Development of a Signal Model for the Radio Emission of Inclined Air Showers for GRAND

Ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos induce particle cascades in the atmosphere after interacting with the Earth’s crust. With its unprecedented sensitivity, the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND) will be able to consistently detect the radio signals emitted by extensive air showers caused by UHE neutrinos and UHE cosmic rays. GRAND plans to cover a detection area of 200 000 km2 with a spacing of one radio antenna per square kilometre. The radio array will be optimised for the detection of inclined air showers and cover a wide frequency band from 50 to 200 MHz. In contrast to existing arrays, GRAND will operate autonomously, i.e. on radio events alone, hence efficient radio triggering techniques need to be developed.

We use CORSIKA air-shower simulations to develop a more advanced signal model of the radio emission with an emphasis on the high frequencies GRAND will utilise. The model will be instrumental for the development of the novel autonomous trigger* as well event reconstruction for large-scale detector systems.

This talk gives an overview on the radio emission of extensive air showers, the details of the signal model, and how it can be used for trigger development and event reconstruction.