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Since 2019, the Extreme Energy Events (EEE) Project has installed three muon detection stations at the Svalbard Islands ( 78 . 9 ∘ N latitude), employing scintillator-based detectors. This initiative represents the first systematic effort to monitor cosmic-muons rates at high geomagnetic latitudes beyond the Arctic Circle, with the objective of improving our understanding of cosmic-ray propagation and modulation in polar regions. The present study analyses temporal variations in the muon detection rates over a six-year period (2019–2025), including the study of periodic modulations and underlying trends in the observed rates.

After its successful campaign of measurements beyond the Polar Arctic Circle, the PolarquEEEst experiment measured the cosmic charged particle rate at sea level in a latitude interval between 35 ∘ N and 82 ∘ N. In this paper, these measurements are described and the corresponding results are discussed.

The eruption of the Hunga-Tonga volcano in the South Pacific Ocean on January 15, 2022, at about 4:15 UTC, generated a violent explosion, which created atmospheric pressure disturbances in the form of Rayleigh-Lamb waves detected all over the globe. Here we discuss the observation of the Hunga-Tonga shock-wave performed at the Ny-Ålesund Research Station on the Spitsbergen island, by the detectors of the PolarquEEEst experiment and their ancillary sensors. Online pressure data as well as the results of dedicated offline analysis are presented and discussed in details. Results include wave arrival times, wave amplitude measurements and wave velocity calculation. We observed five passages of the shock wave with a significance larger than 3 σ and an amplitude up to 1 hPa. The average propagation velocity resulted to be (308 ± 0.6) m/s. Possible effects of the atmospheric pressure variation associated with the shock-wave multiple passages on the cosmic-ray rate at ground level are also investigated. We did not find any significant evidence of this effect.

The goal of the PolarquEEEst experiment was to measure the cosmic charged particle rate at latitudes greater than 66 ∘ N, where no systematic and accurate measurements at sea level have ever been performed. A latitude range well above the Arctic Circle was explored on board of a sailboat, up to the unprecedented northernmost value of 82 ∘ 07 ′ N. In this paper a description of the experimental set-up is reported, then the procedures for calibration and data analysis are described in detail. The results show that the rate measured in this latitude range stays constant within a novel accuracy of ± 1 %.

This paper describes the simulation framework of the extreme energy events (EEE) experiment. EEE is a network of cosmic muon trackers, each made of three multi-gap resistive plate chambers (MRPC), able to precisely measure the absolute muon crossing time and the muon integrated angular flux at the ground level. The response of a single MRPC and the combination of three chambers have been implemented in a GEANT4-based framework (GEMC) to study the telescope response. The detector geometry, as well as details about the surrounding materials and the location of the telescopes have been included in the simulations in order to realistically reproduce the experimental set-up of each telescope. A model based on the latest parametrization of the cosmic muon flux has been used to generate single muon events. After validating the framework by comparing simulations to selected EEE telescope data, it has been used to determine detector parameters not accessible by analysing experimental data only, such as detection efficiency, angular and spatial resolution.

In the original version of this article, the names of four authors were missing in the author list: L. Perasso, O. Pinazza, C. Pinto and S. Pisano.

Since 2019, three scintillator-based cosmic ray detectors, readout by SiPM and controlled by low-cost electronics, are installed in the scientific research site in Ny Ålesund (Svalbard) at 79°N, recording muons from secondary cosmic rays. The detectors are part of the EEE Project, a joint project of Centrofermi and INFN, involving almost 100 secondary schools in Italy. After collecting nearly 5 years of data, we were able to analyse the muon rate time series and observe an evident oscillating component with a period of about one year. Applying the Lomb-Scargle periodogram technique, based on sinusoidal fit optimization, we could quantify the annual component, after verifying its independence from environmental and experimental factors.

After its successful campaign of measurements beyond the Polar Arctic Circle, the PolarquEEEst experiment measured the cosmic charged particle rate at sea level in a latitude interval between 35$$^{\\circ }$$∘ N and 82$$^{\\circ }$$∘ N. In this paper, these measurements are described and the corresponding results are discussed.

The Extreme Energy Events Project is an educational and scientific initiative lead by the Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi (CREF) and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), two research Institutions under the control of the Italian Ministero dell’Universit`a e Ricerca (MUR). The EEE Project studies cosmic rays by means of a series of detectors located inside Italian high schools or INFN/University laboratories. The detectors have been built and are operated with the strong cooperation of students and teachers. Data from the different EEE detectors are centrally collected, reconstructed, and analyzed for scientific publications. However, they are also distributed to the students, who actively participate in the study of the properties of the muon flux and present their work at general meetings organized both online or in-person. It is important to underline that the Project involves the student during an entire year (and sometimes even more) allowing a continuous interaction with the researchers involved. A description of the outreach activities and of their impact on the students’ learning curve will be provided, together with a few examples of activities that led to students-signed publications.

The whole Extreme Energy Events (EEE) array is composed of 61 telescopes installed in Italian High Schools, built and operated by students and teachers, constantly supervised by researchers. The muon telescope of the EEE Project is made by 3 Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC). The unconventional working sites are a unique test field for checking the robustness and the low-ageing features of the MRPC technology for particle tracking and timing purposes. The MRPCs are fluxed with a standard mixture (98% C 2 H 2 F 4 - 2% SF 6 ) of greenhouse gases (GHG) phasing out of production. The EEE Collaboration is currently studying alternative mixtures environmentally and economically sustainable. The EEE Collaboration actions to reduce the Global Warming Potential (GWP) in the MRPC array of the EEE experiment are progressing.