Worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy
Aims. The most important limitation for ground-based submillimetre (submm) astronomy is the broad-band absorption of the total water vapour in the atmosphere above an observation site, often expressed as the precipitable water vapour (PWV). A long-term statistic on the PWV is thus mandatory to chara...
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ftchalmersuniv:oai:research.chalmers.se:166976 2023-05-15T14:05:26+02:00 Worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy Tremblin, P., Schneider, N., Minier, V., Durand, G. Al., Urban, Joachim 2012 text https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220420 https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/166976 unknown http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220420 https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/166976 Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Astronomy Astrophysics and Cosmology 2012 ftchalmersuniv https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220420 2022-12-11T07:17:55Z Aims. The most important limitation for ground-based submillimetre (submm) astronomy is the broad-band absorption of the total water vapour in the atmosphere above an observation site, often expressed as the precipitable water vapour (PWV). A long-term statistic on the PWV is thus mandatory to characterize the quality of an existing or potential site for observational submm-astronomy. In this study we present a three-year statistic (2008–2010) of the PWV for ground-based telescope sites all around the world and for stratospheric altitudes relevant for SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Far-Infrared Astronomy). The submm-transmission is calculated for typical PWVs using an atmospheric model.Methods. We used data from IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) on the Metop-A satellite to retrieve water vapour profiles for each site (11 in total, comprising Antarctica, Chile, Mauna Kea, Greenland, Tibet). The use of a single instrument to make the comparison provides unbiased data with a common calibration method. The profiles are integrated above the mountain/stratospheric altitude to get an estimation of the PWV. We then applied the atmospheric model MOLIERE (Microwave Observation and LIne Estimation and REtrieval) to compute the corresponding atmospheric absorption for wavelengths between 150 μm and 3 mm.Results. We present the absolute PWV values for each site sorted by year and time percentage. The PWV corresponding to the first decile (10%) and the quartiles (25%, 50%, 75%) are calculated and transmission curves between 150 μm and 3 mm for these values are shown. The Antarctic and South-American sites present very good conditions for submillimetre astronomy. The 350 μm and 450 μm atmospheric windows are open all year long, whereas the 200 μm atmospheric window opens reasonably for 25% of the time in Antarctica and the extremely high-altitude sites in Chile. Potential interesting new facilities are Macon in Argentina and Summit in Greenland, which show similar conditions to for example, Mauna Kea ... Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland Chalmers University of Technology: Chalmers research Antarctic Argentina Greenland The Antarctic Astronomy & Astrophysics 548 A65 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Chalmers University of Technology: Chalmers research |
op_collection_id |
ftchalmersuniv |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Astronomy Astrophysics and Cosmology |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Astronomy Astrophysics and Cosmology Tremblin, P., Schneider, N., Minier, V., Durand, G. Al., Urban, Joachim Worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy |
topic_facet |
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Astronomy Astrophysics and Cosmology |
description |
Aims. The most important limitation for ground-based submillimetre (submm) astronomy is the broad-band absorption of the total water vapour in the atmosphere above an observation site, often expressed as the precipitable water vapour (PWV). A long-term statistic on the PWV is thus mandatory to characterize the quality of an existing or potential site for observational submm-astronomy. In this study we present a three-year statistic (2008–2010) of the PWV for ground-based telescope sites all around the world and for stratospheric altitudes relevant for SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Far-Infrared Astronomy). The submm-transmission is calculated for typical PWVs using an atmospheric model.Methods. We used data from IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) on the Metop-A satellite to retrieve water vapour profiles for each site (11 in total, comprising Antarctica, Chile, Mauna Kea, Greenland, Tibet). The use of a single instrument to make the comparison provides unbiased data with a common calibration method. The profiles are integrated above the mountain/stratospheric altitude to get an estimation of the PWV. We then applied the atmospheric model MOLIERE (Microwave Observation and LIne Estimation and REtrieval) to compute the corresponding atmospheric absorption for wavelengths between 150 μm and 3 mm.Results. We present the absolute PWV values for each site sorted by year and time percentage. The PWV corresponding to the first decile (10%) and the quartiles (25%, 50%, 75%) are calculated and transmission curves between 150 μm and 3 mm for these values are shown. The Antarctic and South-American sites present very good conditions for submillimetre astronomy. The 350 μm and 450 μm atmospheric windows are open all year long, whereas the 200 μm atmospheric window opens reasonably for 25% of the time in Antarctica and the extremely high-altitude sites in Chile. Potential interesting new facilities are Macon in Argentina and Summit in Greenland, which show similar conditions to for example, Mauna Kea ... |
author |
Tremblin, P., Schneider, N., Minier, V., Durand, G. Al., Urban, Joachim |
author_facet |
Tremblin, P., Schneider, N., Minier, V., Durand, G. Al., Urban, Joachim |
author_sort |
Tremblin, P., |
title |
Worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy |
title_short |
Worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy |
title_full |
Worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy |
title_fullStr |
Worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy |
title_sort |
worldwide site comparison for submillimetre astronomy |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220420 https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/166976 |
geographic |
Antarctic Argentina Greenland The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Argentina Greenland The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220420 https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/166976 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220420 |
container_title |
Astronomy & Astrophysics |
container_volume |
548 |
container_start_page |
A65 |
_version_ |
1766277329089200128 |