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Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia Society
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Reanalysis of the 1992 South Pole Millimetre-Wavelength Atmospheric Opacity Data


Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia 21(3) 264 - 274
Published: 30 September 2004

Abstract

In 1992 an NRAO 225-GHz site survey heterodyne radiometer was placed at the Geographical South Pole. The instrument operated over an entire annual cycle and provided direct measurements of the millimetre-wave sky brightness temperature as a function of zenith angle. Interpreted in a single-slab ‘skydip’ radiation transfer model of the atmosphere, these sky brightness measurements provided a time series of the millimetre atmospheric opacity. Statistics derived from this opacity time series were important for making comparisons with other candidate millimetre and sub-millimetre wave astronomy sites. This paper reexamines the 1992 measurements and the original analysis. Details of the skydip fit model, radiometer gain error, instrument stability, and a mid-season replacement to a window in the instrument enclosure combined to cause a modest under-reporting of the atmospheric opacity in previous reports. Unchanged are earlier conclusions that dry air makes a significant contribution to the total opacity at 225 GHz.

Keywords: instrumentation: miscellaneous — methods: data analysis — site testing — atmospheric effects

https://doi.org/10.1071/AS03012

© ASA 2004

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