A.NE.MO.S - Athens Neutron Monitor Station

We collaborated with National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Neutron Monitor Forecasting Group from 2000-2012 on project Pythagoras in order to build Athens Neutron monitor Registration System The first update happened after the ISSI workshop in 2000 in Athens, Greece a Neutron Monitor (Super 6NM-64) came back to the mighty family of the world wide Neutron Monitors with real time data from November 10, 2000.
This station is housed in a specially constructed room at the roof of the Physics building at the campus of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Athens Station unique in the Balkan area and the east part of the Mediterranean Sea. It was among the first stations (4th) in the worldwide Neutron Monitor Network provided real time data to the Internet. The station is very useful for scientific as well as educational purposes
The new modern Cosmic-Ray Station of the Athens University installed and developed with new instruments and electronics parts that made it possible to provide accurate data with resolution up to 1 sec. The whole project run under the efforts, guidance and responsibility of Assoc. Prof. Mavromichalaki and the Athens Cosmic Ray Group in co-operation with IZMIRAN group and ISNet Company.
Under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Mavromichalaki five Phds (Gerontidou, PhD 2007; Plainaki, PhD 2007; Sarlanis, PhD 2008, Souvatzoglou, PhD 2009, Papaioannou, PhD 2010).

Since 2003 a new data processing center (Athens Neutron Monitor Data Processing Center - ANMODAP) collecting data from 23 real time NM stations together with satellite data from ACE & GOES, is operated at the Athens NM station. By this Center a real time Alert system determining the onset of the GLEs is developed by ISNet.

Some of the scientific aims of Athens Neutron Monitor

• The energy spectrum of the cosmic-ray modulation effects (11-years and more long-term variations, 27-days, Forbush effects) where data from the sea level stations of high cutoff rigidity need to be used, can be determined. At present there is a deficit of such stations (only a few on mountains and one at the sea level - Beijing). Such stations are also necessary to obtain a rigidity spectrum of Cosmic-Ray anisotropy.
• This station is very important for estimation the energy limit of particles in the great proton events. Frequently the upper energy of the particles accelerated at the Sun is ranged within 5-10 GeV, that is very close to the minimal energy of particles recorded in Athens.
• This station is suitable for the study of magnetospheric effects (November, 2003).
• This station may be used to record and study the solar neutron enhancements.
• May be used by other stations for data corrections (e.g. snow effects-ESO Israel).

Publications and Conferences

• H. Mavromichalaki,C. Sarlanis, G. Souvatzoglou, G. Mariatos, M. Gerontidou, C. Plainaki, A. Papaioannou, and S. Tatsis "The new Athens Center applied to Space Weather forecasting’ RECENT ADVANCES IN ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS: 7th International Conference of the Hellenic Astronomical Society AIP Conference Proceedings, 848, 837-846, 2006
• H. Mavromichalaki, G. Souvatzoglou, C. Sarlanis, G. Mariatos, M. Gerontidou, A. Papaioannou, C. Plainaki, S. Tatsis, A. Belov, E. Eroshenko, V. Yanke "The new Athens Center on data processing fromthe Neutron Monitor Network in real time" First European Space Weather Week 2004, ESA/ESTEC, The Netherlands Annales Geophysicae, 23, 1-8, 2005
• A. Papaioannou, M. Gerontidou, G. Mariatos, H. Mavromichalaki, C Plainaki "Unusually extreme cosmic ray events in July 2005’ 2nd ESA SWW (14-18 November 2005) Holland (http://esa-spaceweather.net/spweather/workshops/eswwII/)
• H. Mavromichalaki, M. Gerontidou, G. Mariatos , C. Plainaki, A. Papaioannou, C.Sarlanis, G. Souvatzoglou, A. Belov, E. Eroshenko, V. Yanke and S. Tsitomeneas "Space Weather forecasting at the new Athens Center: The recent extreme events of January 2005" IEEE TRANSACTIONS for Nuclear Science 52, 6, 2307-2312, 2005
• E. G. Stassinopoulos, H. Mavromichalaki,C.Sarlanis, G. Souvatzoglou and S. Tsitomeneas "A Study for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle carrying a radiation spectrometer networked to the new Athens Center active in Space Weather Events forecasting" Proc. RADECS 2005 CONFERENCE (19-23 Sept. 2005) LN-10
• A. V. Belov, E. A. Eroshenko, H.Mavromichalaki, A.Papaioannou, G. Mariatos, V. G. Yanke "Cosmic ray modulation in August-September 2005" Proc. 20th ECRS - 2006, Lisbon, 2006
• Mavromichalaki, C. Plainaki, M. Gerontidou, C.Sarlanis, G. Souvatzoglou, G. Mariatos,A. Belov, E. Eroshenko, E. Klepach and V.Yanke "GLEs as a Warning Tool for Radiation Effects on Electronics and Systems: A new Alert System based on Real-Time Neutron Monitors" Proc. RADECS 2006 Workshop, Athens, 2006 IEEE TRANSACTIONS for Nuclear Science, 54, 1083 - 1088, 2007
• H. Mavromichalaki, M. Gerontidou, C. Plainaki, A. Papaioannou, G. Mariatos, M. Papailiou, C. Sarlanis, G. Souvatzoglou "Athens Neutron Monitor Data Processing Center – ANMODAP Center" 30th ICRC 2007, Workshop, Merida, Mexico
• H. Mavromichalaki, M. Gerontidou, C. Plainaki, A. Papaioannou, G. Mariatos, M. Papailiou, C. Sarlanis, G. Souvatzoglou "Real-time cosmic ray monitoring and analysis of GLE70 from the Athens Neutron Monitor Data Processing Center" 8th Hellenic Astronomical Conference, Thassos, September 2007 (http://www.ee.duth.gr/hac/node/659)
• Mavromichalaki, G. Souvatzoglou, C Sarlanis, G. Mariatos, A. Belov, E. Eroshenko, V. Yanke "Real Time GLE ALERT for December 2006 at the ANMODAP center" Solar Extreme Events 2007 Symposium (Sept 2007), 87 Adv. Space Research 2007 (submitted)
• Sarlanis C., Souvatzoglou G., Mavromichalaki H., Kartyshov V., Klepach E.,Yanke V., Yudacin K.: System of data accumulation for multidirectional muon telescopes. Proc. 29th ICRC, 2005, SH.3.6.
• H. Mavromichalaki, M. Gerontidou, G. Mariatos, M. Papailiou, A. Papaioannou, C. Plainaki, C. Sarlanis, G. Souvatzoglou: ‘Athens Neutron Monitor Data Processing Center – ANMODAP Center’, Adv. Space Res., 44, 1237-1246, 2009
• H. Mavromichalaki, G. Souvatzoglou, C. Sarlanis, G. Mariatos, A. Papaioannou, A. Belov, E. Eroshenko, V. Yanke: ‘Implementation of the Ground Level Enhancement Alert Software at NMDB database’, New Astronomy, 15, 744-748, 2010
• A. Papaioannou, H. Mavromichalaki, M. Gerontidou, G. Souvatzoglou, P. Nieminen, A. Glover: 'Solar Particle Event Analysis Using the Standard Radiation Environment Monitors: Applying the Neutron Monitor's Experience', Astrophys. Space Sci. Trans., 7, 1-5, 2011
• H. Mavromichalaki, A. Papaioannou & NMDB group: ‘Applications and usage of the real-time neutron monitor database (NMDB)’, Adv. Space Res., 47, 2210-2222, 2011