Optical turbulence profiling with SloDAR in the Canadian High Arctic

• Published in: SPIE Proceedings, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V
• Main Authors: Maire, Jérôme, Mieda, Etsuko, Steinbring, Eric, Murowinski, Richard, Graham, James R., Carlberg, Raymond, Wright, Shelley A., Law, Nicholas M., Sivanandam, Suresh
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SPIE 2014
• Subjects: Airborne telescopes; Atmospheric thermodynamics; Atmospheric turbulence; Boundary layers; Earth (planet); Research laboratories; Space optics; Wavefronts; Astronomical instrument; Astronomical observation; Atmospheric characterization; Atmospheric research; Canadian high arctic; Polar environments; Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors; Wave front sensors; Adaptive optics; Arctic; Canada; Ellesmere Island; Eureka
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056588; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=207ec278-c466-4f29-abe4-40f412c64d4a; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=207ec278-c466-4f29-abe4-40f412c64d4a

The Earth's polar regions offer unique advantages for ground-based astronomical observations with its cold and dry climate, long periods of darkness, and the potential for exquisite image quality. We present preliminary results from a site-testing campaign during nighttime from October to November 2012 at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), on a 610-m high ridge near the Eureka weatherstation on Ellesmere Island, Canada. A Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor was employed, using the Slope Detection and Ranging (SloDAR) method. This instrument (Mieda et al, this conference) was designed to measure the altitude, strength and variability of atmospheric turbulence, in particular for operation under Arctic conditions. First SloDAR optical turbulence profiles above PEARL show roughly half of the optical turbulence confined to the boundary layer, below about 1 km, with the majority of the remainder in one or two thin layers between 2 km and 5 km, or above. The median seeing during this campaign was measured to be 0.65 arcsec. Peer reviewed: Yes NRC publication: Yes