1. The Barcelona Raman LIDAR project and its prospects for the CTAO-NorthDarko Kolar, Otger Ballester, O. Blanch Bigas, Joan Boix, Paolo G. Calisse, Anna Campoy-Ordaz, M. Doro, Samo Stanič, Marko Zavrtanik, Miha Živec, 2025, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) is a next-generation facility comprised of ground-based Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). The observatory, currently under construction, will include more than 70 telescopes at two locations: in the northern hemisphere, CTAO-North at the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos (ORM), La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, and in the southern hemisphere, CTAO-South at a site belonging to the European Southern Observatory (ESO), Cerro Paranal, Chile. IACTs indirectly detect high-energy cosmic photons in an energy range from tens of GeV to several hundreds of TeV by measuring Cherenkov light emitted by atmospheric showers of secondary particles, produced through interactions between incident photons and nuclei of atmospheric gasses in the upper layers. The size of the CTAO will improve the detection sensitivity in the designed energy range by about an order of magnitude with respect to present experiments and aim at improved energy and angular resolution, as well as greatly reduced systematic uncertainties. The key to achieving improvements in accuracy on the absolute energy and flux scales is the precise monitoring of the atmospheric properties for the Cherenkov light, which can be obtained with a specifically designed LIDAR. The Barcelona Raman LIDAR (BRL) prototype is the official CTAO-North Pathfinder and was deployed at ORM for extensive tests between February 2021 and May 2022. We report the BRL’s prospects for the CTAO-North, emphasizing the technical implementation and the preliminary data taken during its deployment period.
Keywords: Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, CTAO, LIDAR, Barcelona Raman LIDAR
Published in RUNG: 05.05.2025; Views: 288; Downloads: 0
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2. A 1.8 m class pathfinder Raman LIDAR for the northern site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory : technical designOtger Ballester, O. Blanch Bigas, Joan Boix, Paolo G. Calisse, Anna Campoy-Ordaz, Sidika Merve Çolak, Darko Kolar, Samo Stanič, Marko Zavrtanik, Miha Živec, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: This paper presents the technical design of the pathfinder Barcelona Raman LIDAR (pbrl) for the northern site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (Northern site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO-N)) located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM)). The pBRL is developed for continuous atmospheric characterization, essential for correcting high-energy gamma-ray observations captured by Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). The LIDAR consists of a steerable telescope with a 1.8 m parabolic mirror and a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with frequency doubling and tripling. It emits at wavelengths of 355 nm and 532 nm to measure aerosol scattering and extinction through two elastic and Raman channels. Built upon a former Cherenkov Light Ultraviolet Experiment (Cherenkov Light Ultraviolet Experiment (CLUE)) telescope, the pBRL’s design includes a Newtonian mirror configuration, a coaxial laser beam, a near-range system, a liquid light guide and a custom-made polychromator. During a one-year test at the ORM, the stability of the LIDAR and semi-remote-controlled operations were tested. This pathfinder leads the way to designing a final version of a Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) Raman LIDAR which will provide real-time atmospheric monitoring and, as such, ensure the necessary accuracy of scientific data collected by the CTAO-N telescope array.
Keywords: Raman LIDAR, design, aerosols, atmospheric effects, gamma-ray astrophysics, IACTs, polychromator, Liquid Light Guide, Licel, PMT
Published in RUNG: 19.03.2025; Views: 432; Downloads: 2
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3. Observation of the Cumbre Vieja volcano plume above the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos with the Barcelona Raman LIDARMiha Živec, Otger Ballester, Oscar Blanch, Juan Boix, Paolo G. Calisse, Anna Campoy Ordaz, Michele Doro, Lluis Font, Rafael Garcia, Markus Gaug, Roger Grau, Manel Martinez, David Roman, Samo Stanič, Santiago Ubach Ramírez, Marko Zavrtanik, 2022, published scientific conference contribution Keywords: lidar, remote sensing, CTA, CTAO, Cumbre Vieja, atmospheric monitoring, volcano
Published in RUNG: 13.02.2023; Views: 2474; Downloads: 24
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