Two-year optical site characterization for the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment (P-ONE) in the Cascadia Basin

• Published in: The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields Vol. 81; no. 12; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Bailly, Nicolai, Bedard, Jeannette, Böhmer, Michael, Bosma, Jeff, Brussow, Dirk, Cheng, Jonathan, Clark, Ken, Croteau, Beckey, Danninger, Matthias, De Leo, Fabio, Deis, Nathan, Ens, Matthew, Fox, Rowan, Fruck, Christian, Gärtner, Andreas, Gernhäuser, Roman, Ghuman, Dilraj, Grant, Darren, He, Helen, Henningsen, Felix, Holzapfel, Kilian, Hotte, Ryan, Jenkyns, Reyna, Johnson, Hamish, Katil, Akanksha, Kopper, Claudio, Krauss, Carsten B., Kulin, Ian, Leismüller, Klaus, Leys, Sally, Lin, Tony, Macoun, Paul, Man, Matthew, McElroy, Thomas, Meighen-Berger, Stephan, Michel, Jan, Moore, Roger, Morley, Mike, Papp, Laszlo, Pirenne, Benoit, Qiu, Tom, Rankin, Mark, Rea, Immacolata Carmen, Resconi, Elisa, Round, Adrian, Ruskey, Albert, Rutley, Ryan, Spannfellner, Christian, Stacho, Jakub, Timmerman, Ross, Tomlin, Meghan, Tradewell, Matt, Traxler, Michael, Uganecz, Matt, Wagner, Seann, Yañez, Juan Pablo, Zheng, Yinsong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Astronomy; Astrophysics and Cosmology; Attenuation; Elementary Particles; Emitters; Experiments; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; Light emitting diodes; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Neutrinos; Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Field Theories; Quantum Field Theory; Regular Article - Experimental Physics; String Theory; Telescopes; Undersea; Pacific Ocean
• ISSN: 1434-6044; 1434-6052
• DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09872-5

The STRings for Absorption length in Water (STRAW) are the first in a series of pathfinders for the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment (P-ONE), a future large-scale neutrino telescope in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. STRAW consists of two 150 m long mooring lines instrumented with optical emitters and detectors. The pathfinder is designed to measure the attenuation length of the water and perform a long-term assessment of the optical background at the future P-ONE site. After 2 years of continuous operation, measurements from STRAW show an optical attenuation length of about 28 m at 450 nm . Additionally, the data allow a study of the ambient undersea background. The overall optical environment reported here is comparable to other deep-water neutrino telescopes and qualifies the site for the deployment of P-ONE.