Techniques for measuring aerosol attenuation using the Central Laser Facility at the Pierre Auger Observatory


Autoria(s): Abreu, P.; Albuquerque, Ivone Freire da Mota e; Souza, Vitor de; Gouffon, Philippe; Peixoto, C. J. Todero; Tridapalli, D. B.; et al.
Contribuinte(s)

UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO

Data(s)

26/05/2014

26/05/2014

01/04/2013

Resumo

The Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargüe, Argentina, is designed to study the properties of ultra-high energy cosmic rays with energies above 1018 eV. It is a hybrid facility that employs a Fluorescence Detector to perform nearly calorimetric measurements of Extensive Air Shower energies. To obtain reliable calorimetric information from the FD, the atmospheric conditions at the observatory need to be continuously monitored during data acquisition. In particular, light attenuation due to aerosols is an important atmospheric correction. The aerosol concentration is highly variable, so that the aerosol attenuation needs to be evaluated hourly. We use light from the Central Laser Facility, located near the center of the observatory site, having an optical signature comparable to that of the highest energy showers detected by the FD. This paper presents two procedures developed to retrieve the aerosol attenuation of fluorescence light from CLF laser shots. Cross checks between the two methods demonstrate that results from both analyses are compatible, and that the uncertainties are well understood. The measurements of the aerosol attenuation provided by the two procedures are currently used at the Pierre Auger Observatory to reconstruct air shower data.

CNPq

FINEP

FAPERJ

FAPESP

MCTI

Entre outras

Identificador

Journal of Instrumentation,Bristol : Institute of Physics - IOP, v. 8, n.4, p. P04009-1-P04009-23, Apr. 2013

1748-0221

http://www.producao.usp.br/handle/BDPI/45041

10.1088/1748-0221/8/04/P04009

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

Institute of Physics - IOP

Bristol

Relação

Journal of Instrumentation

Direitos

restrictedAccess

Copyright IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl

Palavras-Chave #Data analysis #Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics #Detector alignment and calibration methods (lasers, sources, particle-beams) #PARTÍCULAS (FÍSICA NUCLEAR) #LASER #RAIOS CÓSMICOS
Tipo

article

original article

publishedVersion