ORCA provides continuous, real-time measurements of secondary cosmic ray flux at the Spanish Antarctic Station Juan Carlos I. The experiment uses three sensor sets to observe neutrons and muons, including muon incidence direction for anisotropy analysis. SCIOPS operates the instrument, which has been in nominal operation since March 2020.
Use Cases
- Analyze neutron flux time-series data to study solar modulation of cosmic rays.
- Model muon flux measurements to investigate atmospheric interaction processes.
- Detect anisotropies in primary cosmic rays using recorded muon incidence direction.
- Correlate flux variations with geomagnetic or solar events using continuous sensor data.
- Validate atmospheric shower models with neutron and muon observation pairs.
Strengths
- Continuous, real-time data collection since March 2020.
- Three dedicated sensor sets provide multi-channel observations.
- Includes directional data for muon incidence enabling anisotropy analysis.
Limitations
- Unknown sample size and temporal granularity of the records.
- Geographic coverage is limited to a single Antarctic station.
- Column names and data structure are unspecified.
Provenance
- Source
- SCIOPS via NASA Earthdata.
- Collection Method
- Real-time measurements from three sets of sensors installed at a fixed station.
- Time Range
- From March 2020 onward.
- Freshness
- Data was last updated in March 2023.
- Geography
- Spanish Antarctic Station Juan Carlos I.