ITEDA   22747
INSTITUTO DE TECNOLOGIA EN DETECCION Y ASTROPARTICULAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Techniques for Measuring Aerosol Attenuation Using the Central Laser Facility at the Pierre Auger Observatory
Autor/es:
THE PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION (VER A. ETCHEGOYEN EN PUBLICACIÓN ADJUNTA)
Revista:
JOURNAL OF INSTRUMENTATION
Editorial:
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
Referencias:
Lugar: Londres; Año: 2013 p. 1 - 25
ISSN:
1748-0221
Resumen:
The Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargue, Argentina, is designed to study the properties of ultra-high energy cosmic rays with energies above 10^18 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 signa-
ture 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 compati-
ble, 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.