Atmospheric Muon Observations Near the Base of a Forming Tornado

Synopsis

Astroparticle physics can be thought of as the process of using astroparticle messengers and techniques to infer unique information about physical systems that are difficult to study via other methods. While traditionally this approach has been used to understand faraway astrophysical systems, this mode of thinking can also be used to better understand atmospheric processes on Earth. One way in which this can be achieved is through atmospheric muography: the flux of muons produced by cosmic ray interactions in the upper atmosphere is known to be correlated with atmospheric density, implying that this could be used as an avenue for novel meteorological measurement. This talk will discuss recent results and new opportunities for leveraging atmospheric muons as a meteorological tool, including applications to numerical weather prediction and early results from the deployment of a muon detector near tornadic storms.