The complexity of modern cosmic ray observatories and the rich data sets they capture often require a sophisticated software framework to support the simulation of physical processes, detector response, as well as reconstruction and analysis of real and simulated data. Here we present the EUSO-(Off) over bar(line) under bar framework. The code base was originally developed by the Pierre Auger Collaboration, and portions of it have been adopted by other collaborations to suit their needs. We have extended this software to fulfill the requirements of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray detectors and very high energy neutrino detectors developed for the Joint Exploratory Missions for an Extreme Universe Observatory (JEM-EUSO). These path-finder instruments constitute a program to chart the path to a future space-based mission like POEMMA. For completeness, we describe the overall structure of the framework developed by the Auger collaboration and continue with a description of the JEM-EUSO simulation and reconstruction capabilities. The framework is written predominantly in modern C++ (compliled against C++17) and incorporates third-party libraries chosen based on functionality and our best judgment regarding support and longevity. Modularity is a central notion in the framework design, a requirement for large collaborations in which many individuals contribute to a common code base and often want to compare different approaches to a given problem. For the same reason, the framework is designed to be highly configurable, which allows us to contend with a variety of JEM-EUSO missions and observation scenarios. We also discuss how we incorporate broad, industry-standard testing coverage which is necessary to ensure quality and maintainability of a relatively large code base, and the tools we employ to support a multitude of computing platforms and enable fast, reliable installation of external packages. Finally, we provide a few examples of simulation and reconstruction applications using EUSO-(Off) over bar(line) under bar.

The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 1 (EUSO-SPB1) was launched in 2017 April from Wanaka, New Zealand. The plan of this mission of opportunity on a NASA super pressure balloon test flight was to circle the southern hemisphere. The primary scientific goal was to make the first observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray extensive air showers (EASs) by looking down on the atmosphere with an ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence telescope from suborbital altitude (33~km). After 12~days and 4~hours aloft, the flight was terminated prematurely in the Pacific Ocean. Before the flight, the instrument was tested extensively in the West Desert of Utah, USA, with UV point sources and lasers. The test results indicated that the instrument had sensitivity to EASs of approximately 3 EeV. Simulations of the telescope system, telescope on time, and realized flight trajectory predicted an observation of about 1 event assuming clear sky conditions. The effects of high clouds were estimated to reduce this value by approximately a factor of 2. A manual search and a machine-learning-based search did not find any EAS signals in these data. Here we review the EUSO-SPB1 instrument and flight and the EAS search.

This is a collection of papers presented by the JEM-EUSO Collaboration at the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (Nagoya, Japan, July 26-August 3, 2023)

The concept of putting a neutrino detector in close orbit of the sun has been unexplored until very recently. The primary scientific return is to vastly enhance our understanding of the solar interior, which is a major NASA goal. Preliminary calculations show that such a spacecraft, if properly shielded, can operate in space environments while taking data from neutrino interactions. These interactions can be distinguished from random background rates of solar electromagnetic emissions, galactic charged cosmic-rays, and gamma-rays by using a double pulsed signature. Early simulations of this project have shown this veto schema to be successful in eliminating background and identifying the neutrino interaction signal in upwards of 75% of gamma ray interactions and nearly 100% of other interactions. Hence, we propose a new instrument to explore and study our sun. Due to inverse square scaling, this instrument has the potential to outperform earth-based experiments in several domains such as making measurements not accessible from the earth's orbit.

JEM-EUSO is an international program for the development of space-based Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray observatories. The program consists of a series of missions which are either under development or in the data analysis phase. All instruments are based on a wide-field-of-view telescope, which operates in the near-UV range, designed to detect the fluorescence light emitted by extensive air showers in the atmosphere. We describe the simulation software ESAF in the framework of the JEM-EUSO program and explain the physical assumptions used. We present here the implementation of the JEM-EUSO, POEMMA, K-EUSO, TUS, Mini-EUSO, EUSO-SPB1 and EUSO-TA configurations in ESAF. For the first time ESAF simulation outputs are compared with experimental data.

Compilation of papers presented by the JEM-EUSO Collaboration at the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC), held on July 12-23, 2021 (online) in Berlin, Germany.

The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 1 (EUSO-SPB1) instrument was launched out of Wanaka, New Zealand, by NASA in April, 2017 as a mission of opportunity. The detector was developed as part of the Joint Experimental Missions for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (JEM-EUSO) program toward a space-based ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) telescope with the main objective to make the first observation of UHECRs via the fluorescence technique from suborbital space. The EUSO-SPB1 instrument is a refractive telescope consisting of two 1m 2 Fresnel lenses with a high-speed UV camera at the focal plane. The camera has 2304 individual pixels capable of single photoelectron counting with a time resolution of 2.5 μ s. A detailed performance study including calibration was done on ground. We separately evaluated the properties of the Photo Detector Module (PDM) and the optical system in the laboratory. An end-to-end test of the instrument was performed during a field campaign in the West Desert in Utah, USA at the Telescope Array (TA) site in September 2016. The campaign lasted for 8 nights. In this article we present the results of the preflight laboratory and field tests. Based on the tests performed in the field, it was determined that EUSO-SPB1 has a field of view of 11.1 ∘ and an absolute photo-detection efficiency of 10%. We also measured the light flux necessary to obtain a 50% trigger efficiency using laser beams. These measurements were crucial for us to perform an accurate post flight event rate calculation to validate our cosmic ray search. Laser beams were also used to estimated the reconstruction angular resolution. Finally, we performed a flat field measurement in flight configuration at the launch site prior to the launch providing a uniformity of the focal surface better than 6%.

The Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) mission is being designed to establish charged-particle astronomy with ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and to observe cosmogenic tau neutrinos (CTNs). The study of UHECRs and CTNs from space will yield orders-of-magnitude increase in statistics of observed UHECRs at the highest energies, and the observation of the cosmogenic flux of neutrinos for a range of UHECR models. These observations should solve the long-standing puzzle of the origin of the highest energy particles ever observed, providing a new window onto the most energetic environments and events in the Universe, while studying particle interactions well beyond accelerator energies. The discovery of CTNs will help solve the puzzle of the origin of UHECRs and begin a new field of Astroparticle Physics with the study of neutrino properties at ultra-high energies.

The Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) is designed to identify the sources of Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) and to observe cosmic neutrinos, both with full-sky coverage. Developed as a NASA Astrophysics Probe-class mission, POEMMA consists of two spacecraft flying in a loose formation at 525 km altitude, 28.5 deg inclination orbits. Each spacecraft hosts a Schmidt telescope with a large collecting area and wide field of view. A novel focal plane is optimized to observe both the UV fluorescence signal from extensive air showers (EASs) and the beamed optical Cherenkov signals from EASs. In POEMMA-stereo fluorescence mode, POEMMA will measure the spectrum, composition, and full-sky distribution of the UHECRs above 20 EeV with high statistics along with remarkable sensitivity to UHE neutrinos. The spacecraft are designed to quickly re-orient to a POEMMA-limb mode to observe neutrino emission from Target-of-Opportunity (ToO) transient astrophysical sources viewed just below the Earth's limb. In this mode, POEMMA will have unique sensitivity to cosmic neutrino tau events above 20 PeV by measuring the upward-moving EASs induced by the decay of the emerging tau leptons following the interactions of neutrino tau inside the Earth.

We report on our study of the design of a neutrino detector, shielding and veto array needed to operate a neutrino detector in space close to the Sun. This study also took into account the expected rates of Galactic gamma and cosmic rays in addition to the particles from the Sun.These preliminary studies show that we can devise a detector such that a small signal of neutrino interactions can be extracted from a large random number of events from the background sources using a double timing method from the conversion electron produced in the neutrino interaction and a secondary delayed signal from the nuclear excited state produced from the initial neutrino interaction; in our case the conversion of Ga 69 or 71 into Ge 69 or 71, but this method could apply to other nuclei with large neutrino cross sections such as Ir 115. Although these types of events need to be above 0.405 megaelectronvolt (MeV) neutrino energy and are only 66 percent of all conversion neutrino interactions on Gallium, this is a small price to pay for an increase of 10,000 by going close to the Sun to enhance the neutrino rate over the background combatorical fake-signal events. The conclusion of this Phase-1 study is very positive in that we can get the backgrounds less than 20 percent fake signals, and in addition to this we have devised another shielding method that makes the Galactic gamma-ray rate a hundred fold less which will make further improvements over these initial estimates. Although these studies are very encouraging it suggests that the next step is a NIAC Phase-II to actually build a test device,measuring basic principles such as light attention within the scintillator with high dopants and to take data in the lab with a cosmic-ray test stand and triggered X-ray source for comparison with simulated expected performance of the detector. This would be the perfect lead into a future proposal beyond a NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) Phase-II for a test flight of a small one-pint detector in orbit of the detector concept beyond Earth outside of the radiation belts.

The JEM-EUSO (Joint Experiment Missions for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory) program aims at developing Ultra-Violet (UV) fluorescence telescopes for efficient detections of Extensive Air Showers (EASs) induced by Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) from satellite orbit. In order to demonstrate key technologies for JEM-EUSO, we constructed the EUSO-Balloon instrument that consists of a similar to 1 m(2) refractive telescope with two Fresnel lenses and an array of multi-anode photo-multiplier tubes at the focus. Distinguishing it from the former balloon-borne experiments, EUSO-Balloon has the capabilities of single photon counting with a gate time of 2.3 mu s and of imaging with a total of 2304 pixels. As a pathfinder mission, the instrument was launched for an 8 h stratospheric flight on a moonless night in August 2014 over Timmins, Canada. In this work, we analyze the count rates over similar to 2.5 h intervals. The measurements are of diffuse light, e.g. of airglow emission, back-scattered from the Earth's atmosphere as well as artificial light sources. Count rates from such diffuse light are a background for EAS detections in future missions and relevant factor for the analysis of EAS events. We also obtain the geographical distribution of the count rates over a similar to 780 km(2) area along the balloon trajectory. In developed areas, light sources such as the airport, mines, and factories are clearly identified. This demonstrates the correct location of signals that will be required for the EAS analysis in future missions. Although a precise determination of count rates is relevant for the existing instruments, the absolute intensity of diffuse light is deduced for the limited conditions by assuming spectra models and considering simulations of the instrument response. Based on the study of diffuse light by EUSO-Balloon, we also discuss the implications for coming pathfinders and future space-based UHECR observation missions. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Neutrinos—weakly interacting subatomic particles often resultant of nuclear processes, including hydrogen fusion—are the only direct insight into the core of the Sun. Previously constructed neutrino detection experiments have successfully detected solar-origin neutrinos, proving hydrogen fusion to be the Sun’s energy production mechanism; however, these experiments’ large size and Earth-based location limit their capabilities. A solar neutrino detection satellite orbiting the sun with a close approach distance of 7 to 3 solar radii could revolutionize solar interior studies. At such proximity, the neutrino flux increases by several orders of magnitude allowing for a much smaller detector design than Earth-based devices. An off-ecliptic orbital location also allows for fusion core geometry studies. To pursue these improvements, a scintillation detector using gallium-doped liquid scintillator and veto array methods has been devised. Interactions between neutrinos and gallium nuclei can result in a sequentially released electron and gamma-ray/X-ray, giving distinct double-pulse signals in the detector. The veto array is a secondary detection assembly to filter external-source charged particles. Presented here are the methods and results from Monte Carlo simulations of particle events visible to the detector. This code incorporates background event rates obtained from Geant4 simulations of the detector assembly, and neutrino interaction rates based on scaling of similar, Earth-based experiments’ performance to the detector’s parameters. The code output is examined to find the number of true double-pulse signals versus those of false signals. Establishing experiment parameters necessary for a false event detection rate less than 20% is a primary goal of these simulations.

Compilation of papers presented by the JEM-EUSO Collaboration at the 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC), held July 24 through August 1, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin.

EUSO-TA is a ground-based telescope, installed at the Telescope Array (TA) site in Black Rock Mesa, Utah, USA. This is the first detector to successfully use a Fresnel lens based optical system and multi-anode photomultipliers (64 channels per tube, 2304 channels encompassing a 10.6 degrees x 10.6 degrees field of view) for detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). The telescope is located in front of one of the fluorescence detectors of the TA experiment. Since its installation in 2013, the detector has observed several ultra-high energy cosmic ray events and, in addition, meteors. The limiting magnitude of 5.5 on summed frames (similar to 3 ms) has been established. Measurements of the UV night sky emission in different conditions and moon phases and positions have been completed. The performed observations serve as a proof of concept for the future application of this detector technology. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

EUSO-Balloon is a pathfinder mission for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory onboard the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EUSO). It was launched on the moonless night of the 25th of August 2014 from Timmins, Canada. The flight ended successfully after maintaining the target altitude of 38 km for five hours. One part of the mission was a 2.5 hour underflight using a helicopter equipped with three UV light sources (LED, xenon flasher and laser) to perform an inflight calibration and examine the detectors capability to measure tracks moving at the speed of light. We describe the helicopter laser system and details of the underflight as well as how the laser tracks were recorded and found in the data. These are the first recorded laser tracks measured from a fluorescence detector looking down on the atmosphere. Finally, we present a first reconstruction of the direction of the laser tracks relative to the detector.

JEM-EUSO is a space mission designed to investigate Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos (E>5⋅1019eV) from the International Space Station (ISS). Looking down from above its wide angle telescope is able to observe their air showers and collect such data from a very wide area. Highly specific trigger algorithms are needed to drastically reduce the data load in the presence of both atmospheric and human activity related background light, yet retain the rare cosmic ray events recorded in the telescope. We report the performance in offline testing of the first level trigger algorithm on data from JEM-EUSO prototypes and laboratory measurements observing different light sources: data taken during a high altitude balloon flight over Canada, laser pulses observed from the ground traversing the real atmosphere, and model landscapes reproducing realistic aspect ratios and light conditions as would be seen from the ISS itself. The first level trigger logic successfully kept the trigger rate within the permissible bounds when challenged with artificially produced as well as naturally encountered night sky background fluctuations and while retaining events with general air-shower characteristics.

J. H. Adams2, R. Aloisio3, L. A. Anchordoqui4, D. R. Bergman5, M. E. Bertaina6 , P. Bertone7, M. J. Christl7, S. E. Csorna8, J. B. Eser9, F. Fenu6, E. A. Hays10, S. Hunter10, E. Judd11, I. Jun12, J. F. Krizmanic10, E. Kuznetsov2, L. M. Martinez-Sierra12, M. Mastafa2, J. N. Matthews5, J. McEnery10, J. W. Mitchell10, A. Neronov13, A. N. Otte14, E. Parizot15, T. C. Paul4,J. S. Perkins10, G. Prevot15, P. Reardon2, M. H. Reno16, F. Sarazin9, K. Shinozaki6, F. Stecker10, R. Streitmatter10, L. Wiencke9, R. M. Young7 2University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL, USA; 3Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila, Italy; 4City University of New York, Lehman College, NY, USA; 5University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; 6Universita di Torino, Torino, Italy; 7NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA; 8Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; 9Colorado School of Mines,