UWRF Summer School 2016
Discussing simulation for 12 bares at the South Pole station with Mitchell Ahlswede and analyzing data collected on a latitude survey on the Swedish icebreaker Oden from Helsingborg, Sweden to McMurdo, Antarctica and back from November of 2009 to April of 2010 with Marium Asif in UWRF during summer 2016. Marium Saif starts working on Oden survey project. This project will produce the only the third latitude survey determination of the response function of bare neutron counters to cosmic ray showers. Significant questions remain concerning the results from the only survey by another research group, conducted in 1976. With the new data we will be able to develop computational models to better explain the properties of these detectors. We can understand much better the behavior of bare neutron counters, which are typically very sensitive to effects from the environment and surrounding structure.
The obtained response function of the detector will give better understanding when tracing back to space. Space is permeated with magnetic fields. The charged particles’ motion is influenced by these magnetic fields. The magnetic field strength and direction often shift. Changes in radiation, solar wind, magnetic fields, and other factors are the basis for the space weather that impacts Earth. This project will enhance understanding of space weather by studying spectral variations of Forbush Decreases (FDs) in the Galactic cosmic ray flux as measured by the NM64, bares, and IceTop tanks installed at the South Pole.
