On the prospects of ultra-high energy cosmic rays detection by high altitude antennas

• Main Authors: Motloch, P., Hollon, N., Privitera, P.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: arXiv 2013
• Subjects: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics astro-ph.IM; High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena astro-ph.HE; FOS Physical sciences; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1309.0561; https://arxiv.org/abs/1309.0561

Radio emission from Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) showers detected after specular reflection off the Antarctic ice surface has been recently demonstrated by the ANITA balloon-borne experiment. An antenna observing a large area of ice or water from a mountaintop, a balloon or a satellite may be competitive with more conventional techniques. We present an estimate of the exposure of a high altitude antenna, which provides insight on the prospects of this technique for UHECR detection. We find that a satellite antenna may reach a significantly larger exposure than existing UHECR observatories, but an experimental characterization of the radio reflected signal is required to establish the potential of this approach. A balloon-borne or a mountaintop antenna are found not to be competitive under any circumstances.