PAMELA Observations during Solar Cycle 24

PAMELA, the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics, was launched on a Russian Resurs spacecraft into a polar orbit in June 2006. Due to the high inclination of its orbit, the PAMELA instrument is capable of detecting energetic particles with kinetic energies as low as 102 MeV. In other words, in addition to galactic cosmic rays, PAMELA is sensitive to the high-energy component of solar energetic particles (SEP), measuring the charge from Z=1 to Z=6, isotopic composition and onset times of these particles, as well as identifying electrons and positrons. PAMELA observations fill a unique role in the study of SEP events from the current solar cycle. They cover the magnetic rigidity interval between measurements from the ACE and GOES spacecraft at the lower end of the spectrum and ground-level enhancements (GLE) detected by neutron monitors at the higher end. So far, the PAMELA instrument has registered a significant number of particle flux enhancements associated with solar flares occurring in 2011 and 2012, starting with the 2011 March 21 event. We present a summary of the performance of PAMELA during Solar Cycle 24 with a list of the observed flux enhancements and describe the most relevant features of these observations.