Optical Properties of the South Pole Ice at Depths Between 0.8 and 1 km
The optical properties of the ice at the geographical South Pole have been investigated at depths between 0.8 and 1 kilometers. The absorption and scattering lengths of visible light ($\sim$515 nm) have been measured {\it in situ } using the laser calibration setup of the AMANDA neutrino detector. T...
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ftucl:oai:eprints.ucl.ac.uk.OAI2:1374574 2023-05-15T18:21:59+02:00 Optical Properties of the South Pole Ice at Depths Between 0.8 and 1 km collaboration, TAMANDA 1994-12-08 http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1374574/ unknown Science , 267 1147 - 1150. (1994) astro-ph Article 1994 ftucl 2015-02-12T23:19:51Z The optical properties of the ice at the geographical South Pole have been investigated at depths between 0.8 and 1 kilometers. The absorption and scattering lengths of visible light ($\sim$515 nm) have been measured {\it in situ } using the laser calibration setup of the AMANDA neutrino detector. The ice is intrinsically extremely transparent. The measured absorption length is 59 $\pm$ 3 meters, comparable with the quality of the ultra-pure water used in the IMB and Kamiokande proton-decay and neutrino experiments and more than two times longer than the best value reported for laboratory ice. Due to a residual density of air bubbles at these depths, the trajectories of photons in the medium are randomized. Assuming bubbles are smooth and spherical, the average distance between collisions at 1 km depth is about 25 cm. The measured inverse scattering length on bubbles decreases linearly with increasing depth in the volume of ice investigated. Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole University College London: UCL Discovery South Pole |
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Open Polar |
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University College London: UCL Discovery |
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ftucl |
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unknown |
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astro-ph |
spellingShingle |
astro-ph collaboration, TAMANDA Optical Properties of the South Pole Ice at Depths Between 0.8 and 1 km |
topic_facet |
astro-ph |
description |
The optical properties of the ice at the geographical South Pole have been investigated at depths between 0.8 and 1 kilometers. The absorption and scattering lengths of visible light ($\sim$515 nm) have been measured {\it in situ } using the laser calibration setup of the AMANDA neutrino detector. The ice is intrinsically extremely transparent. The measured absorption length is 59 $\pm$ 3 meters, comparable with the quality of the ultra-pure water used in the IMB and Kamiokande proton-decay and neutrino experiments and more than two times longer than the best value reported for laboratory ice. Due to a residual density of air bubbles at these depths, the trajectories of photons in the medium are randomized. Assuming bubbles are smooth and spherical, the average distance between collisions at 1 km depth is about 25 cm. The measured inverse scattering length on bubbles decreases linearly with increasing depth in the volume of ice investigated. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
collaboration, TAMANDA |
author_facet |
collaboration, TAMANDA |
author_sort |
collaboration, TAMANDA |
title |
Optical Properties of the South Pole Ice at Depths Between 0.8 and 1 km |
title_short |
Optical Properties of the South Pole Ice at Depths Between 0.8 and 1 km |
title_full |
Optical Properties of the South Pole Ice at Depths Between 0.8 and 1 km |
title_fullStr |
Optical Properties of the South Pole Ice at Depths Between 0.8 and 1 km |
title_full_unstemmed |
Optical Properties of the South Pole Ice at Depths Between 0.8 and 1 km |
title_sort |
optical properties of the south pole ice at depths between 0.8 and 1 km |
publishDate |
1994 |
url |
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1374574/ |
geographic |
South Pole |
geographic_facet |
South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_source |
Science , 267 1147 - 1150. (1994) |
_version_ |
1766201321180889088 |