A measurement of time-averaged aerosol optical depth using air-showers observed in stereo by HiRes

Air fluorescence measurements of cosmic ray energy must be corrected for attenuation of the atmosphere. In this paper, we show that the air-showers themselves can yield a measurement of the aerosol attenuation in terms of optical depth, time-averaged over extended periods. Although the technique lac...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astroparticle physics 2006-03, Vol.25 (2), p.93-97
Main Authors: Abbasi, R.U., Abu-Zayyad, T., Amann, J.F., Archbold, G., Atkins, R., Belov, K., Belz, J.W., BenZvi, S., Bergman, D.R., Boyer, J.H., Cannon, C.T., Cao, Z., Connolly, B.M., Fedorova, Y., Finley, C.B., Hanlon, W.F., Hoffman, C.M., Holzscheiter, M.H., Hughes, G.A., Hüntemeyer, P., Jui, C.C.H., Kirn, M.A., Knapp, B.C., Loh, E.C., Manago, N., Mannel, E.J., Martens, K., Matthews, J.A.J., Matthews, J.N., O’Neill, A., Reil, K., Roberts, M.D., Schnetzer, S.R., Seman, M., Sinnis, G., Smith, J.D., Sokolsky, P., Song, C., Springer, R.W., Stokes, B.T., Thomas, S.B., Thomson, G.B., Tupa, D., Westerhoff, S., Wiencke, L.R., Zech, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerosol optical depth
Aerosols
Air showers
Atmosphere
Atmospheres
Attenuation
Calibration
Detectors
Extensive air-showers
Fluorescence
Hardware
HiRes
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Air fluorescence measurements of cosmic ray energy must be corrected for attenuation of the atmosphere. In this paper, we show that the air-showers themselves can yield a measurement of the aerosol attenuation in terms of optical depth, time-averaged over extended periods. Although the technique lacks statistical power to make the critical hourly measurements that only specialized active instruments can achieve, we note the technique does not depend on absolute calibration of the detector hardware, and requires no additional equipment beyond the fluorescence detectors that observe the air showers. This paper describes the technique, and presents results based on analysis of 1258 air-showers observed in stereo by the High Resolution Fly’s Eye over a four year span.
ISSN:0927-6505
1873-2852
DOI:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.01.001