Understanding the link between cosmic rays on ozone and the biosphere

The Biosphere project: • developed novel instruments for observation of secondary cosmic rays (SCR) including portable muon and neutron detectors and a customised, miniaturised particle telescope which were employed in four measurement campaigns allowing simultaneous measurements of SCR fluxes, UV radiation spectrum, and column ozone. • established a database of major stratosphere gases for simulating interactions of secondary electrons generated by primary cosmic rays (PCR) and SCR. • produced a Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) neural network model using PROBA-V/EPT satellite observations to forecast energetic electron fluxes in the terrestrial radiation belts, alongside an improved GEANT4 AtRIS tool for determining the ionization rate and radiation dose in the atmosphere due to the penetration of energetic particles with different spectra. • performed one of the first systematic assessments on the effects of combined radiation fields on normal human cells covering molecular, cellular, and cytogenetic endpoints, demonstrating that co-exposure to UVB and ionizing radiation leads to more persistent DNA damage compared with single-radiation.