Simulation of atmospheric pressure dependence on GRAPES-3 particle density

The high density extensive air shower array along with large area (560 m 2 ) muon telescope of GRAPES-3 at Ooty is used to make precise measurements of cosmic ray properties by using the secondaries produced through cascades in the Earth’s atmosphere. The observed particle density at detector level is affected by atmospheric effects primarily due to variations in the pressure and temperature. Here, an attempt is made to simulate these phenomena that can provide a deeper understanding of these effects. In this study, the pressure dependence of the observed particle densities at GRAPES-3 is simulated by varying the atmospheric profiles available in CORSIKA for proton showers in the energy range of 10 13 –10 16 eV. A comparative study of various combinations of hadronic interaction generators available in CORSIKA has been used to investigate the consistency of the results obtained and their broad implications have been intensely discussed.