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The Pierre Auger Observatory Open Data

The Pierre Auger Collaboration, A. Abdul Halim, P. Abreu, M. Aglietta, I. Allekotte, K. Almeida Cheminant, A. Almela, R. Aloisio, J. Alvarez-Muñiz, J. Ammerman Yebra, G. A. Anastasi, L. Anchordoqui, B. Andrada, L. Andrade Dourado, S. Andringa, L. Apollonio, C. Aramo, P. R. Araújo Ferreira, E. Arnone, J. C. Arteaga Velázquez, P. Assis, G. Avila, E. Avocone, A. Bakalova, F. Barbato, A. Bartz Mocellin, J. A. Bellido, C. Berat, M. E. Bertaina, X. Bertou, G. Bhatta, M. Bianciotto, P. L. Biermann, V. Binet, K. Bismark, T. Bister, J. Biteau, J. Blazek, C. Bleve, J. Blümer, M. Boháčová, D. Boncioli, C. Bonifazi, L. Bonneau Arbeletche, N. Borodai, J. Brack, P. G. Brichetto Orchera, F. L. Briechle, A. Bueno, S. Buitink, M. Buscemi, M. Büsken, A. Bwembya, K. S. Caballero-Mora, S. Cabana-Freire, L. Caccianiga, F. Campuzano, R. Caruso, A. Castellina, F. Catalani, G. Cataldi, L. Cazon, M. Cerda, B. Čermáková, A. Cermenati, J. A. Chinellato, J. Chudoba, L. Chytka, R. W. Clay, A. C. Cobos Cerutti, R. Colalillo, R. Conceição, A. Condorelli, G. Consolati, M. Conte, F. Convenga, D. Correia dos Santos, P. J. Costa, C. E. Covault, M. Cristinziani, C. S. Cruz Sanchez, S. Dasso, K. Daumiller, B. R. Dawson, R. M. de Almeida, B. de Errico, J. de Jesús, S. J. de Jong, J. R. T. de Mello Neto, I. De Mitri, J. de Oliveira, D. de Oliveira Franco, F. de Palma, V. de Souza, E. De Vito, A. Del Popolo, O. Deligny, N. Denner, L. Deval, A. di Matteo, M. Dobre, C. Dobrigkeit, J. C. D'Olivo, L. M. Domingues Mendes, Q. Dorosti, J. C. dos Anjos, R. C. dos Anjos, J. Ebr, F. Ellwanger, M. Emam, R. Engel, I. Epicoco, M. Erdmann, A. Etchegoyen, C. Evoli, H. Falcke, G. Farrar, A. C. Fauth, T. Fehler, F. Feldbusch, A. Fernandes, B. Fick, J. M. Figueira, P. Filip, A. Filipčič, T. Fitoussi, B. Flaggs, T. Fodran, M. Freitas, T. Fujii, A. Fuster, C. Galea, B. García, C. Gaudu, P. L. Ghia, U. Giaccari, J. Glombitza, F. Gobbi, F. Gollan, G. Golup, M. Gómez Berisso, P. F. Gómez Vitale, J. P. Gongora, J. M. González, N. González, D. Góra, A. Gorgi, M. Gottowik, F. Guarino, G. P. Guedes, E. Guido, L. Gülzow, S. Hahn, P. Hamal, M. R. Hampel, P. Hansen, V. M. Harvey, A. Haungs, T. Hebbeker, C. Hojvat, J. R. Hörandel, P. Horvath, M. Hrabovský, T. Huege, A. Insolia, P. G. Isar, P. Janecek, V. Jilek, J. Jurysek, K. -H. Kampert, B. Keilhauer, A. Khakurdikar, V. V. Kizakke Covilakam, H. O. Klages, M. Kleifges, F. Knapp, J. Köhler, F. Krieger, M. Kubatova, N. Kunka, B. L. Lago, N. Langner, M. A. Leigui de Oliveira, Y. Lema-Capeans, A. Letessier-Selvon, I. Lhenry-Yvon, L. Lopes, J. P. Lundquist, A. Machado Payeras, D. Mandat, B. C. Manning, P. Mantsch, F. M. Mariani, A. G. Mariazzi, I. C. Mariş, G. Marsella, D. Martello, S. Martinelli, O. Martínez Bravo, M. A. Martins, H. -J. Mathes, J. Matthews, G. Matthiae, E. Mayotte, S. Mayotte, P. O. Mazur, G. Medina-Tanco, J. Meinert, D. Melo, A. Menshikov, C. Merx, S. Michal, M. I. Micheletti, L. Miramonti, S. Mollerach, F. Montanet, L. Morejon, K. Mulrey, R. Mussa, W. M. Namasaka, S. Negi, L. Nellen, K. Nguyen, G. Nicora, M. Niechciol, D. Nitz, D. Nosek, V. Novotny, L. Nožka, A. Nucita, L. A. Núñez, C. Oliveira, M. Palatka, J. Pallotta, S. Panja, G. Parente, T. Paulsen, J. Pawlowsky, M. Pech, J. Pękala, R. Pelayo, V. Pelgrims, L. A. S. Pereira, E. E. Pereira Martins, C. Pérez Bertolli, L. Perrone, S. Petrera, C. Petrucci, T. Pierog, M. Pimenta, M. Platino, B. Pont, M. Pothast, M. Pourmohammad Shahvar, P. Privitera, M. Prouza, S. Querchfeld, J. Rautenberg, D. Ravignani, J. V. Reginatto Akim, A. Reuzki, J. Ridky, F. Riehn, M. Risse, V. Rizi, E. Rodriguez, J. Rodriguez Rojo, M. J. Roncoroni, S. Rossoni, M. Roth, E. Roulet, A. C. Rovero, A. Saftoiu, M. Saharan, F. Salamida, H. Salazar, G. Salina, P. Sampathkumar, J. D. Sanabria Gomez, F. Sánchez, E. M. Santos, E. Santos, F. Sarazin, R. Sarmento, R. Sato, C. M. Schäfer, V. Scherini, H. Schieler, M. Schimassek, M. Schimp, D. Schmidt, O. Scholten, H. Schoorlemmer, P. Schovánek, F. G. Schröder, J. Schulte, T. Schulz, S. J. Sciutto, M. Scornavacche, A. Sedoski, A. Segreto, S. Sehgal, S. U. Shivashankara, G. Sigl, K. Simkova, F. Simon, R. Smau, R. Šmída, P. Sommers, R. Squartini, M. Stadelmaier, S. Stanič, J. Stasielak, P. Stassi, S. Strähnz, M. Straub, T. Suomijärvi, A. D. Supanitsky, Z. Svozilikova, Z. Szadkowski, F. Tairli, A. Tapia, C. Taricco, C. Timmermans, O. Tkachenko, P. Tobiska, C. J. Todero Peixoto, B. Tomé, Z. Torrès, A. Travaini, P. Travnicek, M. Tueros, M. Unger, R. Uzeiroska, L. Vaclavek, M. Vacula, J. F. Valdés Galicia, L. Valore, E. Varela, V. Vašíčková, A. Vásquez-Ramírez, D. Veberič, I. D. Vergara Quispe, V. Verzi, J. Vicha, J. Vink, S. Vorobiov, C. Watanabe, A. A. Watson, A. Weindl, M. Weitz, L. Wiencke, H. Wilczyński, D. Wittkowski, B. Wundheiler, B. Yue, A. Yushkov, O. Zapparrata, E. Zas, D. Zavrtanik, M. Zavrtanik

TL;DR

The paper presents the Open Data initiative of the Pierre Auger Observatory, detailing a staged data-release strategy, the Open Data Portal architecture, and the data types released (cosmic-ray, atmospheric, space-weather). It describes the data processing and documentation workflow, including per-event JSON, CSV summaries, visualization tools, and tutorial codes for analysis via Python/Jupyter Notebooks. It reports on the 2023 catalog of the 100 highest-energy cosmic-ray events and the dedicated outreach resources, illustrating how open data can broaden participation from professional and citizen scientists. It discusses governance, versioning, licensing (CC BY-SA 4.0), and planned expansions to include Phase II data, underscoring the impact of FAIR/open-data principles for large-scale astroparticle experiments.

Abstract

The Pierre Auger Collaboration has embraced the concept of open access to their research data since its foundation, with the aim of giving access to the widest possible community. A gradual process of release began as early as 2007 when 1% of the cosmic-ray data was made public, along with 100% of the space-weather information. In February 2021, a portal was released containing 10% of cosmic-ray data collected from 2004 to 2018, during Phase I of the Observatory. The Portal included detailed documentation about the detection and reconstruction procedures, analysis codes that can be easily used and modified and, additionally, visualization tools. Since then the Portal has been updated and extended. In 2023, a catalog of the 100 highest-energy cosmic-ray events examined in depth has been included. A specific section dedicated to educational use has been developed with the expectation that these data will be explored by a wide and diverse community including professional and citizen-scientists, and used for educational and outreach initiatives. This paper describes the context, the spirit and the technical implementation of the release of data by the largest cosmic-ray detector ever built, and anticipates its future developments.

The Pierre Auger Observatory Open Data

TL;DR

The paper presents the Open Data initiative of the Pierre Auger Observatory, detailing a staged data-release strategy, the Open Data Portal architecture, and the data types released (cosmic-ray, atmospheric, space-weather). It describes the data processing and documentation workflow, including per-event JSON, CSV summaries, visualization tools, and tutorial codes for analysis via Python/Jupyter Notebooks. It reports on the 2023 catalog of the 100 highest-energy cosmic-ray events and the dedicated outreach resources, illustrating how open data can broaden participation from professional and citizen scientists. It discusses governance, versioning, licensing (CC BY-SA 4.0), and planned expansions to include Phase II data, underscoring the impact of FAIR/open-data principles for large-scale astroparticle experiments.

Abstract

The Pierre Auger Collaboration has embraced the concept of open access to their research data since its foundation, with the aim of giving access to the widest possible community. A gradual process of release began as early as 2007 when 1% of the cosmic-ray data was made public, along with 100% of the space-weather information. In February 2021, a portal was released containing 10% of cosmic-ray data collected from 2004 to 2018, during Phase I of the Observatory. The Portal included detailed documentation about the detection and reconstruction procedures, analysis codes that can be easily used and modified and, additionally, visualization tools. Since then the Portal has been updated and extended. In 2023, a catalog of the 100 highest-energy cosmic-ray events examined in depth has been included. A specific section dedicated to educational use has been developed with the expectation that these data will be explored by a wide and diverse community including professional and citizen-scientists, and used for educational and outreach initiatives. This paper describes the context, the spirit and the technical implementation of the release of data by the largest cosmic-ray detector ever built, and anticipates its future developments.
Paper Structure (13 sections, 9 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 13 sections, 9 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The Portal
  3. Portal Organization
  4. Datasets
  5. Cosmic-ray data
  6. Atmospheric data
  7. Space-weather data
  8. Visualization
  9. Analysis
  10. Catalog of the highest-energy cosmic-ray events
  11. Outreach
  12. Outlook
  13. Tables of file semantics

Figures (9)

  • Figure 1: Map of the Observatory: left, surface detector stations (grey dots), position of the fluorescence detector eyes and field of view of the telescopes (squares, dashed lines) along with the footprint at the ground of one of the highest-energy multi-eye events in the released data sample (color scale from green to red reflects the arrival time of the shower particles at the ground). The positions of the atmospheric monitoring systems, XLF and CLF, are also shown. Right: footprint of an event detected by the SD-750 array in combination with the HEAT-Coihueco fluorescence telescopes, same color code
  • Figure 2: Screenshot of the main page of the Portal odp, with the links to the five different sections displayed. For more details see ICRC21ICRC23
  • Figure 3: Visualization: the exemplary event, id 081847956000 (see text for details). Left panel: FADCs traces of the PMTs signals in two WCD stations participating in the event. Right: fall-off of the signal as a function of distance from the shower axis, the so-called lateral distribution function (LDF)
  • Figure 4: Visualization: the exemplary event, id 081847956000 (see text for details). Left panel: camera view of the fluorescence detector; the cosmic-ray shower is seen as a trace that moves along the pixels of the camera, from early (green) to late (red) pixels. Right panel: reconstructed energy deposit as a function of atmospheric depth as measured with the two telescopes participating in the event
  • Figure 5: Visualization: a screenshot of the 3-dimensional display for the exemplary multi-eye hybrid event id 081847956000 (see text for details)
  • ...and 4 more figures