Characterisation of the Dome C atmospheric boundary layer turbulence with a non-doppler acoustic radar

J. S. Lawrence*, M. C B Ashley, C. S. Bonner, S. Bradley, D. Luong-Van, J. W V Storey

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Antarctic plateau has superb astronomical seeing above a turbulent boundary layer. This layer has a thickness of between tens of metres and a few hundred metres, depending on the site. We are developing a sonic radar, SNODAR, to measure the turbulence in the boundary layer from 10 to 50 m, and, in particular, to measure the height of the boundary layer to an accuracy of 1 m. Commercial sonic radars typically have a lower limit of about 10 m, and have 10 m range bins. The results from SNODAR should allow a confident assessment of the height at which one must mount a telescope in order to realise the superb free atmosphere seeing from the Antarctic plateau, which has been measured at Dome C to be 0.27 arcsecs on average, and better than 0.15 arcsecs for 25% of the time.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIst ARENA conference on "Large Astronomical Infrastructures at CONCORDIA, prospects and constraints for Antarctic Optical/IR Astronomy"
EditorsN Epchtein, M Candidi
Place of PublicationParis; London
PublisherEDP Sciences
Pages31-34
Number of pages4
Volume25
ISBN (Print)2759800172, 9782759800179
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2007
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameEAS Publications Series
Volume25
ISSN (Print)16334760
ISSN (Electronic)16381963

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Characterisation of the Dome C atmospheric boundary layer turbulence with a non-doppler acoustic radar'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this