High-altitude characterization of the Hunga pressure wave with cosmic rays by the HAWC observatory

Alfaro R, Alvarez C, Arteaga-Velázquez JC, Kollamparambil Paul AB, Rojas DA, Ayala Solares HA, Babu R, Belmont-Moreno E, Brisbois C, Caballero-Mora KS, Capistrán T, Carramiñana A, Casanova S, Chaparro-Amaro O, Cotti U, Cotzomi J, la Fuente ED, Diaz Hernandez R, DuVernois MA, Durocher M, Díaz-Vélez JC, Engel K, Espinoza C, Fan KL, Fraija N, García-González JA, Garfias F, González MM, Goodman JA, Harding JP, Hernandez S, Huang D, Hueyotl-Zahuantitla F, Humensky TB, Hüntemeyer P, Iriarte A, Joshi V, Kaufmann S, Kieda D, Lara A, Lee J, León Vargas H, Linnemann JT, Longinotti AL, Luis-Raya G, Malone K, Martinez O, Martínez-Castro J, Matthews JA, Miranda-Romagnoli P, Morales-Soto JA, Moreno E, Nayerhoda A, Nellen L, Noriega-Papaqui R, Omodei N, Pérez Araujo Y, Pérez-Pérez EG, Rho CD, Rosa-González D, Ruiz-Velasco E, Salazar H, Salazar-Gallegos D, Sandoval A, Schneider M, Serna-Franco J, Smith AJ, Son Y, Springer RW, Tibolla O, Tollefson K, Torres I, Torres-Escobedo R, Turner R, Ureña-Mena F, Varela E, Villaseñor L, Wang X, Willox E, Zhou H, de León C (2023)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2023.09.049

Abstract

High-energy cosmic rays that hit the Earth can be used to study large-scale atmospheric perturbations. After a first interaction in the upper parts of the atmosphere, cosmic rays produce a shower of particles that sample it down to the detector level. The HAWC (High-Altitude Water Cherenkov) gamma-ray observatory in Central Mexico at 4,100 m elevation detects air shower particles continuously with 300 water Cherenkov detectors with an active area of 12,500 m². On January 15th, 2022, HAWC detected the passage of the pressure wave created by the explosion of the Hunga volcano in the Tonga islands, 9,000 km away, as an anomaly in the measured rate of shower particles. The HAWC measurements are used to determine the propagation speed of four pressure wave passages, and correlate the variations of the shower particle rates with the barometric pressure changes. The profile of the shower particle rate and atmospheric pressure variations for the first transit of the pressure wave at HAWC is compared to the pressure measurements at the Tonga island, near the volcanic explosion. By using the cosmic-ray propagation in the atmosphere as a probe for the pressure, it is possible to achieve very high time-resolution measurements. Moreover, the high-altitude data from HAWC allows to observe the shape of the pressure anomaly with less perturbations compared to sea level detectors. Given the particular location and the detection method of HAWC, our high-altitude data provides valuable information that contributes to fully characterize this once-in-a-century phenomenon.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

University of Maryland United States (USA) (US) Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH) Mexico (MX) National Autonomous University of Mexico / Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Mexico (MX) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH) Mexico (MX) Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) United States (USA) (US) Michigan Technological University United States (USA) (US) Cochin University of Science and Technology India (IN) Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN / Instytut Fizyki Jądrowej im. Henryka Niewodniczańskiego PAN Poland (PL) Shanghai Jiao Tong University / 上海交通大学 China (CN) Los Alamos National Laboratory United States (USA) (US) Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) Mexico (MX) Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca (UPP) Mexico (MX) Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) / Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla Mexico (MX) National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico / Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México Mexico (MX) University of New Mexico (UNM) / Universidad de Nuevo México United States (USA) (US) Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo / Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo Mexico (MX) Stanford University United States (USA) (US) National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics / Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE) Mexico (MX) Universidad de Guadalajara (UDEG) Mexico (MX) University of Utah United States (USA) (US) Michigan State University United States (USA) (US) University of Seoul (UOS) / 서울시립대학교 Korea, Republic of (KR) Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) / Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics Germany (DE) Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Korea, Republic of (KR) University of Wisconsin - Madison United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Arteaga-Velázquez, J.C., Kollamparambil Paul, A.B., Rojas, D.A., Ayala Solares, H.A.,... de León, C. (2023). High-altitude characterization of the Hunga pressure wave with cosmic rays by the HAWC observatory. Advances in Space Research. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2023.09.049

MLA:

Alfaro, Ruben, et al. "High-altitude characterization of the Hunga pressure wave with cosmic rays by the HAWC observatory." Advances in Space Research (2023).

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