Index of the Long-Term Influence of Sporadic Solar Activity on Cosmic Ray Modulation

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) not only produce Forbush effects but contribute to long-term modulations of cosmic rays. That makes coronal ejections the main sporadic manifestations of the solar activity, which should be considered in modulation models. In this paper, a new version of the CME-index is proposed based on a comparison of the data from satellite coronographs with Forbush effects and long-term variations of cosmic rays.