CM's+May+5

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Today DL sent us an e-mail asking us to look at a Google Earth image that depicts the total electron count(TEC) for the day. It was color-coded and animated. The different colors referred to the different amounts of TEC. We then had to answer two questions regarding what exactly was taking place in the map and if we could predict the amounts of muons according the cosmic ray flux. These are my answers to these questions: code Question 1: It looks like the electron count over the United States starts relatively high in the light blue regions and then increases into the green level until it subsides and turns purple, making the count zero. Then the cycle starts up again. This means that there is a lot of change in the Total Electron Count over our atmosphere.
 * May 5, 2005**

Question 2: There is a higher TEC during the day when the sun is shining. The TEC is zero at night, because the sun transmits electrons. There would be more muons during the day because when electrons hit other particles, muons are formed. code