A mobile detector for measurements of the atmospheric muon flux B. Mitrica1, I. M. Brancus1, R. Margineanu1, M. Petcu1, M. Dima1, O. Sima2, A. Haungs3, H. Rebel3, M. Petre1, G. Toma1, A. Saftoiu1, and A. Apostu1 1Horia Hulubei Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Bucharest, P.O.B. MG-6, Romania 2Department of Physics, University of Bucharest, P.O.B. MG-11, Romania 3Institut für Kernphysik, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology - Campus North, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
Received: 15 Nov 2010 – Accepted: 19 Jan 2011 – Published: 28 Apr 2011
Abstract. Measurements of the underground atmospheric muon flux are important in order to determine accurately the overburden in mwe (meter water
equivalent) of an underground laboratory for appreciating which kind of experiments are feasible for that location. Slanic- Prohava is one of the 7 possible
locations for the European large underground experiment LAGUNA (Large Apparatus studying Grand Unification and Neutrino Astrophysics). A mobile
device consisting of 2 scintillator plates (≈0.9 m2, each) one above the other and measuring in coincidence, was set-up for determining the muon flux. The
detector it is installed on a van which facilitates measurements on different positions at the surface or in the underground and it is in operation since autumn 2009. The
measurements of muon fluxes presented in this contribution have been performed in the underground salt mine Slanic-Prahova, Romania, where IFIN-HH has
built a low radiation level laboratory, and at the surface on different sites of Romania, at different elevations from 0 m a.s.l up to 655 m a.s.l. Based on our
measurements we can say that Slanic site is a feasible location for LAGUNA in Unirea salt mine at a water equivalent depth of 600 mwe. The results have been
compared with Monte-Carlo simulations performed with the simulation codes CORSIKA and MUSIC.
Citation: Mitrica, B., Brancus, I. M., Margineanu, R., Petcu, M., Dima, M., Sima, O., Haungs, A., Rebel, H., Petre, M., Toma, G., Saftoiu, A., and Apostu, A.: A mobile detector for measurements of the atmospheric muon flux, Astrophys. Space Sci. Trans., 7, 163-166, doi:10.5194/astra-7-163-2011, 2011.