Optical turbulence profiling with SloDAR in the Canadian High Arctic

From National Research Council Canada

DOI	Resolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056588
Author	Search for: Maire, Jérôme; Search for: Mieda, Etsuko; Search for: Steinbring, Eric¹; Search for: Murowinski, Richard¹; Search for: Graham, James R.; Search for: Carlberg, Raymond; Search for: Wright, Shelley A.; Search for: Law, Nicholas M.; Search for: Sivanandam, Suresh
Affiliation	National Research Council Canada. National Science Infrastructure
Format	Text, Article
Conference	Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes V, June 22-27, 2014
Subject	Airborne telescopes; Atmospheric thermodynamics; Atmospheric turbulence; Boundary layers; Earth (planet); Research laboratories; Space optics; Wavefronts; Astronomical instrument; Astronomical observation; Atmospheric characterization; Atmospheric research; Canadian high arctic; Polar environments; Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors; Wave front sensors; Adaptive optics
Abstract	The Earth's polar regions offer unique advantages for ground-based astronomical observations with its cold and dry climate, long periods of darkness, and the potential for exquisite image quality. We present preliminary results from a site-testing campaign during nighttime from October to November 2012 at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), on a 610-m high ridge near the Eureka weatherstation on Ellesmere Island, Canada. A Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor was employed, using the Slope Detection and Ranging (SloDAR) method. This instrument (Mieda et al, this conference) was designed to measure the altitude, strength and variability of atmospheric turbulence, in particular for operation under Arctic conditions. First SloDAR optical turbulence profiles above PEARL show roughly half of the optical turbulence confined to the boundary layer, below about 1 km, with the majority of the remainder in one or two thin layers between 2 km and 5 km, or above. The median seeing during this campaign was measured to be 0.65 arcsec.
Publication date	2014-07-22
Publisher	SPIE
In	Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes V, 91453J.
Series	Proceedings of SPIE, no. 9145.
Language	English
Peer reviewed	Yes
NPARC number	21275466
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Record identifier	207ec278-c466-4f29-abe4-40f412c64d4a
Record created	2015-07-14
Record modified	2020-04-22

Date modified:: 2026-01-22