Influence of finite injections and of interplanetary propagation on time-intensity and time-anisotropy profiles of solar cosmic rays

For an observer in space the intensities and anisotropies of solar cosmic-ray events are governed by the duration and the functional shape of the injection processes near the Sun and by the propagation along the interplanetary magnetic field from the Sun to the observer. We study the influence of four different types of solar injections (Gaussian, exponential, step-function and coronal diffusion), and of a purely diffusive interplanetary propagation, where the diffusion coefficient has a power law dependence on the radial distance from the Sun, =Mr on both the time-intensity and the time-anisotropy profiles at 1 AU. The main results are as follows: A slow quasi-exponential decay of the intensity can be modelled in some cases; all finite injections produce high anisotropies during the main phase of an event; an effective solar injection length can be determined from simultaneous inspection of the intensities and anisotropies; the intensities and anisotropies do to first order not depend on the analytic shape of the various injection profiles. The model is applied to the November 18, 1968 solar event as observed by Pioneer 9 in the 7.5–21.5 MeV and 21.5–60 MeV energy channels. We obtain local diffusion coefficients in the range M= (2.5–5) × 10²¹ cm² s^–1 and injection periods of the order of 10–20 hr. Closer inspection reveals the change of interplanetary propagation conditions during the event.