Measurement of acoustic attenuation in South Pole ice

• Published in: Astroparticle Physics
• Main Authors: Abbasi, R., Abdou, Y., Abu-Zayyad, T., Adams, J., Aguilar, J. A., Ahlers, M., Andeen, K., Auffenberg, J., Bai, X., Baker, Mark D., Barwick, S. W., Bay, R., Bazo Alba, J. L., Beattie, K., Beatty, J. J., Bechet, S., Becker, J. K., Becker, K.-H., Benabderrahmane, M. L., Berdermann, J., Berghaus, P., Berley, D., Bernardini, E., Bertrand, D., Besson, D. Z., Bissok, M., Blaufuss, E., Boersma, D. J., Bohm, C., Böser, S., Botner, O., Bradley, L., Braun, J., Buitink, S., Carson, M., Chirkin, D., Christy, B., Clem, J., Clevermann, F., Cohen, S., Colnard, C., Cowen, D. F., d'Agostino, M. V., Danninger, M., de Clercq, C., Demirörs, L., Depaepe, O., Descamps, F., Desiati, P., de Vries-Uiterweerd, G.
• Other Authors: Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, APC - Cosmologie, AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC (UMR_7164)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: [SDU.ASTR.HE]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena [astro-ph.HE]; [PHYS.ASTR.HE]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena [astro-ph.HE]; [SDU.ASTR.CO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; [PHYS.ASTR.CO]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00706829; https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ASTROPARTPHYS.2010.10.003

Using the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS) and a retrievable transmitter deployed in holes drilled for the IceCube experiment, we have measured the attenuation of acoustic signals by South Pole ice at depths between 190 m and 500 m. Three data sets, using different acoustic sources, have been analyzed and give consistent results. The method with the smallest systematic uncertainties yields an amplitude attenuation coefficient α = 3.20 ± 0.57 km-1 between 10 and 30 kHz, considerably larger than previous theoretical estimates. Expressed as an attenuation length, the analyses give a consistent result for λ ≡ 1/α of ˜300 m with 20% uncertainty. No significant depth or frequency dependence has been found.