Mid-Infrared Sky Brightness Site Testing at the South Pole
. During the austral summer of 1996, the mid-infrared imaging polarimeter NIMPOL was operated at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, to obtain quantitative measurements of the 10 and 20 mm sky brightness and stability. These observations were conducted as part of the Joint Australian Centre for A...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1998
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.27.9134 http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mgb/Antbib/pasp_1998_110_747.ps.gz |
| Summary: | . During the austral summer of 1996, the mid-infrared imaging polarimeter NIMPOL was operated at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, to obtain quantitative measurements of the 10 and 20 mm sky brightness and stability. These observations were conducted as part of the Joint Australian Centre for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (JACARA) site testing program on the Antarctic Plateau. The results of this site testing program are presented. The observations show that the mid-infrared sky brightness at the South Pole Station is much less than comparison sky brightness observations made at the Canberra base of the instrument. This reduction in sky brightness is attributed largely to the low emissivity of the atmosphere (because of its dryness and lack of aerosols), and the effect of the reduced atmospheric temperature (there is an expected decrease by a factor of 2.5 from the temperature difference between the two sites alone). The measured 11 mm sky emissivity at the South P. |
|---|