225 GHz Atmospheric Opacity Measurements from Two Arctic Sites

We report the latest results of 225 GHz atmospheric opacity measurements from two arctic sites; one on high coastal terrain near the Eureka weather station, on Ellesmere Island, Canada, and the other at the Summit Station near the peak of the Greenland icecap. This is a campaign to search for a site...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2012-10
Main Authors: Matsushita, S, M -T Chen, Martin-Cocher, P, Asada, K, C -P Chen, Inoue, M, Paine, S, Turner, D, Steinbring, E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Northern Hemisphere
Opacity
South Pole
Very long base interferometry
Weather stations
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Summary:We report the latest results of 225 GHz atmospheric opacity measurements from two arctic sites; one on high coastal terrain near the Eureka weather station, on Ellesmere Island, Canada, and the other at the Summit Station near the peak of the Greenland icecap. This is a campaign to search for a site to deploy a new telescope for submillimeter Very Long Baseline Interferometry and THz astronomy in the northern hemisphere. Since 2011, we have obtained 3 months of winter data near Eureka, and about one year of data at the Summit Station. The results indicate that these sites offer a highly transparent atmosphere for observations in submillimeter wavelengths. The Summit Station is particularly excellent, and its zenith opacity at 225 GHz is statistically similar to the Atacama Large Milllimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile. In winter, the opacity at the Summit Station is even comparable to that observed at the South Pole.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1210.5309