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Tune SPT landmark z for surface-like station-centric depth#116

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drparamita merged 2 commits into
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new_SPT_depth
Apr 15, 2026
Merged

Tune SPT landmark z for surface-like station-centric depth#116
drparamita merged 2 commits into
masterfrom
new_SPT_depth

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@drparamita drparamita commented Apr 2, 2026

This PR updates the South Pole Telescope (SPT) landmark position in AraGeomTool.cxx, replacing the previous placeholder depth (-30 ft) with a small tuned +z offset (0.305 m).

Although SPT is a surface landmark (array/global z ≈ 0), converting from ARA global coordinates to station-centric coordinates applies a station rotation that can mix x/y into z. The value 0.305 m was therefore chosen empirically so that, after convertArrayToStationCoords(), SPT’s station-centric z is small and positive and close to the IceCube Lab (ICL) station-centric z, improving consistency for landmark ray-tracing / map marker placement.

To see the effect : After this update, AraRoot was rebuilt and skymap re-plotted to validate the change. See attached skymap which shows SPT now appearing at the expected (surface-like) elevation in the station-centric coordinate system.

Plots post-SPT depth corrections
station_5_run_6203_eventNo_784_map_distant_v_dir.pdf
station_2_run_3902_eventNo_950_map_distant_v_dir.pdf
station_3_run_3902_eventNo_950_map_distant_v_dir.pdf
station_4_run_3902_eventNo_1150_map_distant_v_dir.pdf
station_100_run_3902_eventNo_950_map_distant_v_dir.pdf

Here is the coordinate that went into AraSim Ray-tracer

S5 : 
name   =  ICL
 source_xyz   =  [ 4.85383145e+02 -5.70186146e+03  7.55984245e-02]
name   =  SPT
 source_xyz   =  [ 5.49164908e+02 -6.03971285e+03  5.44097150e-02]

S4 : 
 name   =  ICL
 source_xyz   =  [-3140.15221446 -1824.87808405     4.63444946]
  name   =  SPT
 source_xyz   =  [-3076.37061149 -2162.72944044     4.85797051]

S3: 
name   =  ICL
 source_xyz   =  [-2.30778907e+03 -3.66461022e+03  2.83449979e-01]


 name   =  SPT
 source_xyz   =  [-2.24400741e+03 -4.00246162e+03  4.01594861e-01]

S2: 

name   =  ICL
 source_xyz   =  [-3.20952781e+02 -3.90202801e+03  2.95687116e+00]
name   =  SPT
 source_xyz   =  [-2.57171047e+02 -4.23987941e+03  3.04269382e+00]

S100: 
 name   =  ICL
 source_xyz   =  [-1111.97696697 -2064.65030107     6.62087364]

name   =  SPT
 source_xyz   =  [-1048.19527481 -2402.50166077     6.81153638]

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@marcomuzio marcomuzio left a comment

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Thanks @drparamita! Have you tested this for all 5 stations? Can you add the SPT coordinates for each station to the comments on this PR?

Comment thread AraEvent/AraGeomTool.cxx Outdated
// If you know the true SPT depth in ARA global coordinates, please replace the value
// below and add a reference.

Double_t fSouthPoleTelescope[3]={24774.18*fFtInm,-871.35*fFtInm,0.305}; // z in meters (tuned offset)
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Can you rewrite 0.305 in terms of fFtInm for consistency and to make the units clear?

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Good idea, Done ! @marcomuzio Thanks for reviewing

@drparamita
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Thanks @drparamita! Have you tested this for all 5 stations? Can you add the SPT coordinates for each station to the comments on this PR?

Done ! added plots for all stations and pasted the output for each station for ICL and SPT

@drparamita drparamita merged commit 09111d4 into master Apr 15, 2026
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@drparamita drparamita deleted the new_SPT_depth branch April 17, 2026 00:55
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2 participants