The goal of the PolarquEEEst experiment was to measure the cosmic charged particle rate at latitudes greater than 66$$^{\circ }$$∘ N, where no systematic and accurate measurements at sea level have ever been performed. A latitude range well above the Arctic Circle was explored on board of a sailboat, up to the unprecedented northernmost value of $$82^{\circ }07^{\prime }$$82∘07′ N. In this paper a description of the experimental set-up is reported, then the procedures for calibration and data analysis are described in detail. The results show that the rate measured in this latitude range stays constant within a novel accuracy of $$\pm 1$$±1%.

In the original version of this article, the names of four authors were missing in the author list: L. Perasso, O. Pinazza, C. Pinto and S. Pisano.