Speaker
Description
STrings for Absorption Length in Water (STRAW) is a pathfinder mission
for the proposed Pacific-Ocean Neutrino Experiment (P-ONE). STRAW
was deployed in 2018 with the goal of measuring the attenuation length of
the water. The results of these measurements were published in 2021 and
qualify the site for a large scale neutrino detector. STRAW is located in the
Cascadia Basin, an area off the coast of Vancouver Island. The full P-ONE
array will eventually be deployed to the same location. STRAW continues to
take data, and has long outlasted its original design expectations. This extra
data-taking time has enabled new studies of the sub-sea environment. One
measurement of interest is the identification of atmospheric muons, which
form a background in neutrino experiments, using STRAW. Another measurement
of particular concern is the growth of organic matter on undersea
equipment, a phenomenon known as biofouling. Biological material grows
on the glass of optical modules, thus reducing their light collection efficiency
over time. This talk explores the suitability of the STRAW apparatus for
making these measurements, and how this informs the next phase of P-ONE
which will be deployed in the near future.
| Keyword-1 | Neutrino Physics |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Astroparticle Physics |
| Keyword-3 | Neutrino Telescopes |
