simtools-production-derive-corsika-limits#

Derive CORSIKA configuration limits for energy, core distance, and viewcone radius.

This tool determines configuration limits based on triggered events from broad-range simulations. It supports the derivation of the following CORSIKA configuration parameters:

  • ERANGE: lower energy limit

  • CSCAT: upper core distance

  • VIEWCONE: viewcone radius

Broad-range simulations in this context are simulation sets generated with wide-ranging definitions for above parameters. Limits are computed based on a configurable maximum event loss fraction. Results are provided as a table with the following columns:

Field

Data Type

Units

Description

primary_particle

string

Particle type (e.g., gamma, proton).

array_name

string

Array name (custom or as defined in ‘array_layouts’).

telescope_ids

string

Comma-separated list of telescope IDs of this array.

zenith

float64

deg

Direction of array pointing zenith.

azimuth

float64

deg

Direction of array pointing azimuth.

nsb_level

float64

Night sky background level.

lower_energy_limit

float64

TeV

Derived lower energy limit (ERANGE)

upper_radius_limit

float64

m

Derived upper core distance limit (CSCAT)

viewcone_radius

float64

deg

Derived viewcone radius limit (VIEWCONE)

The input event data files are generated using the application simtools-generate-simtel-event-data and are required for each point in the observational parameter space (e.g., array pointing directions, level of night sky background, etc.).

Command line arguments#

event_data_files (str, required)

Path to reduced event data file.

telescope_ids (str, optional)

Custom array layout file containing telescope IDs.

loss_fraction (float, required)

Maximum event-loss fraction for limit computation.

plot_histograms (bool, optional)

Plot histograms of the event data.

output_file (str, optional)

Path to the output file for the derived limits.

Example#

Derive limits for a list of array layouts (use ‘all’ to derive limits for all layouts):

simtools-production-derive-corsika-limits \\
    --event_data_files path/to/event_data_files.yaml \\
    --array_layout_name alpha,beta \\
    --loss_fraction 1e-6 \\
    --plot_histograms \\
    --output_file corsika_simulation_limits_lookup.ecsv

Derive limits for a given file for custom defined array layouts:

simtools-production-derive-corsika-limits \\
    --event_data_files path/to/event_data_files.yaml \\
    --telescope_ids path/to/telescope_configs.yaml \\
    --loss_fraction 1e-6 \\
    --plot_histograms \\
    --output_file corsika_simulation_limits_lookup.ecsv
production_derive_corsika_limits.main()[source]#

Derive limits for energy, radial distance, and viewcone.