Corrected detector-level reconstruction of inclined radio air showers from trigger-level ADC waveforms
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Autonomous radio arrays record air-shower radio pulses as trigger-selected analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) voltage traces. We reconstruct the primary arrival direction and energy while accounting for noise, direction-dependent detector responses and atmospheric refraction in inclined showers. Waveform cross-correlation corrects relative trigger times; plane- and spherical-wavefront fits estimate the initial direction and effective emission point. A modified voltage-domain angular-distribution fit uses source-end tangents of refracted rays to refine the direction and distinguish the particle core from the radio-footprint centre, reducing the median opening-angle error by approximately 50% relative to straight source-to-station viewing angles. Antenna and radio-frequency-chain inversion recovers the electric field, and early-late corrections give its lateral peak-amplitude distribution. An event-to-reference peak-amplitude correction is calibrated on 2,500 simulated electric-field showers to account for 50-200 MHz coherence loss; a semi-analytic Fresnel parameterisation examines its finite-source interpretation. Proton and iron reference lateral-distribution fits give two energy estimates, averaged with fixed equal weights. Validation uses 6,000 independent showers. In the field-level test with simulation-input geometry, either correction reduces the relative energy root-mean-square error (RMSE) from 11.90% to 8.31%. Across three waveform treatments, 3,073 common detector-level events yield mean relative energy residuals of -2.30% to -1.86%, standard deviations of 8.46%-8.96%, and median opening-angle errors of 0.0315-0.0349 degrees. The method is intended for sparse radio arrays detecting highly inclined showers, such as the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND).
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Institution: Xidian University
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7168243137