
TY  - JOUR
A1  - A. Chamberlin, Richard 
T1  - Reanalysis of the 1992 South Pole Millimetre-Wavelength Atmospheric Opacity Data
JF  - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
JO  - Publ. Astron. Soc.  Aust.
Y1  - 2004
VL  - 21
IS  - 3
SP  - 264
EP  - 274
KW  - instrumentation: miscellaneous &#8212; methods: data analysis &#8212; site testing &#8212; atmospheric effects
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/AS03012 
N2  - 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 &#8216;skydip&#8217; 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. 
ER  -

