Radio Interferometric Reconstruction of Air Shower Parameters with the SKA-Low array
S. Saha*, T. Huege, K. Watanabe, S. Bouma, J.D. Bray, S. Buitink, A. Corstanje, V. De Henau, E. Dickinson, T. Gottmer, B. Hare, H. He, J. Hörandel, C. James, M. Jetti, P. Laub, X. Li, M. Lourens, H.J. Mathes, K. Mulrey, A. Nelles, F. Schlüter, O. Scholten, R. Spencer, C. Sterpka, S. ter Veen, K. Terveer, G. Trinh, P. Turekova, D. Veberič, M. Waterson, C. Zhang, P. Zhang and Y. Zhanget al. (click to show)
*: corresponding author
Full text: pdf
Pre-published on: September 15, 2026
Published on:
Abstract
SKA-Low is a dense, uniform radio array that will enable high-precision studies of cosmic ray induced extensive air-showers. We are developing a near-field beam-forming or interferometric framework to reconstruct key air-shower parameters with the SKA-Low. In this work, we focus on the interferometric reconstruction of the arrival direction, shower core position, and the depth of shower maximum ($X_{\mathrm{max}}$), with the goal of extending the framework to reconstruct primary energy as well. The method has been developed on 100 PeV air-showers, simulated with CoREAS, for Proton, Helium, Carbon, Silicon and Iron primaries, for zenith angles 15°, 30° and 40° and achieved a universal calibration curve and an $X_{\mathrm{max}}$ resolution below 15 $\mathrm{g/cm^2}$ under realistic circumstances. We have also obtained an excellent angular resolution of 0.1° and a core resolution below 10 m. The interferometric framework can potentially extend the sensitivity of radio detection techniques down to PeV energies, which may significantly broaden the capabilities of the SKA-Low in cosmic-ray physics.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/1.538.0039
How to cite

Metadata are provided both in article format (very similar to INSPIRE) as this helps creating very compact bibliographies which can be beneficial to authors and readers, and in proceeding format which is more detailed and complete.

Open Access
Creative Commons LicenseCopyright owned by the author(s) under the term of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.