Pierre Auger Project
Progress Report
July & August 2004
Summary (photo album)
The third fluorescence building at Los Morados is now complete. The building turned out very well in spite of construction difficulties caused by its remote location. Due to shortage of funds, however, Los Morados still lacks heating and air conditioning equipment. Telescope installation is nevertheless proceeding with the help of some (rather inadequate) temporary heaters. Preparations are moving ahead on the bidding process for the last fluorescence building at Loma Amarilla.
The twelve telescopes at Los Leones and Coihueco are in stable operation and are recording large numbers of hybrid events.
Intense effort continues on the calibration and atmospheric monitoring systems. The Central Laser Facility now has both fixed and steerable lasers in remote operation. The Lidar system at Los Leones is in routine use and the one at Coihueco is nearly complete.
As springtime weather approaches deployment of
surface
detector stations is accelerating. There
are more than 535 detector tanks deployed with 450 of these taking data. Because of exceptionally low water levels,
our determined deployment crew has been able to install tanks in a
seemingly
inaccessible location between the Atuel
and
Short term funding for surface detector components remains an acute problem. We currently have a sufficient number of components to assemble surface detector stations only through the early months of 2005.
WBS 1.1 Fluorescence Detector Calibration (John
Matthews –
The installation of
the optical
fibers for the xenon based "B" and "C" calibrations at
Coihueco was completed August 14, 2004. Thus "A", "B"
and "C" (relative) optical calibrations are now available for all 12
operational telescopes (at Los Leones + Coihueco).
WBS 1.1
Fluorescence Detector
Atmospheric Attenuation (Mike Roberts –
Atmospheric
monitoring
The CLF solar power system was upgraded in August. The CLF is run
routinely
during FD data taking and data analysis is progressing
The Los Leones LIDAR is also being run routinely during FD data taking.
At
present only "local scans" of the atmosphere are being made.
"Shoot the shower" scans will be implemented
when a new laser becomes available.
At the Coihueco LIDAR the board that allows the FD to trigger the LIDAR
arrived
from
The LIDAR concrete pad and power are completed at the Morados site. The
LIDAR
container is in
WBS 1.2 FD
digital electronics
and readout systems (Matthias Kleifges -
IPE)
Progress
in Slow Control software (by C.
Wiebusch, Uni Wuppertal)
·
In
the previous bi-monthly report we have reported the problems in the
communication between the slow control system (Windows) and the DAQ
(Linux) based
on the OPC protocol. The
·
The
next step will be the implementation of a reliable communication
library for
use by C++ client programs (diploma thesis of Martin Barkhausen) and
the
installation of OPC-XML-DA gateway on the SC-PCs in Los Leones and
Coihueco.
Progress
in DAQ software (by H.J. Mathes and O.
Martineau, IK)
·
The
improvements mentioned in the May/June report came into operation since
the
August shift. The associated version of the FDEventLib (v2r5) fixes a
few bugs,
but leaves the data format unchanged. We have also improved the
functionality
of the DAQ. With the next release (v2r6), which is going to be active
from the
September shift, the event data will include the last trigger time
stamp and a
quality parameter for the time correction.
·
A
rare problem in the FireWire interface/Linux driver, which usually
removes a
telescope from the DAQ and requires a complete reboot of the telescope
hardware, is still not found. This problem occurred twice in the August
shift
and it can be reproduced with a similar probability on the test system
in
·
J.
Matthews made several modifications in the scripts running during
calibration
on the CalibrationPC. Based on his suggestions a few modifications were
also
done on the DAQ side. They will hopefully fix the problems in the
communication
with the DAQ from the September shift.
·
The
Run Control Software was modified to handle lost (no longer under
control of
the DAQ) processes which are present after DAQ crashes or handling
errors of
the operator.
·
O.
Martineau tested the actual TLT software and discovered some
inefficiency in
case of very inclined showers. He also found events with a high number
of
triggered pixels which unintentionally pass the algorithm. This problem
has
already been fixed, but more tests are necessary before other changes
in the
TLT will be installed.
·
We
are preparing the change-over from the current Linux version to SuSE
9.1 with
kernel 2.6, which will take place in Malargüe in January 2005 with the
installation of the RAID system as EyePC. As a first test we compiled
successfully the complete DAQ package under the gcc 3.3.x compiler
necessary
with SuSE 9.1. Everybody has to be aware
that his software must soon be compiled this way, if it is running on
the EyePC
or MirrorPC.
Production
and tests in
·
FLT: 463 FLT (89% of
total) produced; about 420 are
tested, sufficient for 21 telescopes.
·
LED controller: 791
controllers are tested and send
for coating to an external company. They will be shipped in October 04.
WBS 1.2 Fluorescence Detector Electronics
(Daniel Camin –
Milano)
1)
Status
of the PMT+HE debugging
system: software development is virtually concluded. At present a
choice of the
most appropriate way to integrate the hardware, that includes also
generation
of test-pulses emulating the presence of the PMT, a small bar-code
reader and
an a DAQ board is in a definition stage.
2)
We are
developing tools to extract
stars signals form the FD background files. These tools are necessary
to
evaluate the absolute pointing of the telescopes at LL and Coihueco and soon also those of Los
Morados. The working group is formed basically by collaborators of
Milano and
UTN-Mendoza. It is expected that in the next 90 days results will be
available,
at least those of LL and some units of
Cohiueco. The knowledge of the absolute
pointing of the telescopes with high accuracy is essential for a good
reconstruction.
3)
Production
of the HE’s has been
completed. At present all instruments installed in Elbau, in
4)
Besides
the participation to the
data taking in August, there was basically no activity during this
month, which
is normally used for holidays.
WBS 2.1
SD Site (Ingo Allekote – Instituto Balseiro)
During July-August 2004, a total of 158 tanks were received in Malargue, from Alpina, Rotoplas and Formingplast. One tank was damaged during shipment. Nearly 200 tanks are in the AB yard
awaiting assembly and deployment.
In this period, 60 new detectors were assembled, 82 were deployed and 62 were filled with water, 2 of which were filled by transferring water from EA tanks. 78 detectors got electronics
installed and started to take data. A total of 480 detectors beyond the Engineering Array have already been installed in the field. As of September 8th, 435 detectors are operational.
Due to the
extraordinarily low level of water in the Atuel and
also started to deploy tanks near the Coihueco area, in order to obtain a large amount of hybrid events in a short time.
During installation of PMT's, one liner caught fire because the alcohol used for cleaning the dome had not dried out completely before activating the surface with the tesla coil. The fire was
immediately controlled and nobody was injured; safety measures were implemented to avoid similar accidents in the future.
A new purchase order for 200 battery boxes and pipes was placed at Formingplast, who is producing them and shipping them regularly to Malargue. Also, a new rotomolding company was contacted for battery box production and a new mould was ordered. The mould
has already been completed and the company has already made one good battery box.
A purchase order for
3000 kg of square tubing for brackets was sent to Aldural in
The seventh liner
shipment with 110 liners arrived in Malargue on August 18th. Up to now,
the
liner facility at UTN in
At the new "galpon" for liner storage in Malargue, shelves were installed to allow storage of a larger number of liners. At present it can hold a complete shipment of liners, but the
galpon has space for storing the full future production.
One leaking liner was recovered from a tank in the field. Samples were taken and no contamination was found in the inside.
The water plant operated without difficulties.
The fourth water transport tank was ordered and the company has already submitted the drawings for it, which are presently under revision.
Bacteriological analysis of the water in the transport tanks and in the detectors yielded the usual results, 35 without contamination and 7 with a very low quantity of aerobically bacteria,
probably due to contamination during sample taking.
Contracts for land access and permission for SD deployment have been signed with 5 more landowners. Also, the contract for the installation of the FD building was signed with the corresponding landowner.
WBS 2.2. Surface Detector Electronics (Tiina
Suomijarvi – IPN Orsay)
The electronics
deployment has reached the tank and water deployment
rate. About 440 stations are currently taking data. The different
electronic
boards are being shipped to Malargue in large batches. The latest UB
shipment
was a batch of 486 units. No particular problem concerning the
procurement and
shipment of boards to Malargue is expected before the end of funding of
the FE
and the TPCB boards (after 800 units in the end of this year).
Activities
in the SDE-Fabrica, PMT-House and deployment are running smoothly,
thanks to
the very highly qualified local staff. The SDE-Fabrica really looks now
like a
large scale factory (see figures)! However, more computers and laptops
are
needed for the SDE site activities. CALL
FOR COLLABORATION: WHEN UPGRADING YOUR LAPTOP, THE OLD ONE CAN BE
USEFUL ON
SITE! PLEASE, CONTACT THE SDE TASK LEADERS.
Ignacio Rey (from UTN) is programming a new inventory system to be used in the SDE-Fabrica. There will also be a web page where everybody can access to see the actual inventory, failures, etc. This system will be compatible with the PMS (Part Management System) of the observatory.
The LED
assembly has been moved to Malargue. The soldering of the cable to the
LED
driver is done by Fabian and Javier in the AB (see figures). The
potting is
done by the group of Federico in the SDE-Fabrica (see figure). The
flashers are
tested before installation to the tank. For the moment no failures have
been
observed on the field. However, currently the flashers are used only in
the
installation and deployment. The plan is to implement the linearity
test by the
LEDs in the local station software in November and start post
installation
linearity checks.
PMT testing
and potting is catching up the Photonis shipment rate. The first PMTs
with
better linearity are currently being shipped. The ready-to-field PMTs
are
stored in a container (protected against heat) at the SDE-Fabrica and
then
transported to the AB in the same packages used in the Photonis
shipment (see
figures, and note that there was snow in Malargue during the first week
of
August when T.S. was there).
The PMT
shipment rate cannot be increased due to funding problems. A new PMT
master
order (about 2000 PMTs still need to be ordered) is currently being
placed by
Jim Beatty (
PMT testing
in the AB after their installation will continue even though the
failure rate
in this test is small. This test gives a reference point for any later
diagnostic of problems. Currently there are 3 Test Kits (
Concerning
the dome that protects electronics on the tank hatch cover, the current
method
used to seal the dome (o-ring + foam for the antenna cables and solar
panel
cable) seems to be efficient. No dust is observed to penetrate inside
the dome.
Currently an ice protector ring is installed around the fez (inside and
outside, see figure).
A rather
large number of field failures were observed in the battery temperature
sensors. The failures seemed to be due to non conform assembly and
potting of
the sensors. After a corrective action, these sensors are again being
installed
(since May 19).
Concerning
other failures in the field, 14 radios have been brought back from the
field.
Currently the reason is unknown. 10 Ekits were brought back from the
field due
to fuses. Currently there are about 27 PMTs on the field with unstable
behaviour as a function of temperature. No clear cause has been found
for this
failure in spite of extensive tests in a temperature/humidity chamber
at the
IPNO. All the field failures are being carefully monitored by using
BUGZILLA.
WBS 3.0 Comms (Paul Clark –
After final selection of the FD/tower site at the July meeting, very good progress has been made on the final tower during the last 2 months.
Tower
A specification has been drawn up and the first
quotation
received. The soil survey of the ground is being conducted this week
(Sept 6th)
and work is ongoing to transfer funds to
Tower Antenna System
The parts list has been drawn up, an order placed and 95% of the goods received at FermiLab. It is very likely that this equipment will be on site in time for the November deadline.
Microwave system
Jose Balacco has obtained a frequency allocation for us in record time and this information has been used to finalize a purchase order for the microwave equipment which is being supplied by the French. We hope that the order will be placed any day now and that there is still hope that the equipment can reach Malargue in time for the November 1st deadline.
Radio Manufacture
Another shipment of 240 radios has left
At
SD Antenna System
Procurement
New
WBS 3.0 Comms continued (Ing. Jorge Abraham –
UTN)
1) 37 Kits were mounted during July 2004, 26
during August
2004 and there are 226 ready to install. All antennas were tested too.
The 428 antennas of Pre-production and production were reached.
2) The Stock is fully controlled. We have all the quotations for the
final
purchase and 60 antennas in production.
3) The Anritsu test cable, has supported well its 4 measurements by Kit
(more
than 650 tests), but we do not know when it will be broken
definitively.
WBS 5.0 DPA/Offline-
(Stefano Argiro – INFN)
The Data Processing and Analysis task is successfully proceeding towards its two main goals:
1) Organize the analysis
2) Complete the integrated Offline framework for simulation and reconstruction
As for point one, progress was tangible at the
See Alan's email to the collaboration of 9/9 "some steps toward and SD analysis". Another highlight is the forthcoming workshop on anisotropy analysis, promoted by Antoine and Paul S. and taking place in Malargue, November 8 and 9. The FD analysis is working nicely toward a deep understanding of the detector and of the reconstruction algorithms.
As for point 2, the
1.0 version of the Framework, this piece of software has become fairly stable, allowing people to concentrate on physics issues.
The goal is to have complete simulation and reconstruction chains by the November CM.
Last point, the
WBS 8.0 Education
and Outreach
(Greg Snow –
On Tuesday, August 25, a signing ceremony took
place to
formalize the agreement between the Foundation of the Auger Observatory
and the
provincial government of
On Wednesday, September 1, John Harton
and Greg Snow attended a meeting of the Southeast Colorado Board of
County
Education Commissioners in
Preparations of displays and posters continue for
the Auger
Observatory display at the Open Day of CERN’s 50th
Anniversary
celebration on Saturday, October 16. The photo gallery of this report
shows SD
and FD detector models under construction in the
WBS 9.0 Observatory Operations
FD data
operations – (Julio Rodriguez Martino - INFN)
The installation of the new calibration server was finished in Malargüe in the middle of August. The purpose of this machine (calib.auger.org.ar) is to have all FD calibration data in one
place and to analyze this data on site. A database will contain the results of the analyzed calibration files. Some details about the machine and its contents can be found in http://calib.auger.org.ar.
All calibration files existent is CDAS were moved
to the
disk array in calib. Raw calibration data is no longer mirrored in
The Auger offline software was installed in the computer, together with the necessary databases. We still need software to analyze the raw calibration data.
There is also one month of minimum-bias data on disk, that can be used for trigger efficiency studies. The plan is to have the last 3 months of this kind of data available in calib all the time.
There are ongoing efforts to optimize the use of the available bandwidth and data storage.
Many thanks to Ruben Squartini who did most of the installation work and Stefano Argiro' and Tom Paul who helped with the offline and database installation.
The SOC responsibilities will now be divided
between two
scientists -one for FD and one for SD. Julio Rodriguez Martino will
take care
of the FD-SOC part. Julio is resident at
the Observatory and is sponsored by
duties of FD-SOC he will continue to help with the installation of the fluorescence telescopes.
A summary of the FD-SOC duties is found at http://www.auger.org.ar/FD/SOC-FD.html
The August FD shift was generally very successful. Some minor problems with the hardware and software were found and are now fixed.
A full shift report was generated for the first time from the DAQ log files and using the notes made in the e-log by the people in shift. This is an ongoing work that will improve in quality with time.
To see the report, go to the local FD page http://www.auger.org.ar/FD/
Starting from the September shift, there is a template form to help writing the e-log entries in an ordered way, easier to read and understand. A special e-log file is used only for the shift, separating its entries from the rest of the FD activities.
http://www.auger.org.ar/FD/fd_report.txt
At the time of writing this report, the September shift is in its 3rd day. After two days of bad weather, we had an incredibly clear night. At least 7 golden hybrid events were registered, one of which is also stereo. Thanks to the very professional shift crew and we hope to have many
more interesting events