URL: https://www.desy.de/school/school_lab/zeuthen_site/cosmic_particles/experiments/zugspitze/index_eng.html
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Schneefernerhaus Zugspitze
Schneefernerhaus Zugspitze
The Schneefernerhaus was originally built as a hotel just below the summit of Germany's highest peak, the Zugspitze in the Alps. But after declining visitor numbers it was converted into an environmental research station. At an altitude of 2650 m above sea level, it is the highest environmental research station in Germany. Its research focuses include climate and atmospheric observations, environmental and high-altitude medicine, early detection of natural hazards, cosmic radiation and radioactivity, biosphere and geosphere, hydrology and cloud dynamics.
The altitude of the measuring station provides very good conditions to study secondary cosmic rays, because the rate of cosmic particles increases with altitude. Since October 2020, DESY has been operating a muon detector in the Schneefernerhaus. In addition, data from the mini-neutron monitor of Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel are also available for evaluation with Cosmic@Web. Besides the particle rate, the data sets also contain weather data, so that, for example, the influence of weather conditions on the rate can be investigated.
Scintillation Counter Setup
- two 25 cm x 25 cm scintillation counters operated in coincidence,
- a DAQ card from FermiLab,
- and a Raspberry Pi 3B computer with VNC to take data and control the experiment remotely.
The muon detector consists of:
Data Structure
Possible Student Exercises
Example Diagrams
- What is striking about the curves of the two variables? What conclusions can be drawn from this?
- What is the physical meaning of this course? How can it be explained?
At Cosmic@Web you will find few example diagrams using the Session-ID Zugspitze.
This xy-diagram shows both the atmospheric pressure (red) and the muon rate (light blue) over time. The values of the two quantities are read on two different axes, each with a suitable axis division. This makes it possible to compare the qualitative progressions. The time is given in seconds since 01.01.2010. How to convert this indication into a date is explained in the glossary. The exact settings of this diagram can be found on the session ID Zugspitze.
This profile shows the natural logarithm of the muon rate as a function of the atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure is divided into 20 equal areas. These ranges are represented by the horizontal bars. The mean value of the muon rates measured in each pressure range is shown as a point. The vertical line through each point indicates the standard deviation. In addition, a linear fit function is shown. The exact settings of this diagram can be found on the session ID Zugspitze.
