Antarctic Boundary Layer Seeing

• Published in: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
• Main Authors: Swain, Mark R., Gallée, Hubert
• Other Authors: Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarc*; Antarctic; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00375767; https://doi.org/10.1086/507153

International audience We have modeled the wintertime boundary‐layer seeing over the Antarctic ice sheet and find it to be both strong and ubiquitous. We quantify the relations for both the boundary‐layer height and seeing in terms of the surface wind speed. We have also estimated the telescope elevation required to minimize the effect of boundary‐layer seeing and find that a minimum elevation of 20 m is required at Dome F. This work demonstrates that regional climate models calibrated by localized observations permit knowledge of the atmosphere to be extended both in space and time and thus constitute a new and powerful tool for quantitative comparison of potential Antarctic telescope sites.