Abstract
The South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS) has been built to evaluate
the acoustic characteristics
of the South Pole ice in the 10 to 100 kHz frequency range so that
the feasibility and specific
design of an acoustic neutrino detection array at South Pole can be
evaluated. SPATS consists of three
vertical strings that were deployed in the upper 400 meters of the
South Pole ice cap in January 2007,
using the upper part of IceCube holes. The strings form a triangular
array with the longest baseline 421
meters. Each of them has 7 stages with one transmitter and one sensor
module. Both are equipped with
piezoelectric ceramic elements in order to produce or detect sound.
Analog signals are brought to the
surface on electric cables where they are digitized by a PC-based
data acquisition system. The data from
all three strings are collected on a master-PC in a central facility,
from which they are sent to the northern
hemisphere via a satellite link or locally stored on tape. A technical
overview of the SPATS detector and
its performance is presented.
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