A study of the effect of molecular and aerosol conditions in the atmosphere on air fluorescence measurements at the Pierre Auger Observatory

The air fluorescence detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory is designed to perforin calorimetric measurements of extensive air showers created by Cosmic rays of above 10(18) eV. To correct these measurements for the effects introduced by atmospheric fluctuations, the Observatory contains a group O...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Arganda, E., Arqueros Martínez, Fernando, Blanco Ramos, Francisco, García Pinto, Diego, Monasor, M., Ortiz Ramis, Montserrat, Ros, G., Rosado Vélez, Jaime, Vázquez Peñas, José Ramón
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2010
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/45139
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/45139
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:539.1
Cosmic ray showers
Multiple scattering
Angstrom exponent
Surface detector
Cross sections
Light emission
Dependence
Nitrogen
Reconstruction
Electrons.
Física nuclear
2207 Física Atómica y Nuclear
Descripción
Sumario:The air fluorescence detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory is designed to perforin calorimetric measurements of extensive air showers created by Cosmic rays of above 10(18) eV. To correct these measurements for the effects introduced by atmospheric fluctuations, the Observatory contains a group Of monitoring instruments to record atmospheric conditions across the detector site, ail area exceeding 3000 km(2). The atmospheric data are used extensively in the reconstruction of air showers, and are particularly important for the correct determination of shower energies and the depths of shower maxima. This paper contains a summary of the molecular and aerosol conditions measured at the Pierre Auger Observatory since the start of regular operations in 2004, and includes a discussion of the impact of these measurements oil air shower reconstructions. Between 10(18) and 10(20) eV, the systematic Uncertainties due to all atmospheric effects increase from 4% to 8% in measurements of shower energy, and 4 g cm(-2) to 8 g cm(-2) in measurements of the shower maximum. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.