Influence of energetic particles on atmospheric chemistry and climate

Our findings show that the results vary greatly among the different types of energetic particles. The Galactic cosmic rays, for example, which are the particles with the highest energies, have their significant impact on the atmospheric chemistry and dynamics mostly throughout the stratosphere and in the troposphere. The largest changes caused by the solar protons affect the stratosphere and the mesosphere in the polar regions. The particles with the lowest energies, the energetic electrons, lose most of their energies in an altitude range between 70 km and 100 km. Therefore the direct changes induced by the electrons are mostly restricted to the mesosphere.