Solar cosmic rays show considerable anisotropy and are highly variable.

• 1.50x10³ (+/- 0.15x10³) protons · s · m^-2
  
• 200 (+/- 20) electrons · s · m^-2
  
• 107 (+/- 14 alpha partilces · s · m^-2
  
• 2 (+/- 1) all other particles · s · m^-2

Particles from the Sun generally have much lower energy than their galactic counterparts. They either become absorbed by the atmosphere or, if the particle has an electric charge, deflected and trapped by the Earth's magnetic field.

Particles trapped by the Earth's magnetic field tend to "leak" down to the denser part of the Earth's atmosphere near the poles. This "leakage" is responsible for the polar phenomena known as aurorae.

Those living in polar regions (higher latitudes) are exposed to a slightly higher background of charged particle radiation from the Sun than those living in equatorial regions. On the otherhand, those living in equatorial regions are exposed to slighly higher levels of electromagnetic radiation (Sun overhead) than those living in polar regions where the angle of the Sun is lower. At a low solar angle, light from the Sun has a much longer optical path through the atmosphere and therefore more filtering occurs (ozone hole notwithstanding).