Effect of pressure and temperature corrections on muon flux variability at ground level and underground

TL;DR

This study examines how pressure and temperature corrections influence muon flux measurements at ground and underground levels, improving the detection of cosmic ray variations by reducing measurement variance.

Contribution

It introduces an integral method for calculating correction coefficients and utilizes GFS atmospheric profiles to enhance muon flux correction accuracy.

Findings

Corrections reduce muon flux variance significantly.

Improved correlation with neutron monitor data.

Enhanced sensitivity to transient cosmic ray events.

Abstract

In Low Background Laboratory at Institute of Physics Belgrade, plastic scintillators are used to continuously monitor flux of the muon component of secondary cosmic rays. Measurements are performed on the surface as well as underground (25 m.w.e depth). Temperature effect on muon component of secondary cosmic rays is well known and several methods to correct for it are already developed and widely used. Here, we apply integral method to calculate correction coefficients and use GFS (Global Forecast System) model to obtain atmospheric temperature profiles. Atmospheric corrections reduce variance of muon flux and lead to improved sensitivity to transient cosmic ray variations. Influence of corrections on correlation with neutron monitor data is discussed.