0000000001236744
AUTHOR
N. Foerster
Probing the radio emission from air showers with polarization measurements
The emission of radio waves from air showers has been attributed to the so-called geomagnetic emission process. At frequencies around 50 MHz this process leads to coherent radiation which can be observed with rather simple setups. The direction of the electric field induced by this emission process depends only on the local magnetic field vector and on the incoming direction of the air shower. We report on measurements of the electric field vector where, in addition to this geomagnetic component, another component has been observed which cannot be described by the geomagnetic emission process. The data provide strong evidence that the other electric field component is polarized radially wit…
Origin of atmospheric aerosols at the Pierre Auger Observatory using studies of air mass trajectories in South America
The Pierre Auger Observatory is making significant contributions towards understanding the nature and origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. One of its main challenges is the monitoring of the atmosphere, both in terms of its state variables and its optical properties. The aim of this work is to analyze aerosol optical depth $\tau_{\rm a}(z)$ values measured from 2004 to 2012 at the observatory, which is located in a remote and relatively unstudied area of the Pampa Amarilla, Argentina. The aerosol optical depth is in average quite low - annual mean $\tau_{\rm a}(3.5~{\rm km})\sim 0.04$ - and shows a seasonal trend with a winter minimum - $\tau_{\rm a}(3.5~{\rm km})\sim 0.03$ -, and a sum…