The PAMELA (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astro-physics) space-borne experiment was launched on 15 June 2006 and has been continuously collecting data since then. The apparatus measures electrons, positrons, protons, anti-protons and heavier nuclei from about 100 MeV to several hundreds of GeV. The on-board instrumentation is built around a permanent magnet with a silicon microstrip tracker, providing charge and track detection information. During solar maximum conditions of solar cycle 24, PAMELA has been providing key information about solar energetic particles (SEPs) and their influence at Earth. We discuss here the recent 2012 March 7 SEP event with a brief comment on the subsequent Forbush decrease, registered by PAMELA. This event was also observed by Fermi/LAT exhibiting unprecedented time-extended γ-ray emission (> 100 MeV) lasting nearly 20 hours. We compare the derived accelerated ion population at the Sun with the ion population measured in space by PAMELA and discuss the implications for particle acceleration.
M. et al. (2013) studied this question.