Atmospheric neutrino flux calculation using the NRLMSISE-00 atmospheric model

Abstract

We extend our calculation of the atmospheric neutrino fluxes to polar and tropical regions. It is well known that the air density profiles in the polar and the tropical regions are different from the mid-latitude region. Also there are large seasonal variations in the polar region. In this extension, we use the NRLMSISE-00 global atmospheric model J.M. Picone, J. Geophys. Res. 107, SIA 15 (2002), replacing the U.S.-standard 1976 atmospheric model, which has no positional or seasonal variations. With the NRLMSISE-00 atmospheric model, we study the atmospheric neutrino flux at the polar and tropical regions with seasonal variations. The geomagnetic model international geomagnetic reference field (IGRF) we have used in our calculations seems accurate enough in the polar regions also. However, the polar and the equatorial regions are the two extremes in the IGRF model, and the magnetic field configurations are largely different from one another. Note that the equatorial region is also the tropical region generally. We study the effect of the geomagnetic field on the atmospheric neutrino flux in these extreme regions.