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Astronomical site survey report on dust measurement, wind profile, optical turbulence, and their correlation with seeing over IAO-Hanle

Astronomical site survey report over IAO-Hanle

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Abstract

The present work discusses astronomical site survey reports on dust content, vertical distribution of atmospheric turbulence, precipitable water vapor (PWV), surface and upper-air data, and their effects on seeing over the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) Hanle. Using Laser Particulate Counter, ambient dust measurements at various sizes (0.3 μm to 25 μm) were performed at various locations at the site during November 2015. Estimated volume concentration for the particle size at 0.5 μm was around 10,000 per cubic foot, which is equivalent to ten thousand class of clean room standard protocol. During the measurement, surface wind speed varied from 0-20 m s −1, while estimated aerosol optical depth (AOD) using Sky radiometer (Prede) varied from 0.02-0.04 at 500 nm, which indicates the site is fairly clean. The two independent measurements of dust content and aerosol concentrations at the site agreed well. The turbulence or wind gust at the site was studied with wind profiles at three different heights above the ground. The strength of the wind gust varies with time and altitude. Nocturnal temperature across seasons varied with a moderate at summer (6−8 ∘C) and lower in winter (4−5 ∘C). However, the contrast between the two is significantly small due to cold and extremely dry typical climatic conditions of the site. The present study also examined the effects of surface and upper-air data along with Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) dynamics with seeing measurement over the site. Further, a comparative study of such observed parameters was conducted with other high altitude astronomical observatories across the globe.

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Acknowledgments

Aerosol Optical Depth and Precipitable water vapor over Mauna Loa, Table Mountain, and Tuscon were obtained from the AERONET sites (http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov) and we thankfully acknowledged the respective PI and Co-PIs of these sites. The authors would like to thank P. Sreekumar, Director and G. C. Anupama, Dean of IIA, for their strong support during the site survey program of NLST. Thanks are owed to the entire staff of IAO-Hanle and NLST team for their logical supports and invaluable helps. We are grateful to Rajesh Ullas Nayak, Junior Technical Assistant, CREST-Campus,IIA, for his valuable supports during the dust measurement performed at Hanle and Crest Campus. Finally, we are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, 560034, India

    Shantikumar S. Ningombam, S. Kathiravan, P. S. Parihar, Sharika Mohanan, K. E. Rangarajan & K. Prabhu

  2. CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    E. J. L. Larson

  3. Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA/ESRL, Boulder, CO, 80305, USA

    E. J. L. Larson

  4. Indian Astronomical Observatory, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Leh, 194101, India

    Dorje Angchuk & Sonam Jorphel

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  1. Shantikumar S. Ningombam
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  2. S. Kathiravan
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Correspondence to Shantikumar S. Ningombam.

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Ningombam, S.S., Kathiravan, S., Parihar, P.S. et al. Astronomical site survey report on dust measurement, wind profile, optical turbulence, and their correlation with seeing over IAO-Hanle. Exp Astron 43, 145–165 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-017-9525-6

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