Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis
NASA's latest MERRA-2 reanalysis of the modern satellite measurements has made atmospheric data easily accessible with unprecedented uniformity, fidelity, and completeness. In this work, these data are used to evaluate five sites for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) observations. These include two est...
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ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1443917 2023-07-30T03:58:35+02:00 Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis Kuo, Chao-Lin 2022-05-24 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1443917 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1443917 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b74 unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1443917 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1443917 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b74 doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b74 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS 2022 ftosti https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b74 2023-07-11T09:26:31Z NASA's latest MERRA-2 reanalysis of the modern satellite measurements has made atmospheric data easily accessible with unprecedented uniformity, fidelity, and completeness. In this work, these data are used to evaluate five sites for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) observations. These include two established sites (South Pole and Chajnantor, Atacama), and three new sites (Ali in Tibet, Dome A in Antarctica, and Summit Camp in Greenland). Atmospheric properties including precipitable water vapor (PWV), sky brightness temperature fluctuations, and ice and liquid water paths are derived and compared. Dome A emerges to be the best among those evaluated, with PWV and fluctuations smaller than the second-best site, South Pole, by more than a factor of 2. It is found that the higher site in Ali (6100 m) is on par with Cerro Chajnantor (5612 m) in terms of transmission and stability. The lower site in Ali (5250 m) planned for the first stage of observations at 90/150 GHz provides conditions comparable to those on the Chajnantor Plateau. These analyses confirm Ali to be an excellent mm-wave site in the Northern Hemisphere that will complement well-established Southern sites. Lastly, according to MERRA-2 data, the observing conditions at Summit Camp are also comparable to Cerro Chajnantor. However, it is more affected by the presence of liquid water clouds. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctica Greenland South pole South pole SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) Greenland Merra ENVELOPE(12.615,12.615,65.816,65.816) South Pole Summit Camp ENVELOPE(-38.453,-38.453,72.579,72.579) The Astrophysical Journal 848 1 64 |
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Open Polar |
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SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
op_collection_id |
ftosti |
language |
unknown |
topic |
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS |
spellingShingle |
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS Kuo, Chao-Lin Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis |
topic_facet |
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS |
description |
NASA's latest MERRA-2 reanalysis of the modern satellite measurements has made atmospheric data easily accessible with unprecedented uniformity, fidelity, and completeness. In this work, these data are used to evaluate five sites for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) observations. These include two established sites (South Pole and Chajnantor, Atacama), and three new sites (Ali in Tibet, Dome A in Antarctica, and Summit Camp in Greenland). Atmospheric properties including precipitable water vapor (PWV), sky brightness temperature fluctuations, and ice and liquid water paths are derived and compared. Dome A emerges to be the best among those evaluated, with PWV and fluctuations smaller than the second-best site, South Pole, by more than a factor of 2. It is found that the higher site in Ali (6100 m) is on par with Cerro Chajnantor (5612 m) in terms of transmission and stability. The lower site in Ali (5250 m) planned for the first stage of observations at 90/150 GHz provides conditions comparable to those on the Chajnantor Plateau. These analyses confirm Ali to be an excellent mm-wave site in the Northern Hemisphere that will complement well-established Southern sites. Lastly, according to MERRA-2 data, the observing conditions at Summit Camp are also comparable to Cerro Chajnantor. However, it is more affected by the presence of liquid water clouds. |
author |
Kuo, Chao-Lin |
author_facet |
Kuo, Chao-Lin |
author_sort |
Kuo, Chao-Lin |
title |
Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis |
title_short |
Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis |
title_full |
Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis |
title_fullStr |
Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis |
title_sort |
assessments of ali, dome a, and summit camp for mm-wave observations using merra-2 reanalysis |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1443917 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1443917 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b74 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(12.615,12.615,65.816,65.816) ENVELOPE(-38.453,-38.453,72.579,72.579) |
geographic |
Greenland Merra South Pole Summit Camp |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Merra South Pole Summit Camp |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland South pole South pole |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland South pole South pole |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1443917 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1443917 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b74 doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b74 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b74 |
container_title |
The Astrophysical Journal |
container_volume |
848 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
64 |
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1772821348407574528 |