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Atmospheric effects on cosmic-ray muon rate at high latitude (78.9°N)

M. Abbrescia, C. Avanzini, L. Baldini, R. Baldini Ferroli, G. Batignani, M. Battaglieri, S. Boi, E. Bossini, F. Carnesecchi, D. Cavazza, C. Cicalò, L. Cifarelli, F. Coccetti, E. Coccia, A. Corvaglia, A. De Caro, D. De Gruttola, S. De Pasquale, L. Galante, M. Garbini, L. E. Ghezzer, I. Gnesi, F. Gramegna, E. Gramstad, S. Grazzi, E. S. Haland, D. Hatzifotiadou, P. La Rocca, R. Liotino, Z. Liu, A. Lupi, G. Mandaglio, A. Margotti, G. Maron, M. N. Mazziotta, M. Mazzola, A. Mulliri, R. Nania, F. Noferini, F. Nozzoli, F. Ould-Saada, F. Palmonari, M. Panareo, M. P. Panetta, R. Paoletti, C. Pellegrino, L. Perasso, O. Pinazza, C. Pinto, S. Pisano, K. Piscicchia, L. Quaglia, M. Rasà, F. Riggi, G. Righini, C. Ripoli, M. Rizzi, B. Sabiu, G. Sartorelli, E. Scapparone, M. Schioppa, G. Scioli, A. Scribano, M. Selvi, A. Shtimermann, M. Taiuti, G. Terreni, A. Trifirò, M. Trimarchi, C. Vistoli, L. Votano, M. C. S. Williams, A. Zichichi, R. Zuyeuski

Abstract

Since 2019, three scintillator detectors of the EEE collaboration have been continuously measuring cosmic muon rates at 78.9°N at the Ny-Ålesund Research Station (Svalbard). The resulting six-year time series reveals a pronounced annual modulation, driven primarily by seasonal atmospheric variations. Utilizing routine radiosonde profiles collected above the same site, we applied several established techniques --along with a tailored analysis approach-- to investigate the relationship between muon rate and atmospheric temperature. The temperature-corrected muon-rates are analysed using the Lomb-Scargle periodogram technique in order to investigate the presence of remaining periodic structures. Finally, the temperature corrections coefficients of our analysis are compared with measurements in other stations located at lower latitudes.

Atmospheric effects on cosmic-ray muon rate at high latitude (78.9°N)

Abstract

Since 2019, three scintillator detectors of the EEE collaboration have been continuously measuring cosmic muon rates at 78.9°N at the Ny-Ålesund Research Station (Svalbard). The resulting six-year time series reveals a pronounced annual modulation, driven primarily by seasonal atmospheric variations. Utilizing routine radiosonde profiles collected above the same site, we applied several established techniques --along with a tailored analysis approach-- to investigate the relationship between muon rate and atmospheric temperature. The temperature-corrected muon-rates are analysed using the Lomb-Scargle periodogram technique in order to investigate the presence of remaining periodic structures. Finally, the temperature corrections coefficients of our analysis are compared with measurements in other stations located at lower latitudes.
Paper Structure (17 sections, 9 equations, 17 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 17 sections, 9 equations, 17 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. POLA-R detectors, data processing and corrections
  3. POLA-R detectors installed at Ny-Ålesund
  4. Data acquisition and storage
  5. Event selection, efficiency and barometric corrections
  6. Atmospheric effects on muons
  7. The atmospheric temperature above Ny-Ålesund
  8. Atmospheric correction models based on temperature or altitude
  9. Linear empirical models
  10. The Atmospheric Expansion (Duperier) method -- ATE
  11. The Maximum Muon Production method -- MMP
  12. Integral and discrete methods
  13. The Mass Weighted method -- MSS
  14. The Discrete Correlation Method -- DCM
  15. Comparison of temperature corrected rates in Ny-Ålesund
  16. ...and 2 more sections

Figures (17)

  • Figure 1: Differential rates of detectors POLA-1, POLA-3 and POLA-4, corrected for atmospheric pressure. The lower plot shows the average rate of the three, indicated as POLA-A.
  • Figure 2: The temperature profile above Ny-Ålesund during 2020. Different colours identify days of the year, from January to December 2020. Data taken from maturilli2025hrrm.
  • Figure 3: The short-time variation differential rate as measured with the POLA-R detectors (derived from results of POLAperiodicity). To highlight the underlying trend of the measured points, the solid black curve visualizes a 30-day rolling average of the daily data.
  • Figure 4: Altitude of the 100 hPa isobar (green) and the corresponding temperature (red). In blue, the differential rate for short-term variations. All 1-day time series are plotted together with the 30-day rolling average (black lines), shown to highlight the underlying trend.
  • Figure 5: Correlation between $\Delta I_{PC}^{STV}$ and differential altitude of the 100 hPa isobar, from which the value of correction coefficient $\alpha_{ATE}$ is derived.
  • ...and 12 more figures