Performance and operation of the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION (J. ABRAHAM, ... , A. MARIAZZI, ET AL)

Lodz, Polonia

Conferencia; 31th International Cosmic Ray Conference; 2009

The Surface Array of the Pierre AugerObservatory consists of 1660 water Cherenkov detectorsthat sample at the ground the charged particlesand photons of air showers initiated by energetic cosmicrays. The construction of the array in Malarg¨ue,Argentina is now complete. A large fraction of thedetectors have been operational for more than fiveyears. Each detector records data locally with timingobtained from GPS units and power from solarpanels and batteries. In this paper, the performanceand the operation of the array are discussed. Weemphasise the accuracy of the signal measurement,the stability of the triggering, the performance ofthe solar power system and other hardware, and thelong-term purity of the water.