 RU [GV/Year] RC [GV/Year] RL [GV/Year]
Putre-Incas observatory (smooth oscillation) 0.0226 0.0219 0.0202
Los Cerrillos observatory (largest oscillations) 0.0287 0.0357 0.0336
Antarctic observatory (LARC) (greatest decrease) 0.0223 0.0199 0.0128
O’Higgins, Antarctic geomagnetic station 0.0187 0.0164 0.0143

and the effective cutoff rigidity in Putre, Los Cerrillos and recorded in areas where the magnetic field changes most
LARC are shown in Table 4. In general terms, the varia- rapidly over time, i.e. between 24° and 54° latitude
tion rate of the effective cutoff rigidity has a smoother South close to 70°W (see Fig. 5).
developing than RL along the meridian 70°W between 2. Using the data measured by the neutron monitors of the
18°S and 80°S (Smart and Shea, 2006) (red line in Fig. 5 Altiplano-Pacific-Antarctica Station Network and the
right side). IGRF 2011 model, we observed that Rc has been
We used a modified version of a program developed by decreasing since 1955 in the four Chilean stations where
Smart et al. (2000, 2001) to calculate the magnetic field cosmic rays have been measured (see Fig. 5), while the
from 1955 to 2010 by using the IGRF model and the Tsy- number of allowed particles trajectories has been
ganenko 2001 magnetic field model, for the computation of increasing (see Fig. 3). This effect coincides with the con-
Rc. The highest variation rate values were obtained at tinuous decrease in the Bx and By components in all
46.5°S, 76°W, i.e. in the Taitao Peninsula, Chile, which is measurement stations (also in the Bz component, except
the triple junction point of three tectonic plates: Nazca, for the Putre station) due to the westward drift of
South America and Antarctica. Another significant value SAMA across the continent towards the South Pacific
for the decrease of the effective cutoff rigidity in time Ocean, from The Andes Mountains (Chile).
(0.036 GV/Year) is located at 52°S, 76.5°W, close to 3. We have included the geomagnetic cutoff rigidities along
Puerto Natales in the Strait of Magellan, also a triple junc- the 70°W meridian in the southern hemisphere, in order
tion point of three tectonic plates: South America, Antarc- to incorporate the behaviour of the link between the
tica and Scotia. Both tectonic features (triple junction intensity of cosmic rays that enters into the Earth´s
points) were perfectly linked with the two peaks of the atmosphere at a certain location and the geomagnetic
annual variation of Rc by using two purple arrows in field, referred to in literature as the Latitude Effect
Fig. 5. A final point of interest is the relation with the Ata- (Pomerantz, 1971). The variation of the geomagnetic
cama Trench, an ocean trench containing depths of up to cutoff rigidity along latitude also reflects internal varia-
8000 m. Above the trench, which runs from 22°S to 38°S, tions inside the Earth, showing that there are other geo-
close to 69.8W, there is the start of a constant increase in physical applications from inside the Earth that affect
the change of the effective cutoff rigidity in time between the space surrounding us.
1955 and 2010, as shown in Fig. 5 right side. 4. We detected that the two peaks in the change rate of the
We have learnt more about changes in the geomagnetic effective cutoff rigidity at latitudes 46°S and 52°S, coin-
field, especially the values of the magnetic field for SAMA cide with the boundaries between the Nazca, South
in the 1955 to 2010 period, as shown in Fig. 1. The asymp- America, Antarctic and Scotia plates, indicating that
totic directions for the arrival of particles at the Putre, Los further study is required on the relationship between
Cerrillos and LARC observatories can be seen in Fig. 2. the VRc and the plate junctions in the geodynamic
Fig. 3 shows the rigidity of forbidden (white area) and and geological context, a study field that is just being
allowed (black area) trajectories along the penumbra developed (see Cordaro et al., 2018).
region at the observatories considered. The temporal vari- 5. This manuscript reveals the temporal variations of Rc in
ations of Rc along the meridian of 70°W (see Fig. 4) lead us South America and the Antarctica in the period 1955 to
to link significant values with two points in particular, in 2010, in the region near SAMA. Rc variations provided
which there is a junction of three tectonic plates (see a deeper interpretation of the observed variability of the
Fig. 5); this is a potentially controversial issue that must cosmic rays by updating the results and application of
be approached with care. However, there are already a Herbst et al. (2013) and Cordaro et al. (2018), and
few serious studies on this research topic (for example see allowing us to infer a different role played by the mag-
Cordaro et al., 2018). netic field near SAMA. Previous results of Rc were cal-
culated by other authors only for one station (LARC)
5. Conclusions and until the year 2000 (Shea and Smart, 2001). We con-
sider this manuscript of utmost importance since not
1. The objective of this work was to report that the secular many articles on the change of Rc are available
variation of the magnetic field in the region of SAMA, (for example: Herbst et al. (2013) and Cordaro et al.
where the largest variations in cutoff rigidity were (2018)).
2298 E.G. Cordaro et al. / Advances in Space Research 63 (2019) 2290–2299

Acknowledgments ries from the Altiplanic zone to the Antarctic zone. Adv. Space Res. 49
(2012), 1670–1683.
Cordaro, E.G., Gálvez, D., Laroze, D., 2016. Observation of intensity of
The authors are grateful for the help and dedication that cosmic rays and daily magnetic shifts near meridian 70° in the South
was given by the Editor and anonymous referee. The America. J. Atmos. Solar-Terrest. Phys. 142, 72–82.
authors also thank Dr. E. Zesta (UCLA-IGPP), and Cordaro, E.G., Venegas, P., Laroze, D., 2018. Latitudinal variation rate
Dr. L.A. Raggi (Incas-U.Chile) for their collaboration of geomagnetic Cutoff Rigidity in the active Chilean convergent
margin. Ann. Geophys. 36, 275–285. https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-
and support. We also thank our English–language 36-275-2018.
consultant, Jorge Carroza. The fluxgate magnetometer at Damiani, A., Storini, M., Laurenza, M., Rafanelli, C., Piervitali, E.,
Putre-Incas Observatories is partially supported by Cordaro, E.G., 2006. A Southern ozone variation induced by solar
FCFM-University of Chile, in collaboration with the particle events during 15 January–5 February 2005. J. Atmos. Solar-
South American Magnetometer B-Field Array (SAMBA/ Terrest. Phys. 68 (17), 2042–2052.
Diego, P., Storini, M., Parisi, M., Cordaro, E.G., 2005. AE index
AMBER) project of the University of California, Los variability during corotating fast solar wind streams. J. Geophys. Res.
Angeles, USA, and University of Tarapacá, Chile. LARC A: Space Phys. 110 (2005), A06105 (9 pp.).
observatory The Chile/Italy Collaboration via U. Chile Grigoryan, O.R., Romashova, V.V., Petrov, A.N., 2008. SAA drift:
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