The Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) experiment uses radio antennas to detect the Askaryan emission from ultra-high-energy (above 10^16 eV) neutrino interactions in the ice in Antarctica. The understanding of the antenna properties, such as the realized gain, is especially crucial for the energy determination of neutrino events, and the performance has to be optimized for the maximum detection efficiency.
The understanding of the performance in ice, on the other hand, is challenging. In order to understand the performance in ice, the calibration in ice was performed at the South Pole, in parallel with antenna simulations in ice. We performed the study using a new slim version of ARA antennas which could be used for future deployment, with which the installation would be much faster and cost effective.