Collaborative Research: Measurement of Cosmic Ray Response Functions for an Ice Cherenkov Detector

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The proposal seeks funding to determine a complete set of cosmic ray response functions for the ice Cherenkov detector used by the surface air shower IceTop array that is part of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. This would be accomplished by means of a global latitude survey conducted with a detector (identical to the IceTop sensors) built in a freezer van, which will be installed on the Swedish icebreaker Oden. The cosmic rays shower data will be recorded on the Oden voyage from Sweden to McMurdo and return during the 2009-2010 austral summer season. The potential use of Oden for scientific research has been announced in the NSF Antarctic Science solicitation NSF 08-535. Continued reliance on students provides a broader impact to this proposed research and firmly grounds this effort in its educational mission.