Where is Ridge A?

First identified in 2009 as the site with the lowest precipitable water and best terahertz transmission on Earth, Ridge A is located approximately 150 km south of Dome A, Antarctica. To further refine this optimum location prior to deployment in 2012 of a robotic THz observatory, we have modelled th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Craig Kulesab, Michael C. B. Ashleya, Jon S. Lawrencec, Will Saundersd, John W. V. Storeya
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Ridge A
site testing
Antarctic astronomy
terahertz spectroscopy
precipitable water vapour
Antarctic
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.640.7409
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jacara/Papers/pdf/Sims 2012 (SPIE) - Where is Ridge A.pdf
Description
Summary:First identified in 2009 as the site with the lowest precipitable water and best terahertz transmission on Earth, Ridge A is located approximately 150 km south of Dome A, Antarctica. To further refine this optimum location prior to deployment in 2012 of a robotic THz observatory, we have modelled the atmospheric transmission as a function of location over a 1,000,000 km square grid using three years of data from the Microwave Humidity Sounder on the NOAA-18 satellite. The modelling identifies a broad area of exceptionally low water vapour close to the 4,000 metre elevation contour, reaching below 100 microns for extended periods of time.

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