Remote sensing of clouds and aerosols with cosmic rays |
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| Institution: | 1. Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;2. Department Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;3. Department Clinical Pharmacology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;4. Nuclear Medicine Dept., Royal Victoria Infirmary, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK;5. Cardiovascular Center, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Clinic, Aalst, Belgium;6. Department Emergency Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA;1. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA;2. Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA;3. Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA |
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| Abstract: | Remote sensing of atmosphere is conventionally done via a study of extinction/scattering of light from natural (Sun, Moon) or artificial (laser) sources. Cherenkov emission from extensive air showers generated by cosmic rays provides one more natural light source distributed throughout the atmosphere. We show that Cherenkov light carries information on three-dimensional distribution of clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere and on the size distribution and scattering phase function of cloud/aerosol particles. Therefore, it could be used for the atmospheric sounding. The new atmospheric sounding method could be implemented via an adjustment of technique of imaging Cherenkov telescopes. The atmospheric sounding data collected in this way could be used both for atmospheric science and for the improvement of the quality of astronomical gamma-ray observations. |
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| Keywords: | Cherenkov telescopes Cosmic rays Atmosphere Clouds |
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