Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 38: Methods in Astroparticle Physics II

T 38.7: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 17:45–18:00, KS 00.004

Methods to measure the ice stratigraphy in the IceCube Upgrade — •Anna Eimer for the IceCube collaboration — Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

A precise understanding of the optical properties of the instrumented Antarctic ice sheet is crucial to the performance of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and its planned successors.

The ice optical properties are driven by impurities deposited with the snow that formed the ice and thus layers of constant optical properties form a stratigraphy. Due to the underlying bedrock, these layers undulate over the large lateral footprints of these detectors.

Within IceCube, the layer undulations have originally been mapped using stratigraphy measurements by a stand-alone laser dust logger. It required a dedicated deployment setup, as it was not located on the main sensor cables. This resulted in significantly increased costs.

New methods to replace the stand-alone dust logger as have been employed during the deployment of the IceCube Upgrade will be shown in this talk. One approach consists of a light source that was co-deployed with the photosensor modules and operated during the deployment of the detector. Another approach uses a camera to record the stratigraphy. Initial data from both approaches, in particular sampling 150m below the depth instrumented by IceCube, will be shown and discussed.

Keywords: Calibration; Ice