Initial performance of the Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays, RET-CR

TL;DR

The paper reports on the initial deployment and performance of the Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR) in Greenland, demonstrating the feasibility of radar-based detection of ultrahigh energy neutrinos in ice.

Contribution

It presents the first deployment and operational assessment of RET-CR, a novel radar-based detector for ultrahigh energy cosmic ray and neutrino detection in ice.

Findings

Technical feasibility of radar-based particle detection in ice demonstrated

Initial data collection informed improvements for future deployments

Operational insights gained for large-scale neutrino detection experiments

Abstract

The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR), a pathfinder instrument for the radar echo method of ultrahigh energy (UHE) neutrino detection, was initially deployed near Summit Station, Greenland, in May 2023. After a 4 week commissioning period, 9 days of data were taken before the instrument went offline. In this article, we describe the instrument as it was deployed, and the initial performance of the detector. We show that the technical aspects of running a radar based particle cascade detector in the ice have been demonstrated. Analysis of the 2023 data informed improvements that were incorporated into the May-August 2024 deployment, which has just concluded at time of writing. Results from the 2024 run will be presented in forthcoming publications.