Reconstruction of Events Recorded with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

TL;DR

This paper details the methods used by the Pierre Auger Observatory to reconstruct cosmic ray events from surface detector data, focusing on arrival directions and shower sizes for zenith angles below 60 degrees.

Contribution

It introduces specific reconstruction techniques for surface detector data and evaluates their accuracy in determining cosmic ray properties.

Findings

Reconstruction methods achieve high accuracy in arrival direction estimation.

Shower size measurements are reliably obtained from surface detector signals.

The techniques are effective for zenith angles less than 60 degrees.

Abstract

Cosmic rays arriving at Earth collide with the upper parts of the atmosphere, thereby inducing extensive air showers. When secondary particles from the cascade arrive at the ground, they are measured by surface detector arrays. We describe the methods applied to the measurements of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory to reconstruct events with zenith angles less than $60^\circ$ using the timing and signal information recorded using the water-Cherenkov detector stations. In addition, we assess the accuracy of these methods in reconstructing the arrival directions of the primary cosmic ray particles and the sizes of the induced showers.