Calibration and Performance of the Precision Chambers of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer

The ATLAS muon spectrometer consists of a system of precision tracking and trigger chambers embedded in a 2T magnetic field generated by three large aircore superconducting toroids. The precision Monitored Drift Tube (MDT) chambers measure the track sagitta up to a pseudorapidity of 2.7 with a 50 μm uncertainty yielding a design muon transverse momentum resolution of 10% at 1 TeV. Muon tracking is augmented in the very forward region by Cathode Strip Chambers (CSC). The calibration program, essential to achieve the spectrometer design performance and physics reach, is conducted at three worldwide computing centers. These centers each receive a dedicated High Level Trigger data stream that enables high statistics based determination of t0 and drifttime to driftspace relations. During the first year of data taking a system of periodic calibration updates has been established. The calibration algorithms, methods and tools and performance results using LHC collision data are discussed.