A new reconstruction of the heliospheric modulation potential for galactic cosmic rays is presented for the neutron monitor era, since 1951. The new reconstruction is based on an updated methodology in comparison to previous reconstructions: (1) the use of the new‐generation neutron monitor yield function; (2) the use of the new model of the local interstellar spectrum, employing in particular direct data from the distant missions; and (3) the calibration of the neutron monitor responses to direct measurements of the cosmic ray spectrum performed by the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light‐nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) spaceborne spectrometer over 47 time intervals during 2006–2010. The reconstruction is based on data from six standard NM64‐type neutron monitors (Apatity, Inuvik, Kergulen, Moscow, Newark, and Oulu) since 1965 and two International Geophysical Year‐type ground‐based detectors (Climax and Mount Washington) for 1951–1964. The new reconstruction, along with the estimated uncertainties is tabulated in the paper. The presented series forms a benchmark record of the cosmic ray variability (in the energy range between 1 and 30 GeV) for the last 60 years and can be used in long‐term studies in the fields of solar, heliospheric, and solar‐terrestrial physics.

New consistent and precise computations of the production of five cosmogenic radioisotopes, ⁷Be, ¹⁰Be, ¹⁴C, ²²Na, and ³⁶Cl, in the Earth's atmosphere by cosmic rays are presented in the form of tabulated yield functions. For the first time, a detailed set of the altitude profiles of the production functions is provided which makes it possible to apply the results directly as input for atmospheric transport models. Good agreement with most of the earlier published works for columnar and global isotopic production rates is shown. Altitude profiles of the production are important, in particular for such tasks as studies of strong solar particle events in the past, precise reconstructions of solar activity on long‐term scale, tracing air mass dynamics using cosmogenic radioisotopes, etc. As an example, computations of the ¹⁰Be deposition flux in the polar region are shown for the last decades and also for a period around 780 A.D. and confronted with the actual measurements in Greenland and Antarctic ice cores.

A ground‐based neutron monitor (NM) is a standard tool to measure cosmic ray (CR) variability near Earth, and it is crucially important to know its yield function for primary CRs. Although there are several earlier theoretically calculated yield functions, none of them agrees with experimental data of latitude surveys of sea‐level NMs, thus suggesting for an inconsistency. A newly computed yield function of the standard sea‐level 6NM64 NM is presented here separately for primary CR protons and α‐particles, the latter representing also heavier species of CRs. The computations have been done using the GEANT‐4 PLANETOCOSMICS Monte‐Carlo tool and a realistic curved atmospheric model. For the first time, an effect of the geometrical correction of the NM effective area, related to the finite lateral expansion of the CR induced atmospheric cascade, is considered, which was neglected in the previous studies. This correction slightly enhances the relative impact of higher‐energy CRs (energy above 5–10 GeV/nucleon) in NM count rate. The new computation finally resolves the long‐standing problem of disagreement between the theoretically calculated spatial variability of CRs over the globe and experimental latitude surveys. The newly calculated yield function, corrected for this geometrical factor, appears fully consistent with the experimental latitude surveys of NMs performed during three consecutive solar minima in 1976–1977, 1986–1987, and 1996–1997. Thus, we provide a new yield function of the standard sea‐level NM 6NM64 that is validated against experimental data.