Paper detail

Simulation of the AGILE gamma-ray imaging detector performance: Part II

In this paper (Paper II) we complete our discussion on the results of a comprehensive GEANT simulation of the scientific performance of the AGILE Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID), operating in the 30 MeV - 50 GeV energy range in an equatorial orbit of height near 550 km. Here we focus on the on-board Level-2 data processing and discuss possible alternative strategies for event selection and their optimization. We find that the dominant particle background components after our Level-2 processing are electrons and positrons of kinetic energies between 10 and 100 MeV penetrating the GRID instrument from directions almost parallel to the Tracker planes (incidence angles > 90 degrees) or from below. The analog (charge) information available on-board in the GRID Tracker is crucial for a reduction by almost three orders of magnitude of protons (and heavier ions) with kinetic energies near 100 MeV. We also present in this paper the telemetry structure of the GRID photon and particle events, and obtain the on-board effective area for photon detection in the energy range ~30 MeV - 50 GeV.