Assessments of Ali, Dome A, and Summit Camp for mm-wave Observations Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis
- Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
NASA's latest MERRA-2 reanalysis of the modern satellite measurements has made atmospheric data easily accessible with unprecedented uniformity, fidelity, and completeness. In this work, these data are used to evaluate five sites for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) observations. These include two established sites (South Pole and Chajnantor, Atacama), and three new sites (Ali in Tibet, Dome A in Antarctica, and Summit Camp in Greenland). Atmospheric properties including precipitable water vapor (PWV), sky brightness temperature fluctuations, and ice and liquid water paths are derived and compared. Dome A emerges to be the best among those evaluated, with PWV and fluctuations smaller than the second-best site, South Pole, by more than a factor of 2. It is found that the higher site in Ali (6100 m) is on par with Cerro Chajnantor (5612 m) in terms of transmission and stability. The lower site in Ali (5250 m) planned for the first stage of observations at 90/150 GHz provides conditions comparable to those on the Chajnantor Plateau. These analyses confirm Ali to be an excellent mm-wave site in the Northern Hemisphere that will complement well-established Southern sites. Lastly, according to MERRA-2 data, the observing conditions at Summit Camp are also comparable to Cerro Chajnantor. However, it is more affected by the presence of liquid water clouds.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 1408205
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1443917
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-PUB-17150; TRN: US1702932
- Journal Information:
- The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 848, Issue 1; ISSN 1538-4357
- Publisher:
- Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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| Probing Primordial Gravitational Waves: Ali CMB Polarization Telescope | text | January 2017 |
| Measurements of tropospheric ice clouds with a ground-based CMB polarization experiment, POLARBEAR | text | January 2018 |
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