Observation of Elves at the Pierre Auger Observatory

THE PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION (AUTOR 434 DE 474); M. TUEROS

Rio de Janeiro

Conferencia; 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2013); 2013

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)

The ?elves? are transient luminous events generated by the sudden excitation of the lower ionosphere, caused by lightning. Exploiting a time resolution of 100 ns and a space resolution of about 1◦ , the Fluorescence Detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina can provide 2D imaging of elves, originating at distances of several hundred kilometers, with unprecedented accuracy. Using 60 elves event candidates from prescaled data taken in the period 2008-2011 by the Fluorescence Detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we haveredesigned the third level trigger of the experiment, in order to acquire elve data with much higher efficiency in the coming years of operation. Preliminary results from the first months of data taking with the upgraded trigger will be given.