Galactic cosmic rays above the Earth’s atmosphere

Abstract Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) originate from sources outside the solar system and reach the Earth’s environment from all directions. More than 100 years after the first detection of cosmic rays, the origin of high-energy cosmic rays is still a mystery. Although our knowledge of the origin and propagation of cosmic rays is relatively limited, we can study the radiation conditions in the near-Earth space environment in more detail. The origin, composition, and energy spectra of cosmic rays are briefly discussed in this paper. A brief review of the transport of galactic cosmic rays in the heliosphere is given. The geomagnetic effects on galactic cosmic rays and the atmospheric interactions of primary particles are also discussed in the paper.