Acoustic transient event reconstruction and sensitivity studies with the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup

TL;DR

This paper discusses the use of the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS) to reconstruct acoustic transient events in Antarctic ice, identify sources, and evaluate sensitivity for neutrino detection, with implications for high-energy neutrino astronomy.

Contribution

The study demonstrates high-precision acoustic source reconstruction and sensitivity analysis for neutrino detection using SPATS in Antarctic ice.

Findings

Reconstructed source positions with high accuracy.

Identified human activity as primary acoustic sources.

Estimated sensitivity volume for neutrino detection.

Abstract

The South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS) consists of four strings instrumented with seven acoustic sensors and transmitters each, which are deployed in the upper 500 m of the IceCube holes. Since end of August 2008 SPATS is operating in transient mode, where three sensor channels of each string, located at three different depth levels, are used for triggered data taking within the 10 to 100 kHz frequency range. This allows to reconstruct the position of the source of acoustic signals in the antarctic ice with high precision. Acoustic signals from re-freezing IceCube holes are identified. All detected acoustic events seen are associated to sources caused by human activities at the South Pole. Further, the sensitive volume for neutrino interactions outside the IceCube instrumented area has been determined by simulation and a flux limit for high energy neutrinos was derived.