Cloud Detection using Night Sky Background Light at the Pierre Auger Observatory
Rejection of cloud-contaminated data is a complex and important process at the Pierre Auger Observatory, one which combines information from several sources, including IR cameras, lidars, and satellite imaging. With the deteriorating quality of the IR cameras and challenges in using other sources, we propose a new method. We use continuous detector monitoring measurements to build a large database of night sky background fluxes for each pixel across 27 telescopes. Using this database, we generate the expected background flux and define cloud rejection thresholds. Through a straightforward analysis we construct boolean cloud-contamination masks. We demonstrate some results of the analysis, including comparisons with cloud detected using infra-red observations.
Authors
- Belén Andrada
- Zbigniew Szadkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-9912)
- Bruno L. Lago (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9672-0499)
- Carla Taricco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0129-5539)
- Giovanni Consolati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3614-245X)
- S. Petrera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6029-1255)
- T. Pierog (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7472-8710)
- G. Sigl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4396-645X)
- Mateo Fernandez
- T. Huege (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2783-4772)
- Nicolas Leal
- Carmina Pérez Bertolli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9790-5732)
- Carlo Salvattore Cruz Sanchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6173-0974)
- Frank Schröder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8495-7210)
- A. Bueno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7439-4247)
- Gustavo Medina‐Tanco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3202-319X)
- A. C. Fauth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7239-0288)
- Enrico Arnone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6740-5051)
- Enrique Varela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0715-7513)
- O. Schölten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3649-1254)
- Lorenzo Cazon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6748-8395)
- B. R. Dawson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4271-3055)
- Laura Valore
- A. Haungs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9638-7574)
- Dalibor Nosek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6219-200X)
- G. Parente (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2847-0461)
- Paula Gina Isar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1241-584X)
- Janning Meinert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7582-3456)
- Emanuele De Vito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2045-7588)
- Adila Abdul Halim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1218-1737)
- Gonzalo Rodriguez Fernandez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4683-230X)
- Jiří Blažek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5870-8947)
- Therese Paulsen
- Adriel Bartz Mocellin
- Berenika Čermáková
- S. J. de Jong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3120-3367)
- V. Rizi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5277-6527)
- Alexey Yushkov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5107-9116)
- K. Daumiller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0527-4823)
- A. Insolia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9040-1566)
- Srijan Sehgal
- Darko Veberič (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2683-1526)
- María Isabel Micheletti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1063-9938)
- A. Segreto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7341-6603)
- L. Nellen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1059-8731)
- Felicia Barbato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0751-6731)
- Jan Pękala
- Alexandra Ramos Fernandes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2054-4438)
- Khoa D. Nguyen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0937-5354)
- Katarína Simkova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2363-9846)
- R. Caruso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1622-8731)
- I. Allekotte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9624-3044)
- F. Sarazin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5614-1986)
- V. Verzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2291-9387)
- Luis A. Núñez
- Chaitanya Priyadarshi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9160-9617)
- M. Cristinziani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3893-9171)
- E. Zas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4430-8117)
- Clara Keiko Oliveira Watanabe
- Roberta Colalillo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4179-9352)
- M. Hrabovský (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4223-7316)
- L. Miramonti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2808-5363)
- F. Simon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5978-0289)
- Juan Carlos D’Olivo
- F. Salamida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9306-8447)
- P. Trávnı́ček (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1655-9584)
- Benjamin Flaggs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5549-1869)
- P. Hamal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3139-7234)
- A. D. Supanitsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6942-6216)
- Pedro J. Costa
- Maximilian Straub
- R. Mussa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0294-9071)
- Camilla Petrucci
- Federico Maria Mariani
- Fiona H. Ellwanger
- J. Vícha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-3605)
- Jaime Álvarez-Muñiz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2367-0803)
- C. Hojvat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3323-3129)
- Олена Ткаченко (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6382-6390)
- Denise Boncioli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1186-9353)
- L. Chytka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5741-259X)
- Martin Vacula (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4844-3962)
- Miguel A. Martins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7294-6204)
- F. Guarino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1427-9885)
- M. Erdmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1653-1303)
- Jarosław Stasielak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9284-7000)
- Shima Ujjani Shivashankara
- C. E. Covault (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5405-5371)
- Alex Tapia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0585-7161)
- P. Abreu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9973-7314)
- L. Nožka
- M. Palatka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2061-6059)
- I. De Mitri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8665-1730)
- Antoine Letessier-Selvon
- K. S. Caballero‐Mora (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4042-3855)
- Antonio Franco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7707-4241)
- Roberto Aloisio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0161-5923)
- Bjarni Pont (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2578-5364)
- Simone Rossoni
- S. Buitink (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6177-497X)
- Juan Ammerman Yebra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2059-6206)
- Violet M. Harvey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6764-4789)
- Hermann-Josef Mathes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0680-040X)
- P. Mantsch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8382-7745)
- Rukije Uzeiroska
- Nicolás Martín González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6566-2222)
- Silvia Mollerach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9339-5317)
- Toshihiro Fujii (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2401-504X)
- Nicolas San Martin
- Corinne Bérat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8294-6294)
- Zuzana Svozilikova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5210-0781)
- M. Pech (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8421-0456)
- Maximilian Stadelmaier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7943-6012)
- P. Assis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7765-3606)
- F. Montanet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9787-596X)
- Mohit Saharan
- T. Hebbeker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9736-266X)
- M. Mallamaci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4068-0496)
- Alena Bakalová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1001-4484)
- Peter L. Biermann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3948-6143)
- Jan Ebr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8807-6162)
- Anthony Bwembya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6995-5978)
- J. A. Chinellato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1236-0789)
- S. Andringa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6397-9207)
- Jorge Caraça-Valente
- Krzysztof Pytel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2937-7886)
- R. Conceição (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4945-5340)
- C. Bonifazi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3087-3609)
- Shefali Negi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0891-0829)
- Jon Paul Lundquist (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4245-5092)
- Peter Mazur
- Edyvânia Emily Pereira Martins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1167-8314)
- Fridtjof Feldbusch
- Josina Schulte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5822-2445)
- S. Vorobiov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8679-3424)
- Alexander Novikov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1086-7252)
- Varada Varma Kizakke Covilakam
- Emanuele Avocone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3757-2718)
- J. Biteau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4202-8939)
- H. Wilczyński (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2652-9685)
- Antonio Ambrosone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9942-1029)
- Pranav Sampathkumar
- M. Aglietta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8354-5388)
- Patricia María Hansen
- A. Gorgi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8085-2304)
- F. de Palma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5898-2834)
- V. de Souza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0865-233X)
- Esteban Roulet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1478-9260)
- S. Dasso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7680-4721)
- Leo Östman
- Fabio Convenga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2841-1034)
- B. Tomé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7564-8392)
- J. Matthews (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1832-4420)
- Fernando Catalani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9332-1476)
- Adrian Sedoski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4253-3361)
- Radomir Šmída (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0122-1123)
- Eva Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0474-8863)
- Joaquín de Jesús (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4741-1769)
- Milton Freitas
- M. Pimenta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2590-0908)
- Niklas Langner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7443-3042)
- Carmelo Evoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6023-5253)
- Jose A. Bellido (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0833-9194)
- Kathrin Bismark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8637-7041)
- Adrián Rovero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6979-5604)
- D. Góra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4853-5974)
- J. Řídký (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6697-1393)
- B. Keilhauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4494-1155)
- Stef Verpoest (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3031-3206)
- R. W. Clay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9040-9648)
- Katharine Mulrey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8026-8020)
- Diego Correia dos Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8243-6710)
- Mario Buscemi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2123-5434)
- Wilson M. Namasaka
- Vincent Pelgrims (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5053-3847)
- Chloé Gaudu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2803-4873)
- Yago Lema-Capeans
- Carmen Merx
- Mohsen Pourmohammad Shahvar
- Lukas Gülzow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0620-3525)
- S. Strähnz
- Sergio Cabana-Freire
- Alessandro Cermenati
- Nikolas Denner
- Beatriz de Errico (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4212-0708)
- João Vítor Reginatto Akim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8179-9747)
- Fedor Tairli
- Alex Reuzki
- Tim Fehler
- Eric William Mayotte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2618-9166)
- M. Unger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7651-0272)
- J. Chudoba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6425-2579)
- Paolo Privitera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0623-9261)
- Andreas Weindl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4929-6191)
- Markus Roth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9041-1414)
- A. De Roeck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3234-6634)
- Danelise de Oliveira Franco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8435-7730)
- Jacco Vink (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0816-9949)
- Gioacchino Alex Anastasi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0824-5283)
- Indira D. Vergara Quispe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8377-5933)
- José Ochoa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1395-4159)
- Tiina Suomijärvi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1422-258X)
- K.‐H. Kampert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2805-0195)
- Luiz Augusto Pereira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3263-3203)
- Jose Sanabria Gomez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4217-3212)
- B. Garćıa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0919-2734)
- Marcus Niechciol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6823-8056)
- Leonel Morejón (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1494-2624)
- Juan Pallotta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4846-8748)
- J. Brack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4096-2063)
- Igor Vaiman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8255-3631)
- David Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6963-1191)
- Ralph Engel
- Giorgio Matthiae
- Markus Risse
- Humberto Ibarguen Salazar
- Rita Cassia dos Anjos
- Jörg R. Hörandel
- Germano Guedes
- Analisa Mariazzi
- Juan Manuel Gonzalez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7524-8635)
- Sergio J Sciutto
- Norbert Kunka
- Luca Deval
- Marvin Gottowik
- Stanislav Michal
- Johannes Blümer
- Jelena Köhler
- Antonino Del Popolo
- Julian Rautenberg
- Danilo Zavrtanik
- Fernando Gollan
- Edivaldo Moura Santos
- Lukáš Vaclavek
- Isabelle Lhenry-Yvon
- Qader Dorosti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9711-0609)
- Italo Epicoco
- Alberto Etchegoyen
- Sara Martinelli
- Felix Riehn
- Charles Timmermans
- Paul Filip
- A. Filipčič (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5671-1555)
- Carlos J. Todero Peixoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3669-8212)
- Alejandro Almela
- Luan Bonneau Arbeletche (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3087-3609)
- Thomas Fitoussi
- Harm Schoorlemmer
- Mariano Gómez Berisso
- Margita Kubátová
- Melanie Weitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9010-9610)
- A. A. Watson
- Primo F. Gómez Vitale
- Rogerio M. de Almeida
- Glennys R. Farrar
- Martina Boháčová
- R. Sarmento (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5018-5467)
- Pavel Horváth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6710-5339)
- G. Marsella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-8874)
- Nataliia Borodai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1864-937X)
- Kévin Almeida Cheminant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6352-5339)
- Martin Schimassek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4295-7719)
- Jose F. Valdés Galicia
- H. Schieler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2637-4778)
- Petr Tobiska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4017-2475)
- Lawrence Wiencke
- Jorge Rubén Rodriguez Rojo
- Daniele Martello
- Florian Lukas Briechle
- Marcelo Augusto Leigui de Oliveira
- Michael Prouza
- Marcos Cerda
- Brian Wundheiler
- Piera Luisa Ghia
- P. Gabriel Brichetto Orchera
- Gaetano Salina
- Ruben Squartini
- Gabriela Nicora
- Achille Nucita
- Agustín Cobos Cerutti
- Manuel Platino
- Michael Schimp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4295-7719)
- Antonella Castellina
- Petr Janecek
- Dave Nitz
- Brian Fick
- Hans Klages
- Marko Zavrtanik
- Alan Fuster
- Vladimír Novotný
- Lorenzo Perrone
- Virginia Binet
- Rodrigo Pelayo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1062-5595)
- Marina Scornavacche
- Alexander Menshikov
- Dusan Mandat
- C. Dobrigkeit
- Armando di Matteo
- Ioana Codrina Maris
- Ricardo Sato
- Cainã Oliveira
- Max Büsken
- Luis A. Anchordoqui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1463-7136)
- Marta Bianciotto
- Steffen Hahn
- A. Săftoiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7903-6510)
- L. Lopes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8571-0033)
- Patrick Stassi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5584-8410)
- Abha Khakurdikar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4857-5255)
- Sonja Mayotte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8957-8033)
- F. Sánchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6861-6261)
- Fabian Gobbi
- Baobiao Yue
- Lorenzo Apollonio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5625-5893)
- Carla Aramo
- Teresa Bister
- Joao dos Anjos
- Mario E. Bertaina
- Diego Melo
- Pierpaolo Savina
- Shayoni Panja
- Vlastimil Jílek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5774-7285)
- Matías Rolf Hampel
- Veronika Vašíčková
- Ugo GIACCARI
- Juan Carlos Arteaga Velázquez
- Viviana Scherini
- Adriana Vásquez-Ramírez
- Heino Falcke
- Cristina Galea
- Geraldina Golup
- Matteo Conte
- Ezequiel Rodríguez
- Jaime de Oliveira
- Petr Schovanek
- Jannis Pawlowsky
- Olivier Deligny
- Juan Manuel Figueira
- Federico Campuzano
- Luis Miguel Domingues Mendes
- Frederik Krieger
- Tobias Schulz
- Gael Flores Avila (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8375-6492)
- Sven Querchfeld
- Matthias Kleifges
- Samo Stanič
- Gabriella Cataldi
- Luciana Andrade Dourado
- Tomáš Fodran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9529-0853)
- Matias Jorge Tueros (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1570-1419)
- D. Ravignani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7410-8522)
- Megha Mogarkar
- Jhansi Bhavani Vuta
- Eric-Teunis de Boone
- Mohamed Ismaiel
- Karolina Syrokvas
- Matteo Tambone
- Pim van Dillen
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-09-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.22323/1.501.0408
- Primary Topic
- Impact of Light on Environment and Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Grainger Foundation
- Strong
- Ministerul Cercetării, Inovării şi Digitalizării
- European Commission
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
- Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii, Dezvoltarii si Inovarii
- Xunta de Galicia
- Junta de Andalucía
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
- Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica
- European Regional Development Fund
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación