Monitoring production target thickness

Pion and muon production targets at the Clinton P. Anderson Meson Physics Facility consist of rotating graphite wheels. The previous target thickness monitoring procedure scanned the target across a reduced intensity beam to determine beam center. The fractional loss in current across the centered target gave a measure of target thickness. This procedure, however, required interruption of beam delivery to experiments and frequently indicated a different fractional loss than at normal beam currents. The new monitoring procedure compares integrated upstream and downstream toroid current-monitor-readings. The current monitors are read once per minute and the integral of readings are logged once per eight-hour shift. Changes in the upstream to downstream fractional difference provide a nonintrusive continuous measurement of target thickness under normal operational conditions. Target scans are now done only when new targets are installed or when unexplained changes in the current monitor data are observed