Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR

A. Nelles; J. R. Hörandel; T. Karskens; M. Krause; S. Buitink; A. Corstanje; J. E. Enriquez; M. Erdmann; H. Falcke; A. Haungs; R. Hiller; T. Huege; R. Krause; K. Link; M. J. Norden; J. P. Rachen; L. Rossetto; P. Schellart; O. Scholten; F. G. Schröder; S. Ter Veen; S. Thoudam; T. N G Trinh; K. Weidenhaupt; S. J. Wijnholds; J. Anderson; L. Bähren; M. E. Bell; M. J. Bentum; P. Best; A. Bonafede; J. Bregman; W. N. Brouw; M. Brüggen; H. R. Butcher; D. Carbone; B. Ciardi; F. De Gasperin; S. Duscha; J. Eislöffel; R. A. Fallows; W. Frieswijk; M. A. Garrett; M. P Van Haarlem; G. Heald; M. Hoeft; A. Horneffer; M. Iacobelli; E. Juette; A. Karastergiou; J. Kohler; V. I. Kondratiev; M. Kuniyoshi; G. Kuper; J. Van Leeuwen; P. Maat; R. McFadden; D. McKay-Bukowski; E. Orru; H. Paas; M. Pandey-Pommier; V. N. Pandey; R. Pizzo; A. G. Polatidis; W. Reich; H. Röttgering; D. Schwarz; M. Serylak; J. Sluman; O. Smirnov; C. Tasse; M. C. Toribio; R. Vermeulen; R. J Van Weeren; R. A M J Wijers; O. Wucknitz; P. Zarka

doi:10.1088/1748-0221/10/11/P11005

Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR

A. Nelles^*, J. R. Hörandel, T. Karskens, M. Krause, S. Buitink, A. Corstanje, J. E. Enriquez, M. Erdmann, H. Falcke, A. Haungs, R. Hiller, T. Huege, R. Krause, K. Link, M. J. Norden, J. P. Rachen, L. Rossetto, P. Schellart, O. Scholten, F. G. SchröderS. Ter Veen, S. Thoudam, T. N G Trinh, K. Weidenhaupt, S. J. Wijnholds, J. Anderson, L. Bähren, M. E. Bell, M. J. Bentum, P. Best, A. Bonafede, J. Bregman, W. N. Brouw, M. Brüggen, H. R. Butcher, D. Carbone, B. Ciardi, F. De Gasperin, S. Duscha, J. Eislöffel, R. A. Fallows, W. Frieswijk, M. A. Garrett, M. P Van Haarlem, G. Heald, M. Hoeft, A. Horneffer, M. Iacobelli, E. Juette, A. Karastergiou, J. Kohler, V. I. Kondratiev, M. Kuniyoshi, G. Kuper, J. Van Leeuwen, P. Maat, R. McFadden, D. McKay-Bukowski, E. Orru, H. Paas, M. Pandey-Pommier, V. N. Pandey, R. Pizzo, A. G. Polatidis, W. Reich, H. Röttgering, D. Schwarz, M. Serylak, J. Sluman, O. Smirnov, C. Tasse, M. C. Toribio, R. Vermeulen, R. J Van Weeren, R. A M J Wijers, O. Wucknitz, P. Zarka

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Air showers induced by cosmic rays create nanosecond pulses detectable at radio frequencies. These pulses have been measured successfully in the past few years at the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) and are used to study the properties of cosmic rays. For a complete understanding of this phenomenon and the underlying physical processes, an absolute calibration of the detecting antenna system is needed. We present three approaches that were used to check and improve the antenna model of LOFAR and to provide an absolute calibration of the whole system for air shower measurements. Two methods are based on calibrated reference sources and one on a calibration approach using the diffuse radio emission of the Galaxy, optimized for short data-sets. An accuracy of 19% in amplitude is reached. The absolute calibration is also compared to predictions from air shower simulations. These results are used to set an absolute energy scale for air shower measurements and can be used as a basis for an absolute scale for the measurement of astronomical transients with LOFAR.

Original language	English
Article number	P11005
Journal	Journal of Instrumentation
Volume	10
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/10/11/P11005
Publication status	Published - 12 Nov 2015

Keywords

Antennas
Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics
Spectral responses

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10.1088/1748-0221/10/11/P11005

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Nelles, A., Hörandel, J. R., Karskens, T., Krause, M., Buitink, S., Corstanje, A., Enriquez, J. E., Erdmann, M., Falcke, H., Haungs, A., Hiller, R., Huege, T., Krause, R., Link, K., Norden, M. J., Rachen, J. P., Rossetto, L., Schellart, P., Scholten, O., ... Zarka, P. (2015). Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR. Journal of Instrumentation, 10(11), Article P11005. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/10/11/P11005

@article{6871d504fed64e6c87d46334814b30c6,

title = "Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR",

abstract = "Air showers induced by cosmic rays create nanosecond pulses detectable at radio frequencies. These pulses have been measured successfully in the past few years at the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) and are used to study the properties of cosmic rays. For a complete understanding of this phenomenon and the underlying physical processes, an absolute calibration of the detecting antenna system is needed. We present three approaches that were used to check and improve the antenna model of LOFAR and to provide an absolute calibration of the whole system for air shower measurements. Two methods are based on calibrated reference sources and one on a calibration approach using the diffuse radio emission of the Galaxy, optimized for short data-sets. An accuracy of 19% in amplitude is reached. The absolute calibration is also compared to predictions from air shower simulations. These results are used to set an absolute energy scale for air shower measurements and can be used as a basis for an absolute scale for the measurement of astronomical transients with LOFAR.",

keywords = "Antennas, Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics, Spectral responses",

author = "A. Nelles and H{\"o}randel, {J. R.} and T. Karskens and M. Krause and S. Buitink and A. Corstanje and Enriquez, {J. E.} and M. Erdmann and H. Falcke and A. Haungs and R. Hiller and T. Huege and R. Krause and K. Link and Norden, {M. J.} and Rachen, {J. P.} and L. Rossetto and P. Schellart and O. Scholten and Schr{\"o}der, {F. G.} and Veen, {S. Ter} and S. Thoudam and Trinh, {T. N G} and K. Weidenhaupt and Wijnholds, {S. J.} and J. Anderson and L. B{\"a}hren and Bell, {M. E.} and Bentum, {M. J.} and P. Best and A. Bonafede and J. Bregman and Brouw, {W. N.} and M. Br{\"u}ggen and Butcher, {H. R.} and D. Carbone and B. Ciardi and {De Gasperin}, F. and S. Duscha and J. Eisl{\"o}ffel and Fallows, {R. A.} and W. Frieswijk and Garrett, {M. A.} and Haarlem, {M. P Van} and G. Heald and M. Hoeft and A. Horneffer and M. Iacobelli and E. Juette and A. Karastergiou and J. Kohler and Kondratiev, {V. I.} and M. Kuniyoshi and G. Kuper and Leeuwen, {J. Van} and P. Maat and R. McFadden and D. McKay-Bukowski and E. Orru and H. Paas and M. Pandey-Pommier and Pandey, {V. N.} and R. Pizzo and Polatidis, {A. G.} and W. Reich and H. R{\"o}ttgering and D. Schwarz and M. Serylak and J. Sluman and O. Smirnov and C. Tasse and Toribio, {M. C.} and R. Vermeulen and Weeren, {R. J Van} and Wijers, {R. A M J} and O. Wucknitz and P. Zarka",

year = "2015",

month = nov,

day = "12",

doi = "10.1088/1748-0221/10/11/P11005",

language = "English",

volume = "10",

journal = "Journal of Instrumentation",

issn = "1748-0221",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd",

number = "11",

}

Nelles, A, Hörandel, JR, Karskens, T, Krause, M, Buitink, S, Corstanje, A, Enriquez, JE, Erdmann, M, Falcke, H, Haungs, A, Hiller, R, Huege, T, Krause, R, Link, K, Norden, MJ, Rachen, JP, Rossetto, L, Schellart, P, Scholten, O, Schröder, FG, Veen, ST, Thoudam, S, Trinh, TNG, Weidenhaupt, K, Wijnholds, SJ, Anderson, J, Bähren, L, Bell, ME, Bentum, MJ, Best, P, Bonafede, A, Bregman, J, Brouw, WN, Brüggen, M, Butcher, HR, Carbone, D, Ciardi, B, De Gasperin, F, Duscha, S, Eislöffel, J, Fallows, RA, Frieswijk, W, Garrett, MA, Haarlem, MPV, Heald, G, Hoeft, M, Horneffer, A, Iacobelli, M, Juette, E, Karastergiou, A, Kohler, J, Kondratiev, VI, Kuniyoshi, M, Kuper, G, Leeuwen, JV, Maat, P, McFadden, R, McKay-Bukowski, D, Orru, E, Paas, H, Pandey-Pommier, M, Pandey, VN, Pizzo, R, Polatidis, AG, Reich, W, Röttgering, H, Schwarz, D, Serylak, M, Sluman, J, Smirnov, O, Tasse, C, Toribio, MC, Vermeulen, R, Weeren, RJV, Wijers, RAMJ, Wucknitz, O & Zarka, P 2015, 'Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR', Journal of Instrumentation, vol. 10, no. 11, P11005. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/10/11/P11005

TY - JOUR

T1 - Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR

AU - Nelles, A.

AU - Hörandel, J. R.

AU - Karskens, T.

AU - Krause, M.

AU - Buitink, S.

AU - Corstanje, A.

AU - Enriquez, J. E.

AU - Erdmann, M.

AU - Falcke, H.

AU - Haungs, A.

AU - Hiller, R.

AU - Huege, T.

AU - Krause, R.

AU - Link, K.

AU - Norden, M. J.

AU - Rachen, J. P.

AU - Rossetto, L.

AU - Schellart, P.

AU - Scholten, O.

AU - Schröder, F. G.

AU - Veen, S. Ter

AU - Thoudam, S.

AU - Trinh, T. N G

AU - Weidenhaupt, K.

AU - Wijnholds, S. J.

AU - Anderson, J.

AU - Bähren, L.

AU - Bell, M. E.

AU - Bentum, M. J.

AU - Best, P.

AU - Bonafede, A.

AU - Bregman, J.

AU - Brouw, W. N.

AU - Brüggen, M.

AU - Butcher, H. R.

AU - Carbone, D.

AU - Ciardi, B.

AU - De Gasperin, F.

AU - Duscha, S.

AU - Eislöffel, J.

AU - Fallows, R. A.

AU - Frieswijk, W.

AU - Garrett, M. A.

AU - Haarlem, M. P Van

AU - Heald, G.

AU - Hoeft, M.

AU - Horneffer, A.

AU - Iacobelli, M.

AU - Juette, E.

AU - Karastergiou, A.

AU - Kohler, J.

AU - Kondratiev, V. I.

AU - Kuniyoshi, M.

AU - Kuper, G.

AU - Leeuwen, J. Van

AU - Maat, P.

AU - McFadden, R.

AU - McKay-Bukowski, D.

AU - Orru, E.

AU - Paas, H.

AU - Pandey-Pommier, M.

AU - Pandey, V. N.

AU - Pizzo, R.

AU - Polatidis, A. G.

AU - Reich, W.

AU - Röttgering, H.

AU - Schwarz, D.

AU - Serylak, M.

AU - Sluman, J.

AU - Smirnov, O.

AU - Tasse, C.

AU - Toribio, M. C.

AU - Vermeulen, R.

AU - Weeren, R. J Van

AU - Wijers, R. A M J

AU - Wucknitz, O.

AU - Zarka, P.

PY - 2015/11/12

Y1 - 2015/11/12

N2 - Air showers induced by cosmic rays create nanosecond pulses detectable at radio frequencies. These pulses have been measured successfully in the past few years at the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) and are used to study the properties of cosmic rays. For a complete understanding of this phenomenon and the underlying physical processes, an absolute calibration of the detecting antenna system is needed. We present three approaches that were used to check and improve the antenna model of LOFAR and to provide an absolute calibration of the whole system for air shower measurements. Two methods are based on calibrated reference sources and one on a calibration approach using the diffuse radio emission of the Galaxy, optimized for short data-sets. An accuracy of 19% in amplitude is reached. The absolute calibration is also compared to predictions from air shower simulations. These results are used to set an absolute energy scale for air shower measurements and can be used as a basis for an absolute scale for the measurement of astronomical transients with LOFAR.

AB - Air showers induced by cosmic rays create nanosecond pulses detectable at radio frequencies. These pulses have been measured successfully in the past few years at the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) and are used to study the properties of cosmic rays. For a complete understanding of this phenomenon and the underlying physical processes, an absolute calibration of the detecting antenna system is needed. We present three approaches that were used to check and improve the antenna model of LOFAR and to provide an absolute calibration of the whole system for air shower measurements. Two methods are based on calibrated reference sources and one on a calibration approach using the diffuse radio emission of the Galaxy, optimized for short data-sets. An accuracy of 19% in amplitude is reached. The absolute calibration is also compared to predictions from air shower simulations. These results are used to set an absolute energy scale for air shower measurements and can be used as a basis for an absolute scale for the measurement of astronomical transients with LOFAR.

KW - Antennas

KW - Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics

KW - Spectral responses

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84948763209&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1088/1748-0221/10/11/P11005

DO - 10.1088/1748-0221/10/11/P11005

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84948763209

SN - 1748-0221

VL - 10

JO - Journal of Instrumentation

JF - Journal of Instrumentation

IS - 11

M1 - P11005

ER -

Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR

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