A comparison of catalogues of Forbush decreases identified from individual and a network of neutron monitors: a critical perspective

Short-term rapid depressions in Galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux, historically referred to as Forbush decreases (FDs), have long been recognized as important events in the observation of cosmic ray (CR) activity. Although theories and empirical results on the causes, characteristics, and varieties of FDs have been well established, detection of FDs, from either isolated detectors' or arrays of neutron monitor data, remains a subject of interest. Efforts to create large catalogues of FDs began in the 1990s and have continued to the present. In an attempt to test some of the proposed CR theories, several analyses have been conducted based on the available lists. Nevertheless, the results obtained depend on the FD catalogues used. This suggests a need for an examination of consistency between FD catalogues. This is the aim of the present study. Some existing lists of FDs, as well as FD catalogues developed in the current work, were compared, with an emphasis on the FD catalogues selected by the global survey method (GSM). The Forbush effects and interplanetary disturbances database (FEID), created by the Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation Russian Academy of Sciences (IZMIRAN), is the only available comprehensive and up to date FD catalogue. While there are significant disparities between the IZMIRAN FD and other event lists, there is a beautiful agreement between FDs identified in the current work and those in the FEID. This may be a pointer to the efficiency of the GSM and the automated approach to FD event detection presented here.