Next-generation atmospheric neutrino experiments

A short review on the next-generation experiments aiming to study the neutrinos produced in cosmic-ray induced atmospheric showers is presented. The projects currently proposed rely on different complementary detection techniques, from the successful water Cherenkov and magnetized tracko-calorimeter techniques to the more innovative Liquid Argon technology. As all of the proposed detectors must be deeply buried to mitigate the atmospheric muon background, many experiments are expected to be placed deep underground. Following the neutrino telescope approach, the largest ones will be located deep under the sea/ice. Several future projects are part of a wider physics program which includes a neutrino beam. For such cases, the focus is put on the expected performances with only using atmospheric neutrinos. The main physics thread of the review is the question of the determination of the ordering of the neutrino mass eigenstates, referred to as the neutrino mass hierarchy. This falls into the broader context of the precise measurement of the neutrino mixing parameters. The expected reach of the future planned detectors in this respect is also addressed.