CALPRO, an unconventional calorimetry approach

We propose a calorimetry approach unconventional and innovative. The method is based on the measurement of the lateral distribution of charged particles around the shower axis, it has been used for the first time in the energy determination of Extensive Air Showers at very high energy (>100 TeV) with single layer detector, providing an energy determination with resolution of about 10% for energies above 100 TeV. It has some peculiar characteristics which can be summarized in the following three points: (1) measurement of the shower energy by means of a single sampling; (2) calorimetry which renounces the classic concept of containment of the shower; (3) possibility to separate primary masses. In order to extend this technique at lower energies, specific simulations have been performed through GEANT4 in the energy range 100 GeV–10 TeV for different particles.