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Summary: A&A 400, 11631172 (2003)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20021814
c ESO 2003
Astronomy
&
Astrophysics
Atmospheric turbulence at the South Pole and its implications
for astronomy
T. Travouillon1, M. C. B. Ashley1, M. G. Burton1, J. W. V. Storey1, and R. F. Loewenstein2
1
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
2
University of Chicago, Yerkes Observatory, 373 W. Geneva Street, Williams Bay, WI 53191, USA
Received 12 August 2002 / Accepted 6 December 2002
Abstract. To investigate the low-atmosphere turbulence at the South Pole, we have measured, using a SODAR, the temperature
fluctuation constant (C2
T ) during winter, as a function of altitude up to 890 m. We found that the turbulence was on average
concentrated inside a boundary layer sitting below 270 m. While at the peak of winter the turbulence was stable and clearly
bounded, during other seasons there was a more complex turbulence profile which extended to higher altitudes. We found that
this behaviour could be explained by the horizontal wind speed conditions whose altitude profile closely matched the turbulence
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