Altitude dependence of fluorescence light emission by extensive air showers

TL;DR

This paper investigates how temperature-dependent molecular collision cross-sections and water vapour quenching affect fluorescence light emission in extensive air showers, impacting the accuracy of energy reconstruction.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed model accounting for temperature dependence and water vapour effects on fluorescence yield in air showers.

Findings

Temperature-dependent collision cross-sections significantly influence fluorescence yield.

Water vapour quenching affects the fluorescence emission in the atmosphere.

Atmospheric profile variations impact energy reconstruction accuracy.

Abstract

Fluorescence light is induced by extensive air showers while developing in the Earth's atmosphere. The number of emitted fluorescence photons depends on the conditions of the air and on the energy deposited by the shower particles at every stage of the development. In a previous model calculation, the pressure and temperature dependences of the fluorescence yield have been studied on the basis of kinetic gas theory, assuming temperature-independent molecular collision cross-sections. In this work we investigate the importance of temperature-dependent collision cross-sections and of water vapour quenching on the expected fluorescence yield. The calculations will be applied to simulated air showers while using actual atmospheric profiles to estimate the influence on the reconstructed energy of extensive air showers.