Performance of the Cherenkov Telescope Array in the presence of clouds

the Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium

Performance of the Cherenkov Telescope Array in the presence of clouds

the Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium

University of Rijeka
Virovitica University of Applied Sciences
Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics
University of Lodz
c/o DESY
Department of Physics
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek
Department of Informatics
Centre for Space Research
North-West University
Institute for Cosmic Ray Research
University of Tokyo
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
CEA/UVSQ/CNRS
Durham University
Port d'Informació Científica
Monash Centre for Astrophysics
Monash University
Ip Paris
Columbia University
Department of Physics
University of Oslo
EMFTEL Department
IPARCOS-UCM (Instituto de Física de Partículas y del Cosmos)
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC
Campus UAB
Facultad de Ciencias
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Departement de Physique Nucleaire et Corpusculaire
University of Geneva
Università Dell'Aquila
Instituto de Astronomia
University of São Paulo
GEPI - Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique, Instrumentation
INAF Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, Bologna
Osservatorio Astrofisico Di Arcetri
University of Perugia
INFN Sezione di Napoli
INFN Roma Tor Vergata
Argonne National Laboratory
Aix-Marseille Université
Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania
Grupo de Electronica
Complutense University
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

Abstract

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the future ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy at very high energies. The atmosphere is an integral part of every Cherenkov telescope. Different atmospheric conditions, such as clouds, can reduce the fraction of Cherenkov photons produced in air showers that reach ground-based telescopes, which may affect the performance. Decreased sensitivity of the telescopes may lead to misconstructed energies and spectra. This study presents the impact of various atmospheric conditions on CTA performance. The atmospheric transmission in a cloudy atmosphere in the wavelength range from 203 nm to 1000 nm was simulated for different cloud bases and different optical depths using the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) code. MODTRAN output files were used as inputs for generic Monte Carlo simulations. The analysis was performed using the MAGIC Analysis and Reconstruction Software (MARS) adapted for CTA. As expected, the effects of clouds are most evident at low energies, near the energy threshold. Even in the presence of dense clouds, high-energy gamma rays may still trigger the telescopes if the first interaction occurs lower in the atmosphere, below the cloud base. A method to analyze very high-energy data obtained in the presence of clouds is presented. The systematic uncertainties of the method are evaluated. These studies help to gain more precise knowledge about the CTA response to cloudy conditions and give insights on how to proceed with data obtained in such conditions. This may prove crucial for alert-based observations and time-critical studies of transient phenomena.

Original language	English
Article number	763
Journal	Proceedings of Science
Volume	395
Publication status	Published - 18 Mar 2022
Event	37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021 - Virtual, Berlin, Germany Duration: 12 Jul 2021 → 23 Jul 2021

Cite this

@article{a3cf663e049b4bb1a97a04ad24e80e30,

title = "Performance of the Cherenkov Telescope Array in the presence of clouds",

abstract = "The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the future ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy at very high energies. The atmosphere is an integral part of every Cherenkov telescope. Different atmospheric conditions, such as clouds, can reduce the fraction of Cherenkov photons produced in air showers that reach ground-based telescopes, which may affect the performance. Decreased sensitivity of the telescopes may lead to misconstructed energies and spectra. This study presents the impact of various atmospheric conditions on CTA performance. The atmospheric transmission in a cloudy atmosphere in the wavelength range from 203 nm to 1000 nm was simulated for different cloud bases and different optical depths using the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) code. MODTRAN output files were used as inputs for generic Monte Carlo simulations. The analysis was performed using the MAGIC Analysis and Reconstruction Software (MARS) adapted for CTA. As expected, the effects of clouds are most evident at low energies, near the energy threshold. Even in the presence of dense clouds, high-energy gamma rays may still trigger the telescopes if the first interaction occurs lower in the atmosphere, below the cloud base. A method to analyze very high-energy data obtained in the presence of clouds is presented. The systematic uncertainties of the method are evaluated. These studies help to gain more precise knowledge about the CTA response to cloudy conditions and give insights on how to proceed with data obtained in such conditions. This may prove crucial for alert-based observations and time-critical studies of transient phenomena.",

author = "\{the Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium\} and Mario Pecimotika and Katarzyna Adamczyk and Prester, \{Dijana Dominis\} and Orel Gueta and Dario Hrupec and Gernot Maier and Sa{\v s}a Mi{\'c}anovi{\'c} and Lovro Pavleti{\'c} and Julian Sitarek and Dorota Sobczy{\'n}ska and Micha{\l} Szanecki and H. Abdalla and H. Abe and S. Abe and A. Abusleme and F. Acero and A. Acharyya and \{Ac{\'i}n Portella\}, V. and K. Ackley and R. Adam and C. Adams and Adhikari, \{S. S.\} and I. Aguado-Ruesga and I. Agudo and R. Aguilera and A. Aguirre-Santaella and F. Aharonian and A. Alberdi and R. Alfaro and J. Alfaro and C. Alispach and R. Aloisio and \{Alves Batista\}, R. and Amans, \{J. P.\} and L. Amati and E. Amato and L. Ambrogi and G. Ambrosi and M. Ambrosio and R. Ammendola and J. Anderson and M. Anduze and Ang{\"u}ner, \{E. O.\} and Antonelli, \{L. A.\} and V. Antonuccio and P. Antoranz and R. Anutarawiramkul and S. Chaty and S. Fegan and D. Horan",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0); 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021 ; Conference date: 12-07-2021 Through 23-07-2021",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

day = "18",

language = "English",

volume = "395",

journal = "Proceedings of Science",

issn = "1824-8039",

publisher = "Sissa Medialab Srl",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Performance of the Cherenkov Telescope Array in the presence of clouds

AU - the Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium

AU - Pecimotika, Mario

AU - Adamczyk, Katarzyna

AU - Prester, Dijana Dominis

AU - Gueta, Orel

AU - Hrupec, Dario

AU - Maier, Gernot

AU - Mićanović, Saša

AU - Pavletić, Lovro

AU - Sitarek, Julian

AU - Sobczyńska, Dorota

AU - Szanecki, Michał

AU - Abdalla, H.

AU - Abe, H.

AU - Abe, S.

AU - Abusleme, A.

AU - Acero, F.

AU - Acharyya, A.

AU - Acín Portella, V.

AU - Ackley, K.

AU - Adam, R.

AU - Adams, C.

AU - Adhikari, S. S.

AU - Aguado-Ruesga, I.

AU - Agudo, I.

AU - Aguilera, R.

AU - Aguirre-Santaella, A.

AU - Aharonian, F.

AU - Alberdi, A.

AU - Alfaro, R.

AU - Alfaro, J.

AU - Alispach, C.

AU - Aloisio, R.

AU - Alves Batista, R.

AU - Amans, J. P.

AU - Amati, L.

AU - Amato, E.

AU - Ambrogi, L.

AU - Ambrosi, G.

AU - Ambrosio, M.

AU - Ammendola, R.

AU - Anderson, J.

AU - Anduze, M.

AU - Angüner, E. O.

AU - Antonelli, L. A.

AU - Antonuccio, V.

AU - Antoranz, P.

AU - Anutarawiramkul, R.

AU - Chaty, S.

AU - Fegan, S.

AU - Horan, D.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

PY - 2022/3/18

Y1 - 2022/3/18

N2 - The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the future ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy at very high energies. The atmosphere is an integral part of every Cherenkov telescope. Different atmospheric conditions, such as clouds, can reduce the fraction of Cherenkov photons produced in air showers that reach ground-based telescopes, which may affect the performance. Decreased sensitivity of the telescopes may lead to misconstructed energies and spectra. This study presents the impact of various atmospheric conditions on CTA performance. The atmospheric transmission in a cloudy atmosphere in the wavelength range from 203 nm to 1000 nm was simulated for different cloud bases and different optical depths using the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) code. MODTRAN output files were used as inputs for generic Monte Carlo simulations. The analysis was performed using the MAGIC Analysis and Reconstruction Software (MARS) adapted for CTA. As expected, the effects of clouds are most evident at low energies, near the energy threshold. Even in the presence of dense clouds, high-energy gamma rays may still trigger the telescopes if the first interaction occurs lower in the atmosphere, below the cloud base. A method to analyze very high-energy data obtained in the presence of clouds is presented. The systematic uncertainties of the method are evaluated. These studies help to gain more precise knowledge about the CTA response to cloudy conditions and give insights on how to proceed with data obtained in such conditions. This may prove crucial for alert-based observations and time-critical studies of transient phenomena.

AB - The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the future ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy at very high energies. The atmosphere is an integral part of every Cherenkov telescope. Different atmospheric conditions, such as clouds, can reduce the fraction of Cherenkov photons produced in air showers that reach ground-based telescopes, which may affect the performance. Decreased sensitivity of the telescopes may lead to misconstructed energies and spectra. This study presents the impact of various atmospheric conditions on CTA performance. The atmospheric transmission in a cloudy atmosphere in the wavelength range from 203 nm to 1000 nm was simulated for different cloud bases and different optical depths using the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) code. MODTRAN output files were used as inputs for generic Monte Carlo simulations. The analysis was performed using the MAGIC Analysis and Reconstruction Software (MARS) adapted for CTA. As expected, the effects of clouds are most evident at low energies, near the energy threshold. Even in the presence of dense clouds, high-energy gamma rays may still trigger the telescopes if the first interaction occurs lower in the atmosphere, below the cloud base. A method to analyze very high-energy data obtained in the presence of clouds is presented. The systematic uncertainties of the method are evaluated. These studies help to gain more precise knowledge about the CTA response to cloudy conditions and give insights on how to proceed with data obtained in such conditions. This may prove crucial for alert-based observations and time-critical studies of transient phenomena.

M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:85144605866

SN - 1824-8039

VL - 395

JO - Proceedings of Science

JF - Proceedings of Science

M1 - 763

T2 - 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021

Y2 - 12 July 2021 through 23 July 2021

ER -

Performance of the Cherenkov Telescope Array in the presence of clouds

Abstract

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