The Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (TIGER): A Balloon-borne Cosmic-Ray Experiment

Sposato, S. H.
Barbier, L. M.
Binns, W. R.
Christian, E. R.
Cummings, J. R.
deNolfo, G. A.
Hink, P. L.
Israel, M. H.
Mewaldt, R. A.
Mewaldt, R. A.
Mitchell, J. W.
Schindler, S. M.
Streitmatter, R. E.
Waddington, C. J.

Publication date

January 1999

Publisher

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics

Abstract

TIGER is a balloon-borne cosmic-ray experiment designed to measure the elemental abundances of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) in the charge range 26<Z<40 with better than 0.25 charge unit( cu) resolution. The experiment consists of a combination of plastic scintillators, plastic and aerogel Cherenkov detectors, and scintillating fiber hodoscopes. TIGER was flown from Fort Sumner, NM aboard a high-altitude balloon on September 24, 1997 at geomagnetic cutoffs between 4.2GV and 3.2GV, and atmospheric depths between 3g/cm^2 and 6g/cm^2. The 23.5-hour balloon flight provided a statistically significant sample of GCR nuclei up through Ni and achieved charge resolution capable of resolving Co from the much more abundant Fe