EUSO@TurLab project in view of Mini-EUSO and EUSO-SPB2 missions

TL;DR

The TurLab facility is used to simulate space-based observations of cosmic rays, testing detector performance and trigger logic for upcoming missions like Mini-EUSO and EUSO-SPB2, by recreating terrestrial and light source conditions.

Contribution

This paper presents the use of the TurLab rotating tank to simulate diverse environmental conditions for testing space-based cosmic ray detectors and trigger logic.

Findings

Comparison between TurLab and ISS measurements shows consistency.

TurLab effectively reproduces terrestrial surface and light source conditions.

Preparations for testing EUSO-SPB2 trigger logic are underway.

Abstract

The TurLab facility is a laboratory, equipped with a 5 m diameter and 1 m depth rotating tank, located in the fourth basement level of the Physics Department of the University of Turin. In the past years, we have used the facility to perform experiments related to the observations of Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays (EECRs) from space using the fluorescence technique for JEM- EUSO missions with the main objective to test the response of the trigger logic. In the missions, the diffuse night brightness and artificial and natural light sources can vary significantly in time and space in the Field of View (FoV) of the telescope. Therefore, it is essential to verify the detector performance and test the trigger logic under such an environment. By means of the tank rotation, a various terrestrial surface with the different optical characteristics such as ocean, land, forest, desert and clouds, as well as artificial and natural light sources such as city lights, lightnings and meteors passing by the detector FoV one after the other is reproduced. The fact that the tank located in a very dark place enables the tests under an optically controlled environment. Using the Mini-EUSO data taken since 2019 onboard the ISS, we will report on the comparison between TurLab and ISS measurements in view of future experiments at TurLab. Moreover, in the forthcoming months we will start testing the trigger logic of the EUSO-SPB2 mission. We report also on the plans and status for this purpose.