Pierre
Auger Project
Progress
Report
Summary (photo
album)
We have passed an important milestone for the fluorescence detector installation and, indeed, for the Auger Observatory. All six telescopes at Los Leones are operational and were recording data at the end of the April dark period. There are now a total of eight telescopes in data taking mode, a third of the observatory total. There is also remarkable progress at Coihueco where all the mirrors are now installed. The cameras for the last four cameras will be installed in June. Construction of the third fluorescence building at Los Morados is progressing well with completion expected at the end of July.
As of 10 May there are 325 surface detector stations in the field taking data. A stretch of bad weather and the lack of some crucial material for PMT base potting have slowed recent deployment. The potting material, however, has now arrived and PMT potting is going full blast. All the necessary components for several months’ deployment are now in hand.
The third water transport tank has arrived at the site. This tank is being mounted on a truck bed and will be commissioned soon. With this new transport tank the fill rate will increase from two tanks per day to three tanks per day.
Although the communications system at Los Morados is commissioned, it is not yet in fully stable operation. A general gas shortage has resulted in gas delivery delays for the generator that powers the equipment.
The
power line to Los Morados being provided
by the
The second beta version of the offline data processing software framework has been released.
Although longer-term prospects for construction funding remain good, there is a short term cash flow problem. Even though some new funds have become available in the last few weeks, these funds are not sufficient to maintain our construction schedule beyond the next few months. Unless new funds come soon the deployment will start to slow just as we go into the austral summer, the most favorable deployment season.
WBS 1.1 Fluorescence Detector (Jonny
Kleinfeller – Karlesruhe)
Los
All 6 telescopes are
operational,
completed with production parts, except for corrector ring lenses.
Telescope 4
is the only telescope at Los Leones
already fitted
with corrector ring lenses. The other telescopes have their aperture
reduced to
1.7m diameter by a mask fitted
to
the corrector ring frame. These masks are positioned near the centre of
curvature approximately 5cm closer to the mirror than the centre of
curvature.
Fitting the masks exactly in the centre of curvature, would make it
very
difficult to install the lenses later.
Telescope 4, 5, 6 were
operating with
a mask of 1.7m diameter before, there is a change only for telescope 3,
until
20. April, this telescope was in operation with a mask of 2.2m diameter.
The shutters of all
telescopes are
integrated into slow control and interlocked for light, wind and rain,
there is
currently a slow control software upgrade being tested, to enable
semi-automatic setups for the telescopes. Integration of the failsafe
curtains
of telescope 1 and 2 will be completed this week. HV,
Relative
calibration
The fibres
for scripts A, B, and C are installed at telescopes 3, 4, 5 and 6,
there are
currently no fibres installed at telescope
1 and 2. This
is scheduled for May 2004. The reflector screens for script C are
installed for
all telescopes.
Script A of the relative
calibration
is now powered by the LCU. Scripts A, B, and C are fully integrated
into the
DAQ software, i. e. no need to operate
separate
commands to run the calibration hardware.
The GPS unit has been
fitted with a
backup battery, which keeps the memory of the unit unchanged even after
the
standard UPS backup is switched off. Loss of memory of the GPS unit
caused some
problems for the DAQ during the recent shifts.
Jobs
to do to complete Los Leones
Installation of
internal light sensors for telescope 1 and 2, repositioning of those
light
sensors for the other telescopes (May 2004).
Wiring and
integration into slow control of the curtains of telescopes 1 and 2
(May 2004).
Installation of
relative calibration fibres (May 2004).
Installation of corrector
ring lenses
in telescopes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 (?).
Coihueco
The shutters, aperture
boxes, filters
of all telescopes are installed, corrector ring frames are installed
for
telescope 21 and 22, telescope 21 is also
equipped
with corrector ring lenses. The aperture of telescopes 1, 2, 4, 5, and
6 is as
in Los Leones reduced to 1.7m by a mask.
Failsafe
curtains are installed for all telescopes, but not yet integrated into
slow
control. All mirrors are mounted and are currently being aligned for
telescopes
1, 4, 5, and 6.
Telescopes 2 and 3 are operational, there will be
no new telescope in
operation
during the shift in May and June, because the cameras are missing. The
hardware
of the missing cameras is on site, but the assembly and installation
team will
not start working before the 3rd week of June.
Relative
calibration
The fibres
for scripts B, are installed at telescopes 20 and 21, the fibre
for script A is only installed for telescope 21, there are currently no
fibres installed at telescope 19, 22, 23,
and 24. This is scheduled
for May 2004. The reflector screens for script C are installed for all
telescopes. The central mirrors in telescopes 20 and 21 have been
replaced to
allow easier installation of the script A fibre.
Jobs
to do to complete Coihueco
Installation of internal
light
sensors for telescope for all telescopes (May 2004)
Wiring and integration
into slow
control of the curtains of tall telescopes (May 2004).
Installation of
relative calibration fibres (May 2004).
Assembly and
installation of cameras of telescopes 19, 22, 23, and 24 (June 2004).
Installation of corrector
ring frames
in telescopes 19, 20, 23, and 24.(September
2004) Installation
of corrector ring lenses in telescopes 19, 20, 22, 23, and 24 (?).
WBS 1.1 Fluorescence Detector continued (Miguel
Mostava –
CLF
The CLF hardware ran without incident until early
May when
it was discovered that the gas heater was not working. This is a
critical issue because
if the
coolant freezes it may damage the laser. This problem is being addressed .
CLF analysis has not progressed significantly since the March meeting in Malargue.
Los
The Los Leones LIDAR
is working
again, and data is being routinely sent to the
WBS 1.2 Fluorescence Detector Electronics
(Daniel Camin –
Milano)
1) Production of the Head Electronics:
The HE’s are the non-commercial units produced in the largest quantity in the whole experiment.
Particular attention was therefore devoted to reliability. All main electrical parameters were measured by a test system developed on purpose in Milano, in close collaboration with Intratec/Elbau.
At present, the fourth and last production batch of about 3000 units have been virtually completed. There are about 800 HE’s in Intratec ready to be sent to Photonis. The results of the test were very satisfactory, as the failure rate was about 1.5 %. The final figure of failed units will be calculated after the completion of the production, that comprises a 10 % spares.
The burn–in procedure was effective to unmask the origin of an abnormal increase in the PMT biasing network, after applying HV to the HE. An analysis of the data revealed that a long tail towards higher HV currents disappeared after burn-in, due to the evaporation of a solvent in the Flex mask used to protect the pads connecting to the PMT flying wires.
The terminated units present, after burn-in, a standard deviation of less than 1% with the exception of the power supplies that reaches 4 % maximum, due to the dispersion of the supply current of the Maxim Driver chips.
A comprehensive GAP note on this issue will be delivered after the completion of the whole
production followed by an accurate analysis of the results of tests.
2)
Design of a
debugging unit or the PMT/HE assembly.
The development of this unit was initiated by
November 2003.
The scope is to be able to verify the behavior of a suspected FD pixel.
Initially we planned to dismount a failing PMT+HE assembly to insert it
later
into a test box. More recently, we thought that avoiding the
dismounting of the
PMT+HE assembly is very convenient. The
debugging
system now foresees a more simple operation, that
consists on unplugging the 10 pin-3 M cable that delivers the HV, and
3) Analog Boards:
All necessary AB’s have been shipped long ago to FZK. This item has been completed.
4) HV/LV-PS System:
The two systems for LL and CO have been installed. Nowadays all the cabling has been completed. The third HV/LV system for Morados shall be ready by the end of 2004.
For detailed information on the HV/LV system see the comprehensive GAP-2003-094 published by November 2003. DVC, 5 May 2004.
WBS 1.2 FD digital electronics and readout
systems – (Matthias
Kleifges – FZK – IPE)
Installation
work in Malargüe:
·
During
the March collaboration meeting some errors were
fixed
by implementing the new firmware release 3.5 for the GPS clock and
release
04/1e for the FLT/SLT front-end. The release will solve problems with
missing
GPS seconds due to a change in the synchronization and provide
requested
changes to the LIDAR steering.
·
To
use the new features also different parts of the software (DAQ,
FEshell, GPS
server) had to be updated or linked with a new front-end library.
·
We
found problems with the power supply of MirrorPC’s and the boot
procedure. A
power supply was replaced. The problem seems to be related with
incorrect
wiring of the AC power in the Los Leones FD building, which is now
fixed.
·
The
second LCU (LED calibration unit) (now in Coihueco) was implemented in
the DAQ
scheme and the software was upgraded to follow the scheme of external
triggers.
The calibration setup was tested and was working in principle except
for those
bays, where no fibres are yet installed or the reflecting screen at the
inner
site of the shutters was missing.
·
Thanks
to the work of Primo and others we have now (with some exceptions)
finished the
work in Los Leones: all 6 telescopes are in operation. Primo is now
preparing together
with Norbert Barenthien the installation of the remaining systems in
Coihueco
(# 19, # 22, # 23, # 24) and the slow
control system.
Service
and support from
Due to the
necessary upgrades in certain modules (see below) the data taking of
the March
shift was not so smooth as before. Handling problems of the GUI due to
missing
(obsolete) information in the shifters documentation, but also these
updates in
software and hardware required frequently support from FZK experts.
H.J. Mathes was able to improve the
situation with his
activities on site since April.
We want to
improve the situation in future by more intense tests of hardware and
software
in
Transport
#22 arrived with installation items:
Our last
transport (FZK #22) has arrived in the last week in April. It contains
the
missing parts to complete the Coihueco building. The main parts are 2
complete
front-end electronic systems, the associated MirrorPCs and cables, and
a spare
GPS clock.
Production
and tests in
We have
continued or production and test with the electronic parts for FDE and
SDE. In
total we have reached following output figures (as May 4th):
·
FLT: 450 from 520
modules are produced; about 300
are tested and 243 are in Malargüe.
·
LED driver: 2640 (from
3000) drivers are
produced and tested; about 1500 are in Malargüe for soldering the
cables and
potting.
·
LED controller: 1450
(from 1800) controller are
produced; about 1000 are in Malargüe. The remaining need to be tested
and
coated by an external company.
·
RAID system for the EyePC: We have procured a 19” RAID system
which will replace the EyePC in use to increase the reliability.
Installation
of system software is in progress.
WBS 2.1 SD Site (Ingo Allekote – Instituto
Balseiro)
There were 66 tanks delivered by Rotoplas during this period. This was less than expected because the truck, owned and operated by Rotoplas, broke down and required an overhaul. Tank manufacturing continued at Rotoplas, but they are limited by delivery capability.
Recently they have obtained another truck and predict the ability to deliver as many as 60 tanks per month in the future, if there are no weather-related interruptions.
The first eight tanks were delivered from the new vendor Formingplast, using a trucking company contracted by Tandar Laboratory. These tanks are the first useful tanks made by Formingplast after an extensive effort to get them started and indicate the start of routine
production.
207632 kg of resin, purchased by Fermilab, was
delivered to
for approximately 360 tanks, plus some of the tubos for the battery boxes.
140 liners were produced at the facility in UTN in
A total of 56 surface detectors were deployed in the field and 55 were filled with water during March - April 2004. The lower deployment rate was due to the lack of catalyst for potting PMTs at the beginning of April and very bad weather conditions at the end of the month.
The water plant operated without difficulties. The connection to city water was improved, with a new piping that allows a larger input flux to the water plant. The water plant is now operating with 100% of city water.
The third water transport tank (Tk-12-Gamma), made by Equipos y Proyetos, and the corresponding trailer, fabricated by Petinari, were delivered to Malargue. All accessories (hoses, pump, generator, etc.) are available and have to be cleaned, assembled and mounted.
Contacts made by Juan Carlos Meza with landowners allowed for 9 new contracts that have been signed for access to land in the Los Morados area. On behalf of Auger, these contracts were signed by the newly created Fundacion Auger.
A method to carry detector tanks on the small red trailer, pulled by the Auger 4x4 truck, was developed by Mariano Berisso. As proposed by Carlos Hojvat and implemented by Gualberto,
Roberto Argumedo, Iuri and Germano, the water from the EA tank Daniela was recirculated through a mixed resin bed in the field and re-used in a production tank ("Cielo"). To fill up the missing 4 cm of water, a 1000-liter water tank was carried with the Auger trailer. On the way back, the old EA tank was brought back with the trailer. Although the water transfer is slow (4 hours), the system worked well an can be used in the future. This system can also be used to fill detectors with water in difficut areas, to re-fill detectors (e.g., leaking liners or not completely filled tanks) and to bring back or deploy isolated detectors, without the need of a truck and a crane.
Two Engineering Array tanks were brought to the
development from the EA experience.) Two sets of polyethylene spacer rings were brought down from Fermilab. These spacer rings, 50mm high, are screwed to the tanks around each hatch, then welded with a polyethylene welding tool and welding rod to make a permanent water seal. They make the EA tanks functionally equivalent to the Production tanks and allow mounting of the modern hatchcovers, shims, gaskets, and electronics enclosure.
WBS 2.2. Surface Detector Electronics (Tiina
Suomijarvi – IPN Orsay)
The pace of surface detector electronics
installation has
increased over the last several months, as new batches of unified
boards and
front ends were shipped to the site. The integration of these
units with
other components at the SDE fabrica in Malargue is proceeding smoothly.
Mariela
Videla, Federico Suarez and Javier Alcaya, key members of the local
electronics
staff, were brought to
Recent activities have focused on maintaining and assessing the
reliability and
stability of the detector. The local station software has been
operated
in a stable configuration since late December. Minor enhancements
were
added in late March, including an improved intercalibration of the
high-gain
and low-gain channels. At the March collaboration meeting, we reviewed
the
types of failures occurring in the field. Several types of problems
have
appeared: failure of some cables during or after deployment,
temperature
dependent instability of gain for a small fraction of PMTs, and failure
of some
battery temperature sensors which in turn has affected other
housekeeping
measurements on the station. Both of these problems are
being
investigated and corrective actions are in progress. At least
some of the PMT instability problems
are likely to be due to
cables which were damaged during the deployment. The temperature
sensor
problem has been traced to shorting of the sensor in the harsh battery
box
environment and steps are being taken to both improve the potting of
the sensor
and to limit the effect of a shorted sensor on other measurements using
the
same multiplexer. In general, however, the detectors have been
operating
well and taking data in a stable fashion.
WBS 3.0 Comms (Paul Clark –
1) 39 Kits were mounted during March 2004, 18
during April
2004 and there are 100 ready to install.
The 335 antennas of Pre-production and production were reached. "All
the
tanks that have water, also have antenna".
2) The Stock is controlled. We are only waiting for the arrival of 200
GPS
Antennas. Corbin is working with the documentation to dispatch ASAP the
antennas.
3) Small problems of time are generated in the purchase management.
With found of
4) The problem with the WLAN Antennas suppliers is "solved".
Both provide "technically equal antennas" and with very near price.
The price low a little with each quotation. We have reached US$ 15+IVA(21%) each. We have the production assured and
with very
good price.
WBS 5.0 DPA/Offline-
(Stefano Argiro – INFN)
The Offline project proceeds steadily. The second version of the Framework has been released under tag 0.2.1-beta. The release is meant to provide more developed core framework components, but that the distributed modules are still meant more to verify the framework than to produce real physics results. Physics modules are ultimately the responsibility of the whole
collaboration with guidance from the analysis subtask coordinators.
The ambitious plan is to have everything required for physics simulation and analysis by the end of this northern Summer. This will need a great deal of contribution from the whole collaboration.
The organization of the analysis tasks has been rediscussed at the last meeting. A document describing the physics goals has been circulated. A new group has been created for hybrid reconstruction.
WBS 8.0 Education
and Outreach (Greg Snow –
On Thursday, March 18, a forum was held with over
150 Malargüe area science teachers and
students to discuss
future education activities and interactions with the scientists from
the
Observatory. The forum was organized Mercedes
Vergara Marquez, Graciela Viollaz,
and several teachers from the
Arnulfo Zepeda and Rebeca Lopez traveled to General Alvear
to present a workshop “Methodology in the Teaching of Physics” for 26
primary
and secondary science teachers on Saturday, March 20. The workshop was
held at
the
Beatriz García
reported on
activities in Malargüe and Mendoza. During
April in Malargüe, a presentation on the
solar system was given by
Andres Risi and Analía
Cáceres for 150 students and teachers from
At the First International Conference on
Informatics
organized by CIDI-Cuyo on April 15-16 in
The Auger Observatory has the opportunity to mount
a display
at the Open Day of CERN’s 50th Anniversary celebration on
Greg Snow, serving as the
Murat Boratov reported that on April 14, an audiovisual piece on the Auger Observatory was broadcast on the Euronews. An archive of the piece can be viewed at the web site www.euronews.com (click on “hi-tech” and scroll to the Auger piece). The broadcast featured short interviews with Carlos Hojvat and Xavier Bertou.
Rebeca Lopez presented the following talks during the Week of Science and Culture organized by BUAP and the Mexican Academy of Sciences: (i) “Boleadoras Cosmicas (Cosmic Bullets)” at the high school Escuela de Bachilleres No. 14 on April 27 and at the primary school Centro Escolar Morelos on April 28 and (ii) “Boleadoras cosmicas y el Observatorio Pierre Auger” at the high school Emiliano Zapata on April 28.
WBS 9.0 Observatory Operations – (Xavier Bertou
–
March data taking was quite unstable as usual due to the development in LS/CDAS/Comms done during the meeting period. April 9-12 showed crashes in the SD event builder. Except from these periods, data taking was quite stable.
From the 23rd to the 26th of March 30cm of water were removed from tank Palau Co (254) by a small leak. Analysis of the data taken during this experiment is underway. Preliminary results clearly show we can see this change of water level in calibration data.
April 1st a new LS software was installed in all the tanks, featuring an improved dynode/anode ratio determination algorithm, a fix for the 100 ns jumps in the US UBs, better tagging of the triggers, and including some muon decay data.All the tanks close to Los Leones have been implemented with electronics, allowing a large quantity of hybrid events to be registered
close to the eye in the FD shift periods.
High energy, high multiplicity SD events are found every day now that the array is more than 300 tanks.