Satellite Data for Atmospheric Monitoring at the Pierre Auger Observatory

PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION; A. MARIAZZI

Berlin

Conferencia; 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2021); 2021

Atmospheric monitoring over the 3000 km2 of the Pierre Auger Observatory can be supplementedby satellite data. Methods for night-time cloud detection and aerosol cross-checking were createdusing the GOES-16 and Aeolus satellites, respectively. The geostationary GOES-16 satelliteprovides a 100% up-time view of the cloud cover over the observatory. GOES-13 was useduntil the end of 2017 for cloud monitoring, but with its retirement a method based on GOES-16data was developed. The GOES-16 cloud detection method matches the observatory?s verticallaser cloud detection method at a rate of ∼90%. The Aeolus satellite crosses the Pierre AugerObservatory several times throughout the year firing UV-laser shots. The laser beams leavea track of scattered light in the atmosphere that can be observed by the light sensors of theobservatory fluorescence telescopes. Using a parametric model of the aerosol concentration,the laser shots can be reconstructed with different combinations of the aerosol parameters. Aminimization procedure then yields the parameter set that best describes the aerosol attenuation.Furthermore, the possibility of studying horizontal homogeneity of aerosols across the array isbeing investigated.