PT Journal
AU Pierre Auger Collaboration (Abreu, Pea
   Pastor, S
TI Identifying clouds over the Pierre Auger Observatory using infrared satellite data
SO Astroparticle Physics
JI Astropart Phys.
PY 2013
BP 92
EP 101
VL 50-52
DI 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2013.09.004
LA English
DE Ultra-high energy cosmic rays; Pierre Auger Observatory; Extensive air showers; Atmospheric monitoring; Clouds; Satellites
AB We describe a new method of identifying night-time clouds over the Pierre Auger Observatory using infrared data from the Imager instruments on the GOES-12 and GOES-13 satellites. We compare cloud. identifications resulting from our method to those obtained by the Central Laser Facility of the Auger Observatory. Using our new method we can now develop cloud probability maps for the 3000 km(2) of the Pierre Auger Observatory twice per hour with a spatial resolution of similar to 2.4 km by similar to 5.5 km. Our method could also be applied to monitor cloud cover for other ground-based observatories and for space-based observatories.
ER