Summary: ELSEVIER Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics 31 (2007) 221­227
CHINESE
ASTRONOMY
AND ASTROPHYSICS
Dome C's Atmospheric Conditions:
Implications for Astronomy
J.S. Lawrence
M.C.B. Ashley M.G. Burton J.W.V. Storey
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Abstract The expectation that exceptional conditions for astronomy would be
found at Dome C on the high Antarctic plateau has motivated a coordinated
effort by a number of international teams to comprehensively measure the atmo-
spheric conditions at this site. This paper presents an overview of the current
status of site testing at Dome C. We discuss the past, present, and planned in-
strumentation, the main results obtained to date, and the implications of these
results.
Key words: site testing--Earth: Antarctic plateau: dome C
1. INTRODUCTION
It has long been recognised that sites on the Antarctic plateau should be ideal for astronomy.
It was expected that low temperatures throughout the Antarctic plateau troposphere would

Source: Ashley, Michael C. B. - School of Physics, University of New South Wales

Collections: Physics