Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope

P. Schellart; A. Nelles; S. Buitink; A. Corstanje; J. E. Enriquez; H. Falcke; W. Frieswijk; J. R. Horandel; A. Horneffer; C. W. James; M. Krause; M. Mevius; O. Scholten; S. Ter Veen; S. Thoudam; M. Van Den Akker; A. Alexov; J. Anderson; I. M. Avruch; L. Bahren; R. Beck; M. E. Bell; P. Bennema; M. J. Bentum; G. Bernardi; P. Best; J. Bregman; F. Breitling; M. Brentjens; J. Broderick; M. Bruggen; B. Ciardi; A. Coolen; F. De Gasperin; E. De Geus; A. De Jong; M. De Vos; S. Duscha; J. Eisloffel; R. A. Fallows; C. Ferrari; M. A. Garrett; J. Grießmeier; T. Grit; J. P. Hamaker; T. E. Hassall; G. Heald; J. W.T. Hessels; M. Hoeft; H. A. Holties; M. Iacobelli; E. Juette; A. Karastergiou; W. Klijn; J. Kohler; V. I. Kondratiev; M. Kramer; M. Kuniyoshi; G. Kuper; P. Maat; G. Macario; G. Mann; S. Markoff; D. McKay-Bukowski; J. P. McKean; J. C.A. Miller-Jones; J. D. Mol; D. D. Mulcahy; H. Munk; R. Nijboer; M. J. Norden; E. Orru; R. Overeem; H. Paas; M. Pandey-Pommier; R. Pizzo; A. G. Polatidis; A. Renting; J. W. Romein; H. Rottgering; A. Schoenmakers; D. Schwarz; J. Sluman; O. Smirnov; C. Sobey; B. W. Stappers; M. Steinmetz; J. Swinbank; Y. Tang; C. Tasse; C. Toribio; J. Van Leeuwen; R. Van Nieuwpoort; R. J. Van Weeren; N. Vermaas; R. Vermeulen; C. Vocks; C. Vogt; R. A.M.J. Wijers; S. J. Wijnholds; M. W. Wise; O. Wucknitz; S. Yatawatta; P. Zarka; A. Zensus

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322683

Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope

P. Schellart
, A. Nelles
, S. Buitink
, A. Corstanje
, J. E. Enriquez
, H. Falcke
, W. Frieswijk
, J. R. Horandel
, A. Horneffer
, C. W. James
, M. Krause
, M. Mevius
, O. Scholten
, S. Ter Veen
, S. Thoudam
, M. Van Den Akker
, A. Alexov
, J. Anderson
, I. M. Avruch
, L. Bahren

R. Beck, M. E. Bell, P. Bennema, M. J. Bentum, G. Bernardi, P. Best, J. Bregman, F. Breitling, M. Brentjens, J. Broderick, M. Bruggen, B. Ciardi, A. Coolen, F. De Gasperin, E. De Geus, A. De Jong, M. De Vos, S. Duscha, J. Eisloffel, R. A. Fallows, C. Ferrari, M. A. Garrett, J. Grießmeier, T. Grit, J. P. Hamaker, T. E. Hassall, G. Heald, J. W.T. Hessels, M. Hoeft, H. A. Holties, M. Iacobelli, E. Juette, A. Karastergiou, W. Klijn, J. Kohler, V. I. Kondratiev, M. Kramer, M. Kuniyoshi, G. Kuper, P. Maat, G. Macario, G. Mann, S. Markoff, D. McKay-Bukowski, J. P. McKean, J. C.A. Miller-Jones, J. D. Mol, D. D. Mulcahy, H. Munk, R. Nijboer, M. J. Norden, E. Orru, R. Overeem, H. Paas, M. Pandey-Pommier, R. Pizzo, A. G. Polatidis, A. Renting, J. W. Romein, H. Rottgering, A. Schoenmakers, D. Schwarz, J. Sluman, O. Smirnov, C. Sobey, B. W. Stappers, M. Steinmetz, J. Swinbank, Y. Tang, C. Tasse, C. Toribio, J. Van Leeuwen, R. Van Nieuwpoort, R. J. Van Weeren, N. Vermaas, R. Vermeulen, C. Vocks, C. Vogt, R. A.M.J. Wijers, S. J. Wijnholds, M. W. Wise, O. Wucknitz, S. Yatawatta, P. Zarka, A. Zensus

Physics

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

143 Scopus citations

Abstract

The low frequency array (LOFAR), is the first radio telescope designed with the capability to measure radio emission from cosmic-ray induced air showers in parallel with interferometric observations. In the first ~2 years of observing, 405 cosmic-ray events in the energy range of 10¹⁶-10¹⁸ eV have been detected in the band from 30-80 MHz. Each of these air showers is registered with up to ~1000 independent antennas resulting in measurements of the radio emission with unprecedented detail. This article describes the dataset, as well as the analysis pipeline, and serves as a reference for future papers based on these data. All steps necessary to achieve a full reconstruction of the electric field at every antenna position are explained, including removal of radio frequency interference, correcting for the antenna response and identification of the pulsed signal.

Original language	British English
Article number	A98
Journal	Astronomy and Astrophysics
Volume	560
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201322683
State	Published - Dec 2013

Keywords

Astroparticle physics
Instrumentation: interferometers
Methods: data analysis

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10.1051/0004-6361/201322683

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Schellart, P., Nelles, A., Buitink, S., Corstanje, A., Enriquez, J. E., Falcke, H., Frieswijk, W., Horandel, J. R., Horneffer, A., James, C. W., Krause, M., Mevius, M., Scholten, O., Ter Veen, S., Thoudam, S., Van Den Akker, M., Alexov, A., Anderson, J., Avruch, I. M., ... Zensus, A. (2013). Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 560, Article A98. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201322683

@article{98461b46f10b40459589a0a3e77720b7,

title = "Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope",

abstract = "The low frequency array (LOFAR), is the first radio telescope designed with the capability to measure radio emission from cosmic-ray induced air showers in parallel with interferometric observations. In the first \textasciitilde{}2 years of observing, 405 cosmic-ray events in the energy range of 1016-1018 eV have been detected in the band from 30-80 MHz. Each of these air showers is registered with up to \textasciitilde{}1000 independent antennas resulting in measurements of the radio emission with unprecedented detail. This article describes the dataset, as well as the analysis pipeline, and serves as a reference for future papers based on these data. All steps necessary to achieve a full reconstruction of the electric field at every antenna position are explained, including removal of radio frequency interference, correcting for the antenna response and identification of the pulsed signal.",

keywords = "Astroparticle physics, Instrumentation: interferometers, Methods: data analysis",

author = "P. Schellart and A. Nelles and S. Buitink and A. Corstanje and Enriquez, \{J. E.\} and H. Falcke and W. Frieswijk and Horandel, \{J. R.\} and A. Horneffer and James, \{C. W.\} and M. Krause and M. Mevius and O. Scholten and \{Ter Veen\}, S. and S. Thoudam and \{Van Den Akker\}, M. and A. Alexov and J. Anderson and Avruch, \{I. M.\} and L. Bahren and R. Beck and Bell, \{M. E.\} and P. Bennema and Bentum, \{M. J.\} and G. Bernardi and P. Best and J. Bregman and F. Breitling and M. Brentjens and J. Broderick and M. Bruggen and B. Ciardi and A. Coolen and \{De Gasperin\}, F. and \{De Geus\}, E. and \{De Jong\}, A. and \{De Vos\}, M. and S. Duscha and J. Eisloffel and Fallows, \{R. A.\} and C. Ferrari and Garrett, \{M. A.\} and J. Grie{\ss}meier and T. Grit and Hamaker, \{J. P.\} and Hassall, \{T. E.\} and G. Heald and Hessels, \{J. W.T.\} and M. Hoeft and Holties, \{H. A.\} and M. Iacobelli and E. Juette and A. Karastergiou and W. Klijn and J. Kohler and Kondratiev, \{V. I.\} and M. Kramer and M. Kuniyoshi and G. Kuper and P. Maat and G. Macario and G. Mann and S. Markoff and D. McKay-Bukowski and McKean, \{J. P.\} and Miller-Jones, \{J. C.A.\} and Mol, \{J. D.\} and Mulcahy, \{D. D.\} and H. Munk and R. Nijboer and Norden, \{M. J.\} and E. Orru and R. Overeem and H. Paas and M. Pandey-Pommier and R. Pizzo and Polatidis, \{A. G.\} and A. Renting and Romein, \{J. W.\} and H. Rottgering and A. Schoenmakers and D. Schwarz and J. Sluman and O. Smirnov and C. Sobey and Stappers, \{B. W.\} and M. Steinmetz and J. Swinbank and Y. Tang and C. Tasse and C. Toribio and \{Van Leeuwen\}, J. and \{Van Nieuwpoort\}, R. and \{Van Weeren\}, \{R. J.\} and N. Vermaas and R. Vermeulen and C. Vocks and C. Vogt and Wijers, \{R. A.M.J.\} and Wijnholds, \{S. J.\} and Wise, \{M. W.\} and O. Wucknitz and S. Yatawatta and P. Zarka and A. Zensus",

note = "Funding Information: The LOFAR cosmic ray key science project very much acknowledges the scientific and technical support from ASTRON, especially in constructing the LORA particle detectors. We thank the KASCADE Collaboration for providing the scintillator detectors. Furthermore, we acknowledge financial support from the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA), the Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN) and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) as well as support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), VENI grant 639-041-130. We acknowledge funding from an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Seventh Framework Program (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 227610. LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON, has facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) foundation under a joint scientific policy. The authors would like to thank both the internal and external referees for carefully reading the manuscript. Chiara Ferrari and Giulia Macario acknowledge financial support by the “Agence Nationale de la Recherche” through grant ANR-09-JCJC-0001-01.",

year = "2013",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/201322683",

language = "British English",

volume = "560",

journal = "Astronomy and Astrophysics",

issn = "0004-6361",

publisher = "EDP Sciences",

}

Schellart, P, Nelles, A, Buitink, S, Corstanje, A, Enriquez, JE, Falcke, H, Frieswijk, W, Horandel, JR, Horneffer, A, James, CW, Krause, M, Mevius, M, Scholten, O, Ter Veen, S, Thoudam, S, Van Den Akker, M, Alexov, A, Anderson, J, Avruch, IM, Bahren, L, Beck, R, Bell, ME, Bennema, P, Bentum, MJ, Bernardi, G, Best, P, Bregman, J, Breitling, F, Brentjens, M, Broderick, J, Bruggen, M, Ciardi, B, Coolen, A, De Gasperin, F, De Geus, E, De Jong, A, De Vos, M, Duscha, S, Eisloffel, J, Fallows, RA, Ferrari, C, Garrett, MA, Grießmeier, J, Grit, T, Hamaker, JP, Hassall, TE, Heald, G, Hessels, JWT, Hoeft, M, Holties, HA, Iacobelli, M, Juette, E, Karastergiou, A, Klijn, W, Kohler, J, Kondratiev, VI, Kramer, M, Kuniyoshi, M, Kuper, G, Maat, P, Macario, G, Mann, G, Markoff, S, McKay-Bukowski, D, McKean, JP, Miller-Jones, JCA, Mol, JD, Mulcahy, DD, Munk, H, Nijboer, R, Norden, MJ, Orru, E, Overeem, R, Paas, H, Pandey-Pommier, M, Pizzo, R, Polatidis, AG, Renting, A, Romein, JW, Rottgering, H, Schoenmakers, A, Schwarz, D, Sluman, J, Smirnov, O, Sobey, C, Stappers, BW, Steinmetz, M, Swinbank, J, Tang, Y, Tasse, C, Toribio, C, Van Leeuwen, J, Van Nieuwpoort, R, Van Weeren, RJ, Vermaas, N, Vermeulen, R, Vocks, C, Vogt, C, Wijers, RAMJ, Wijnholds, SJ, Wise, MW, Wucknitz, O, Yatawatta, S, Zarka, P & Zensus, A 2013, 'Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 560, A98. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201322683

TY - JOUR

T1 - Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope

AU - Schellart, P.

AU - Nelles, A.

AU - Buitink, S.

AU - Corstanje, A.

AU - Enriquez, J. E.

AU - Falcke, H.

AU - Frieswijk, W.

AU - Horandel, J. R.

AU - Horneffer, A.

AU - James, C. W.

AU - Krause, M.

AU - Mevius, M.

AU - Scholten, O.

AU - Ter Veen, S.

AU - Thoudam, S.

AU - Van Den Akker, M.

AU - Alexov, A.

AU - Anderson, J.

AU - Avruch, I. M.

AU - Bahren, L.

AU - Beck, R.

AU - Bell, M. E.

AU - Bennema, P.

AU - Bentum, M. J.

AU - Bernardi, G.

AU - Best, P.

AU - Bregman, J.

AU - Breitling, F.

AU - Brentjens, M.

AU - Broderick, J.

AU - Bruggen, M.

AU - Ciardi, B.

AU - Coolen, A.

AU - De Gasperin, F.

AU - De Geus, E.

AU - De Jong, A.

AU - De Vos, M.

AU - Duscha, S.

AU - Eisloffel, J.

AU - Fallows, R. A.

AU - Ferrari, C.

AU - Garrett, M. A.

AU - Grießmeier, J.

AU - Grit, T.

AU - Hamaker, J. P.

AU - Hassall, T. E.

AU - Heald, G.

AU - Hessels, J. W.T.

AU - Hoeft, M.

AU - Holties, H. A.

AU - Iacobelli, M.

AU - Juette, E.

AU - Karastergiou, A.

AU - Klijn, W.

AU - Kohler, J.

AU - Kondratiev, V. I.

AU - Kramer, M.

AU - Kuniyoshi, M.

AU - Kuper, G.

AU - Maat, P.

AU - Macario, G.

AU - Mann, G.

AU - Markoff, S.

AU - McKay-Bukowski, D.

AU - McKean, J. P.

AU - Miller-Jones, J. C.A.

AU - Mol, J. D.

AU - Mulcahy, D. D.

AU - Munk, H.

AU - Nijboer, R.

AU - Norden, M. J.

AU - Orru, E.

AU - Overeem, R.

AU - Paas, H.

AU - Pandey-Pommier, M.

AU - Pizzo, R.

AU - Polatidis, A. G.

AU - Renting, A.

AU - Romein, J. W.

AU - Rottgering, H.

AU - Schoenmakers, A.

AU - Schwarz, D.

AU - Sluman, J.

AU - Smirnov, O.

AU - Sobey, C.

AU - Stappers, B. W.

AU - Steinmetz, M.

AU - Swinbank, J.

AU - Tang, Y.

AU - Tasse, C.

AU - Toribio, C.

AU - Van Leeuwen, J.

AU - Van Nieuwpoort, R.

AU - Van Weeren, R. J.

AU - Vermaas, N.

AU - Vermeulen, R.

AU - Vocks, C.

AU - Vogt, C.

AU - Wijers, R. A.M.J.

AU - Wijnholds, S. J.

AU - Wise, M. W.

AU - Wucknitz, O.

AU - Yatawatta, S.

AU - Zarka, P.

AU - Zensus, A.

N1 - Funding Information: The LOFAR cosmic ray key science project very much acknowledges the scientific and technical support from ASTRON, especially in constructing the LORA particle detectors. We thank the KASCADE Collaboration for providing the scintillator detectors. Furthermore, we acknowledge financial support from the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA), the Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN) and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) as well as support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), VENI grant 639-041-130. We acknowledge funding from an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 227610. LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON, has facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) foundation under a joint scientific policy. The authors would like to thank both the internal and external referees for carefully reading the manuscript. Chiara Ferrari and Giulia Macario acknowledge financial support by the “Agence Nationale de la Recherche” through grant ANR-09-JCJC-0001-01.

PY - 2013/12

Y1 - 2013/12

N2 - The low frequency array (LOFAR), is the first radio telescope designed with the capability to measure radio emission from cosmic-ray induced air showers in parallel with interferometric observations. In the first ~2 years of observing, 405 cosmic-ray events in the energy range of 1016-1018 eV have been detected in the band from 30-80 MHz. Each of these air showers is registered with up to ~1000 independent antennas resulting in measurements of the radio emission with unprecedented detail. This article describes the dataset, as well as the analysis pipeline, and serves as a reference for future papers based on these data. All steps necessary to achieve a full reconstruction of the electric field at every antenna position are explained, including removal of radio frequency interference, correcting for the antenna response and identification of the pulsed signal.

AB - The low frequency array (LOFAR), is the first radio telescope designed with the capability to measure radio emission from cosmic-ray induced air showers in parallel with interferometric observations. In the first ~2 years of observing, 405 cosmic-ray events in the energy range of 1016-1018 eV have been detected in the band from 30-80 MHz. Each of these air showers is registered with up to ~1000 independent antennas resulting in measurements of the radio emission with unprecedented detail. This article describes the dataset, as well as the analysis pipeline, and serves as a reference for future papers based on these data. All steps necessary to achieve a full reconstruction of the electric field at every antenna position are explained, including removal of radio frequency interference, correcting for the antenna response and identification of the pulsed signal.

KW - Astroparticle physics

KW - Instrumentation: interferometers

KW - Methods: data analysis

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84890383683

U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201322683

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201322683

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84890383683

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 560

JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics

M1 - A98

ER -

Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope

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Keywords

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