We present a study of the 2014 January 6 solar energetic particle (SEP)
event, which produced a small ground level enhancement (GLE), making it the
second GLE of this unusual solar cycle 24. This event was primarily observed by
the South Pole neutron monitors (increase of ~2.5%) whereas a few other neutron
monitors recorded smaller increases. The associated coronal mass ejection (CME)
originated behind the western limb and had the speed of 1960 km/s. The height
of the CME at the start of the associated metric type II radio burst, which
indicates the formation of a strong shock, was measured to be 1.61 Rs using a
direct image from STEREO-A/EUVI. The CME height at the time of GLE particle
release (determined using the South Pole neutron monitor data) was directly
measured as 2.96 Rs, from the STEREO-A/COR1 white-light observations. These CME
heights are consistent with those obtained for the GLE71, the only other GLE of
the current cycle as well as cycle-23 GLEs derived using back-extrapolation.
GLE72 is of special interest because it is one of the only two GLEs of cycle
24, one of the two behind-the-limb GLEs and one of the two smallest GLEs of
cycles 23 and 24
