Simulation of air shower image in fluorescence light based on energy deposits derived from CORSIKA

Abstract Spatial distributions of energy deposited by an extensive air shower in the atmosphere through ionization, as obtained from the CORSIKA simulation program, are used to find the fluorescence light distribution in the optical image of the shower. The shower image derived in this way is somewhat smaller than that obtained from the NKG lateral distribution of particles in the shower. The size of the image shows a small dependence on the primary particle type.