AtmoHEAD 2013 workshop / Atmospheric Monitoring for High-Energy Astroparticle Detectors

TL;DR

This paper summarizes a workshop focused on atmospheric monitoring techniques crucial for calibrating high-energy astroparticle detectors, emphasizing the importance of real-time atmospheric data for reducing systematic uncertainties in astrophysical measurements.

Contribution

It highlights the interdisciplinary efforts and recent advancements in atmospheric calibration methods for next-generation high-energy astroparticle observatories.

Findings

Atmospheric conditions significantly impact detector calibration.

Improved atmospheric monitoring reduces systematic uncertainties.

Next-generation facilities require advanced atmospheric calibration techniques.

Abstract

A 3-day international workshop on atmospheric monitoring and calibration for high-energy astroparticle detectors, with a view towards next-generation facilities. The atmosphere is an integral component of many high-energy astroparticle detectors. Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and cosmic-ray extensive air shower detectors are the two instruments driving the rapidly evolving fields of very-high- and ultra-high-energy astrophysics. In these instruments, the atmosphere is used as a giant calorimeter where cosmic rays and gamma rays deposit their energy and initiate EASs; it is also the medium through which the resulting Cherenkov light propagates. Uncertainties in real-time atmospheric conditions and in the fixed atmospheric models typically dominate all other systematic errors. With the improved sensitivity of upgraded IACTs such as H.E.S.S.-II and MAGIC-II and future facilities like the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) and JEM-EUSO, statistical uncertainties are expected to be significantly reduced, leaving the atmosphere as the limiting factor in the determination of astroparticle spectra. Varying weather conditions necessitate the development of suitable atmospheric monitoring to be integrated in the overall instrument calibration, including Monte Carlo simulations. With expertise distributed across multiple collaborations and scientific domains, an interdisciplinary workshop is being convened to advance progress on this critical and timely topic.