Implementing a WCD detector system in Ecuador as part of the LAGO Project

Implementation, calibration and operation of a Water Cherenkov Detector at Escuela Politécnica Nacional

“…The RATE is the number of particles per unit area and unit time. The rate in Quito has been simulated in [8], as a consequence we know that most of the detected particles that will contribute to the rate are electrons/positrons, photons and muons. Muons are the most energetic and have a maximum flow (greater than 10 4 ) between 1 and 10 GeV, the flow is reduced exponentially between 10 and 100 GeV with a flow of ∼ 10 3 .…”

“…The detected particles per second is 4.91±0.45 ( Figure 5), for an effective area of 0.76 m 2 , such that it has a rate of 6.406±0.45 s −1 m −2 . In [8], the flux of particles having an energy around 100 GeV is 600 s −1 m −2 . In [15], for a latitude of 2800 m.a,s,l., there are approximately 650 s −1 m −2 , such that the detection efficiency is 0.98% with respect to [15] and of 1.067% with respect to the simulations carried out by [8].…”

“…This is possible because it is known that the flux of cosmic rays depends on the geomagnetic properties asociated with the site and the energy of the primary. In [8] is shown the simulated flux of secondary particles for the city of Quito with and without considering the magnetic rigidity cut off. In the simulation it is emphasized that the maximum flux corresponds to muons, electrons and photons.…”

“…In 2014, a second detector (Panchito detector) was placed at the "Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ)" in the province of Pichincha. Both detectors work with the electronic adquisition system from the Pierre Auger Experiment [8,10].…”

“…A WCD (Politanque detector) was installed, calibrated and operated from June 2015 to February 2016 with the Mexican electronic adquisition system [3]. For the Politanque and Panchito detectors there was a preliminary study published in [8,11].…”