Calibration of the logarithmic-periodic dipole antenna (LPDA) radio stations at the Pierre Auger Observatory using an octocopter

The Pierre Auger Collaboration

doi:10.1088/1748-0221/12/10/T10005

Calibration of the logarithmic-periodic dipole antenna (LPDA) radio stations at the Pierre Auger Observatory using an octocopter

The Pierre Auger Collaboration

Physics

Radboud University Nijmegen
Instituto Superior Tecnico
Sezione di Torino
INAF-IAPS
Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies
University of São Paulo
CNEA-UNCuyo-CONICET
CONICET
Universidad Tecnológica Nacional
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
Gran Sasso Science Institute
Lehman College
Sezione di Napoli
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Institute of Space Science
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Observatorio Pierre Auger and Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica
Observatorio Pierre Auger and Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica
University Politehnica of Bucharest
'Horia Hulubei' National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering
Università di Napoli 'Federico II' and Sezione INFN
Ohio State University
Bergische Universität Wuppertal
University of Adelaide
UJF-Grenoble 1/CNRS-INSU
Università di Torino and Sezione INFN
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
Université Paris 11
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Sezione di Lecce
Universita del Salento
Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Colorado State University
RWTH Aachen University
Universität Siegen
Universidad de Granada

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

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

An in-situ calibration of a logarithmic periodic dipole antenna with a frequency coverage of 30MHz to 80MHz is performed. Such antennas are part of a radio station system used for detection of cosmic ray induced air showers at the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the so-called Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA). The directional and frequency characteristics of the broadband antenna are investigated using a remotely piloted aircraft carrying a small transmitting antenna. The antenna sensitivity is described by the vector effective length relating the measured voltage with the electric-field components perpendicular to the incoming signal direction. The horizontal and meridional components are determined with an overall uncertainty of 7.4^+0.9 _-0.3% and 10.3^+2.8 _-1.7% respectively. The measurement is used to correct a simulated response of the frequency and directional response of the antenna. In addition, the influence of the ground conductivity and permittivity on the antenna response is simulated. Both have a negligible influence given the ground conditions measured at the detector site. The overall uncertainties of the vector effective length components result in an uncertainty of 8.8^+2.1 _-1.3% in the square root of the energy fluence for incoming signal directions with zenith angles smaller than 60°.

Original language	British English
Article number	T10005
Journal	Journal of Instrumentation
Volume	12
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/12/10/T10005
State	Published - Oct 2017

Keywords

Antennas
Detector alignment and calibration methods (lasers, sources, particlebeams)
Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics
Particle detectors

Access to Document

10.1088/1748-0221/12/10/T10005

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

@article{8500fdd9ee93408a8c8b896df1507208,

title = "Calibration of the logarithmic-periodic dipole antenna (LPDA) radio stations at the Pierre Auger Observatory using an octocopter",

abstract = "An in-situ calibration of a logarithmic periodic dipole antenna with a frequency coverage of 30MHz to 80MHz is performed. Such antennas are part of a radio station system used for detection of cosmic ray induced air showers at the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the so-called Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA). The directional and frequency characteristics of the broadband antenna are investigated using a remotely piloted aircraft carrying a small transmitting antenna. The antenna sensitivity is described by the vector effective length relating the measured voltage with the electric-field components perpendicular to the incoming signal direction. The horizontal and meridional components are determined with an overall uncertainty of 7.4+0.9 -0.3\% and 10.3+2.8 -1.7\% respectively. The measurement is used to correct a simulated response of the frequency and directional response of the antenna. In addition, the influence of the ground conductivity and permittivity on the antenna response is simulated. Both have a negligible influence given the ground conditions measured at the detector site. The overall uncertainties of the vector effective length components result in an uncertainty of 8.8+2.1 -1.3\% in the square root of the energy fluence for incoming signal directions with zenith angles smaller than 60°.",

keywords = "Antennas, Detector alignment and calibration methods (lasers, sources, particlebeams), Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics, Particle detectors",

author = "\{The Pierre Auger Collaboration\} and A. Aab and P. Abreu and M. Aglietta and \{Al Samarai\}, I. and Albuquerque, \{I. F.M.\} and I. Allekotte and A. Almela and Castillo, \{J. Alvarez\} and J. Alvarez-Mu{\~n}iz and Anastasi, \{G. A.\} and L. Anchordoqui and B. Andrada and S. Andringa and C. Aramo and F. Arqueros and N. Arsene and H. Asorey and P. Assis and J. Aublin and G. Avila and Badescu, \{A. M.\} and A. Balaceanu and F. Barbato and Luz, \{R. J.Barreira\} and Beatty, \{J. J.\} and Becker, \{K. H.\} and Bellido, \{J. A.\} and C. Berat and Bertaina, \{M. E.\} and X. Bertou and Biermann, \{P. L.\} and P. Billoir and J. Biteau and Blaess, \{S. G.\} and A. Blanco and J. Blazek and C. Bleve and M. Boh{\'a}cov{\'a} and D. Boncioli and C. Bonifazi and N. Borodai and Botti, \{A. M.\} and J. Brack and I. Brancus and T. Bretz and A. Bridgeman and Briechle, \{F. L.\} and P. Buchholz and A. Bueno and \{Van Vliet\}, A.",

note = "Funding Information: The successful installation, commissioning, and operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory would not have been possible without the strong commitment and effort from the technical and administrative staff in Malarg{\"u}e. We are very grateful to the following agencies and organizations for financial support: Argentina — Comisi{\'o}n Nacional de Energ{\'i}a At{\'o}mica; Agencia Nacional de Promoci{\'o}n Cient{\'i}fica y Tecnol{\'o}gica (ANPCyT); Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient{\'i}ficas y T{\'e}cnicas (CONICET); Gobierno de la Provincia de Mendoza; Municipalidad de Malarg{\"u}e; NDM Holdings and Valle Las Le{\~n}as; in gratitude for their continuing cooperation over land access; Australia — the Australian Research Council; Brazil — Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient{\'i}fico e Tecnol{\'o}gico (CNPq); Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP); Funda{\c c}{\~a}o de Amparo {\`a} Pesquisa do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ); S{\~a}o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Grants No. 2010/07359-6 and No. 1999/05404-3; Minist{\'e}rio de Ci{\^e}ncia e Tecnologia (MCT); Czech Republic — Grant No. MSMT CR LG15014, LO1305 and LM2015038 and the Czech Science Foundation Grant No. 14-17501S; France — Centre de Calcul IN2P3/CNRS; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Conseil R{\'e}gional Ile-de-France; D{\'e}partement Physique Nucl{\'e}aire et Corpusculaire (PNC-IN2P3/CNRS); D{\'e}partement Sciences de l{\textquoteright}Univers (SDU-INSU/CNRS); Institut Lagrange de Paris (ILP) Grant No. LABEX ANR-10-LABX-63 within the Investisse-ments d{\textquoteright}Avenir Programme Grant No. ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02; Germany — Bundesministerium f{\"u}r Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); Finanzminis-terium Baden-W{\"u}rttemberg; Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (HAP); Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF); Ministerium f{\"u}r Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen; Ministerium f{\"u}r Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst des Landes Baden-W{\"u}rttemberg; Italy — Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN); Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF); Ministero dell{\textquoteright}Istruzione, dell{\textquoteright}Universit{\`a} e della Ricerca (MIUR); CETEMPS Center of Excellence; Ministero degli Affari Esteri (MAE); Mexico — Consejo Na-cional de Ciencia y Tecnolog{\'i}a (CONACYT) No. 167733; Universidad Nacional Aut{\'o}noma de M{\'e}xico (UNAM); PAPIIT DGAPA-UNAM; The Netherlands — Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cul-tuur en Wetenschap; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO); Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM); Poland — National Centre for Research and Development, Grants No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/01/11 and No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/02/11; National Science Centre, Grants No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00322, No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00728 and No. HARMONIA 5 – 2013/10/M/ST9/00062; Portugal — Portuguese national funds and FEDER funds within Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Funda{\c c}{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e a Tecnologia (COMPETE); Romania — Romanian Authority for Scientific Research ANCS; CNDI-UEFISCDI partnership projects Grants No. 20/2012 and No. 194/2012 and PN 16 42 01 02; Slovenia — Slovenian Research Agency; Spain — Comunidad de Madrid; Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) funds; Ministerio de Econom{\'i}a y Competitividad; Xunta de Galicia; European Community 7th Framework Program Grant No. FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF-328826; U.S.A. — Department of Energy, Contracts No. DE-AC02-07CH11359, No. DE-FR02-04ER41300, No. DE-FG02-99ER41107 and No. DE-SC0011689; National Science Foundation, Grant No. 0450696; The Grainger Foundation; Marie Curie-IRSES/EPLANET; European Particle Physics Latin American Network; European Union 7th Framework Program, Grant No. PIRSES-2009-GA-246806; Funding Information: The successful installation, commissioning, and operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory would not have been possible without the strong commitment and effort from the technical and administrative staff in Malarg{\"u}e. We are very grateful to the following agencies and organizations for financial support: Argentina - Comisi{\'o}n Nacional de Energ{\'i}a At{\'o}mica; Agencia Nacional de Promoci{\'o}n Cient{\'i}fica y Tecnol{\'o}gica (ANPCyT); Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient{\'i}ficas y T{\'e}cnicas (CONICET); Gobierno de la Provincia de Mendoza; Municipalidad de Malarg{\"u}e; NDM Holdings and Valle Las Le{\~n}as; in gratitude for their continuing cooperation over land access; Australia - the Australian Research Council; Brazil - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient{\'i}fico e Tecnol{\'o}gico (CNPq); Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP); Funda{\c c}{\~a}o de Amparo {\`a} Pesquisa do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ); S{\~a}o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) GrantsNo. 2010/07359-6 andNo. 1999/05404-3; Minist{\'e}rio de Ci{\^e}ncia e Tecnologia (MCT); Czech Republic - Grant No. MSMT CR LG15014, LO1305 and LM2015038 and the Czech Science Foundation Grant No. 14-17501S; France-Centre de Calcul IN2P3/CNRS; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Conseil R{\'e}gional Ile-de-France; D{\'e}partement Physique Nucl{\'e}aire et Corpusculaire (PNC-IN2P3/CNRS); D{\'e}partement Sciences de l'Univers (SDU-INSU/CNRS); Institut Lagrange de Paris (ILP) Grant No. LABEX ANR-10-LABX-63 within the Investissements d'Avenir Programme Grant No. ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02; Germany - Bundesministerium f{\"u}r Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); Finanzministerium Baden-W{\"u}rttemberg; Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (HAP); Helmholtz- Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF); Ministerium f{\"u}r Innovation,Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen; Ministerium f{\"u}r Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst des Landes Baden-W{\"u}rttemberg; Italy - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN); Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF); Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Universit{\`a} e della Ricerca (MIUR); CETEMPS Center of Excellence; Ministero degli Affari Esteri (MAE); Mexico - Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnolog{\'i}a (CONACYT) No. 167733; Universidad Nacional Aut{\'o}noma de M{\'e}xico (UNAM); PAPIIT DGAPA-UNAM; The Netherlands - Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur enWetenschap; Nederlandse Organisatie voorWetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO); Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM); Poland-National Centre for Research and Development, Grants No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/01/11 and No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/02/11; National Science Centre, Grants No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00322, No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00728 and No. HARMONIA 5 - 2013/10/M/ST9/00062; Portugal - Portuguese national funds and FEDER funds within Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Funda{\c c}{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e a Tecnologia (COMPETE); Romania - Romanian Authority for Scientific Research ANCS; CNDIUEFISCDI partnership projects GrantsNo. 20/2012 andNo. 194/2012 and PN 16 42 01 02; Slovenia - Slovenian Research Agency; Spain - Comunidad de Madrid; Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) funds; Ministerio de Econom{\'i}a y Competitividad; Xunta de Galicia; European Community 7th Framework Program Grant No. FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF-328826; U.S.A. - Department of Energy, Contracts No. DE-AC02-07CH11359, No. DE-FR02-04ER41300, No. DEFG02- 99ER41107 and No. DE-SC0011689; National Science Foundation, Grant No. 0450696; The Grainger Foundation; Marie Curie-IRSES/EPLANET; European Particle Physics Latin American Network; European Union 7th Framework Program, Grant No. PIRSES-2009-GA-246806; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant No. 646623); and UNESCO. Funding Information: European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant No. 646623); and UNESCO. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab.",

year = "2017",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1088/1748-0221/12/10/T10005",

language = "British English",

volume = "12",

journal = "Journal of Instrumentation",

issn = "1748-0221",

publisher = "Institute of Physics",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Calibration of the logarithmic-periodic dipole antenna (LPDA) radio stations at the Pierre Auger Observatory using an octocopter

AU - The Pierre Auger Collaboration

AU - Aab, A.

AU - Abreu, P.

AU - Aglietta, M.

AU - Al Samarai, I.

AU - Albuquerque, I. F.M.

AU - Allekotte, I.

AU - Almela, A.

AU - Castillo, J. Alvarez

AU - Alvarez-Muñiz, J.

AU - Anastasi, G. A.

AU - Anchordoqui, L.

AU - Andrada, B.

AU - Andringa, S.

AU - Aramo, C.

AU - Arqueros, F.

AU - Arsene, N.

AU - Asorey, H.

AU - Assis, P.

AU - Aublin, J.

AU - Avila, G.

AU - Badescu, A. M.

AU - Balaceanu, A.

AU - Barbato, F.

AU - Luz, R. J.Barreira

AU - Beatty, J. J.

AU - Becker, K. H.

AU - Bellido, J. A.

AU - Berat, C.

AU - Bertaina, M. E.

AU - Bertou, X.

AU - Biermann, P. L.

AU - Billoir, P.

AU - Biteau, J.

AU - Blaess, S. G.

AU - Blanco, A.

AU - Blazek, J.

AU - Bleve, C.

AU - Bohácová, M.

AU - Boncioli, D.

AU - Bonifazi, C.

AU - Borodai, N.

AU - Botti, A. M.

AU - Brack, J.

AU - Brancus, I.

AU - Bretz, T.

AU - Bridgeman, A.

AU - Briechle, F. L.

AU - Buchholz, P.

AU - Bueno, A.

AU - Van Vliet, A.

N1 - Funding Information: The successful installation, commissioning, and operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory would not have been possible without the strong commitment and effort from the technical and administrative staff in Malargüe. We are very grateful to the following agencies and organizations for financial support: Argentina — Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT); Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Gobierno de la Provincia de Mendoza; Municipalidad de Malargüe; NDM Holdings and Valle Las Leñas; in gratitude for their continuing cooperation over land access; Australia — the Australian Research Council; Brazil — Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq); Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ); São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Grants No. 2010/07359-6 and No. 1999/05404-3; Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia (MCT); Czech Republic — Grant No. MSMT CR LG15014, LO1305 and LM2015038 and the Czech Science Foundation Grant No. 14-17501S; France — Centre de Calcul IN2P3/CNRS; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Conseil Régional Ile-de-France; Département Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire (PNC-IN2P3/CNRS); Département Sciences de l’Univers (SDU-INSU/CNRS); Institut Lagrange de Paris (ILP) Grant No. LABEX ANR-10-LABX-63 within the Investisse-ments d’Avenir Programme Grant No. ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02; Germany — Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); Finanzminis-terium Baden-Württemberg; Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (HAP); Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF); Ministerium für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen; Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst des Landes Baden-Württemberg; Italy — Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN); Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF); Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR); CETEMPS Center of Excellence; Ministero degli Affari Esteri (MAE); Mexico — Consejo Na-cional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) No. 167733; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); PAPIIT DGAPA-UNAM; The Netherlands — Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cul-tuur en Wetenschap; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO); Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM); Poland — National Centre for Research and Development, Grants No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/01/11 and No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/02/11; National Science Centre, Grants No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00322, No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00728 and No. HARMONIA 5 – 2013/10/M/ST9/00062; Portugal — Portuguese national funds and FEDER funds within Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (COMPETE); Romania — Romanian Authority for Scientific Research ANCS; CNDI-UEFISCDI partnership projects Grants No. 20/2012 and No. 194/2012 and PN 16 42 01 02; Slovenia — Slovenian Research Agency; Spain — Comunidad de Madrid; Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) funds; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; Xunta de Galicia; European Community 7th Framework Program Grant No. FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF-328826; U.S.A. — Department of Energy, Contracts No. DE-AC02-07CH11359, No. DE-FR02-04ER41300, No. DE-FG02-99ER41107 and No. DE-SC0011689; National Science Foundation, Grant No. 0450696; The Grainger Foundation; Marie Curie-IRSES/EPLANET; European Particle Physics Latin American Network; European Union 7th Framework Program, Grant No. PIRSES-2009-GA-246806; Funding Information: The successful installation, commissioning, and operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory would not have been possible without the strong commitment and effort from the technical and administrative staff in Malargüe. We are very grateful to the following agencies and organizations for financial support: Argentina - Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT); Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Gobierno de la Provincia de Mendoza; Municipalidad de Malargüe; NDM Holdings and Valle Las Leñas; in gratitude for their continuing cooperation over land access; Australia - the Australian Research Council; Brazil - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq); Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ); São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) GrantsNo. 2010/07359-6 andNo. 1999/05404-3; Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia (MCT); Czech Republic - Grant No. MSMT CR LG15014, LO1305 and LM2015038 and the Czech Science Foundation Grant No. 14-17501S; France-Centre de Calcul IN2P3/CNRS; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Conseil Régional Ile-de-France; Département Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire (PNC-IN2P3/CNRS); Département Sciences de l'Univers (SDU-INSU/CNRS); Institut Lagrange de Paris (ILP) Grant No. LABEX ANR-10-LABX-63 within the Investissements d'Avenir Programme Grant No. ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02; Germany - Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); Finanzministerium Baden-Württemberg; Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (HAP); Helmholtz- Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF); Ministerium für Innovation,Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen; Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst des Landes Baden-Württemberg; Italy - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN); Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF); Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (MIUR); CETEMPS Center of Excellence; Ministero degli Affari Esteri (MAE); Mexico - Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) No. 167733; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); PAPIIT DGAPA-UNAM; The Netherlands - Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur enWetenschap; Nederlandse Organisatie voorWetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO); Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM); Poland-National Centre for Research and Development, Grants No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/01/11 and No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/02/11; National Science Centre, Grants No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00322, No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00728 and No. HARMONIA 5 - 2013/10/M/ST9/00062; Portugal - Portuguese national funds and FEDER funds within Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (COMPETE); Romania - Romanian Authority for Scientific Research ANCS; CNDIUEFISCDI partnership projects GrantsNo. 20/2012 andNo. 194/2012 and PN 16 42 01 02; Slovenia - Slovenian Research Agency; Spain - Comunidad de Madrid; Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) funds; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; Xunta de Galicia; European Community 7th Framework Program Grant No. FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF-328826; U.S.A. - Department of Energy, Contracts No. DE-AC02-07CH11359, No. DE-FR02-04ER41300, No. DEFG02- 99ER41107 and No. DE-SC0011689; National Science Foundation, Grant No. 0450696; The Grainger Foundation; Marie Curie-IRSES/EPLANET; European Particle Physics Latin American Network; European Union 7th Framework Program, Grant No. PIRSES-2009-GA-246806; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant No. 646623); and UNESCO. Funding Information: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant No. 646623); and UNESCO. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab.

PY - 2017/10

Y1 - 2017/10

N2 - An in-situ calibration of a logarithmic periodic dipole antenna with a frequency coverage of 30MHz to 80MHz is performed. Such antennas are part of a radio station system used for detection of cosmic ray induced air showers at the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the so-called Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA). The directional and frequency characteristics of the broadband antenna are investigated using a remotely piloted aircraft carrying a small transmitting antenna. The antenna sensitivity is described by the vector effective length relating the measured voltage with the electric-field components perpendicular to the incoming signal direction. The horizontal and meridional components are determined with an overall uncertainty of 7.4+0.9 -0.3% and 10.3+2.8 -1.7% respectively. The measurement is used to correct a simulated response of the frequency and directional response of the antenna. In addition, the influence of the ground conductivity and permittivity on the antenna response is simulated. Both have a negligible influence given the ground conditions measured at the detector site. The overall uncertainties of the vector effective length components result in an uncertainty of 8.8+2.1 -1.3% in the square root of the energy fluence for incoming signal directions with zenith angles smaller than 60°.

AB - An in-situ calibration of a logarithmic periodic dipole antenna with a frequency coverage of 30MHz to 80MHz is performed. Such antennas are part of a radio station system used for detection of cosmic ray induced air showers at the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the so-called Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA). The directional and frequency characteristics of the broadband antenna are investigated using a remotely piloted aircraft carrying a small transmitting antenna. The antenna sensitivity is described by the vector effective length relating the measured voltage with the electric-field components perpendicular to the incoming signal direction. The horizontal and meridional components are determined with an overall uncertainty of 7.4+0.9 -0.3% and 10.3+2.8 -1.7% respectively. The measurement is used to correct a simulated response of the frequency and directional response of the antenna. In addition, the influence of the ground conductivity and permittivity on the antenna response is simulated. Both have a negligible influence given the ground conditions measured at the detector site. The overall uncertainties of the vector effective length components result in an uncertainty of 8.8+2.1 -1.3% in the square root of the energy fluence for incoming signal directions with zenith angles smaller than 60°.

KW - Antennas

KW - Detector alignment and calibration methods (lasers, sources, particlebeams)

KW - Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics

KW - Particle detectors

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85051401630

U2 - 10.1088/1748-0221/12/10/T10005

DO - 10.1088/1748-0221/12/10/T10005

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85051401630

SN - 1748-0221

VL - 12

JO - Journal of Instrumentation

JF - Journal of Instrumentation

IS - 10

M1 - T10005

ER -

Calibration of the logarithmic-periodic dipole antenna (LPDA) radio stations at the Pierre Auger Observatory using an octocopter

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

OpenUrl availability

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this