LOW-ENERGY (LESS-THAN-1.6 MEV) PARTICLE COUNTING RATES AND SOLAR MAGNETIC ACTIVITY - A STUDY OF THE 1980 ANOMALY

We present a study of the relation between the solar magnetic activity (centered in sunspots, flares types N and B, and long-duration X clas s flares) and the counting rates of particles in interplanetary space with energies below 1.6 MeV obtained from the Low-Energy Proton Experi ment (DFH-EPAS) onboard International Sun-Earth Explorer spacecraft, d uring the period 1978-1982. Our study shows that the particle counting rates are neither correlated with sunspots number nor with flares typ e N, but they are correlated with flares type B and mainly with long-d uration X class flares. The origin of the low counting rates of partic les detected during the years 1979-1980 is investigated as well. The d isappearance of the strongest interplanetary shocks during that period can explain this phenomenon, at least within the energy range studied . The absence of any anomalous behavior in the flares type B and in th e long-duration X class flares during this period suggests that this s hock behavior can be produced by anomalous conditions of the interplan etary magnetic field during the Sun's polar magnetic field reversal.