Impact of atmospheric effects on the energy reconstruction of air showers observed by the surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory

THE PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION.; S. J. SCIUTTO

JOURNAL OF INSTRUMENTATION

IOP PUBLISHING LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017 vol. 12 p. 2006 - 2029

1748-0221

Atmospheric conditions, such as the pressure (P), temperature (T) or air density(ρ ∝ P/T), affect the development of extended air showers initiated by energetic cosmic rays.We study the impact of the atmospheric variations on the reconstruction of air showers with datafrom the arrays of surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory, considering separately the onewith detector spacings of 1500 m and the one with 750 m spacing. We observe modulations in theevent rates that are due to the influence of the air density and pressure variations on the measuredsignals, from which the energy estimators are obtained. We show how the energy assignment canbe corrected to account for such atmospheric effects.