Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011rmxac..41...91k&link_type=abstract
Astronomical Site Testing Data in Chile (Eds. M. Curé, A. Otárola, J. Marín, & M. Sarazin) Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astr
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Atmospheric Effects, Balloons, Instrumentation: Spectrographs, Methods: Observational, Site Testing, Techniques: Spectroscopic
Scientific paper
In support of characterization of potential sites for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Institute for Space Imaging Science (ISIS) and the astrometeorology group of the Universidad Valparaiso have jointly established an improved understanding of atmospheric precipitable water vapour (PWV) above ESO's La Silla Paranal Observatory. To this end we have statistically analysed 8 years worth of high resolution spectra taken with VLT-UVES to reconstruct the PWV history above Paranal. For Silla data from FEROS covering about 5 years have been used. In the analysis a radiative transfer model of Earth's atmosphere (BTRAM) developed by ISIS has been employed. In order to better understand the systematics involved three dedicated campaigns were conducted in May, August and November 2009 during which several instruments and methods were validated with respect to balloon-borne radiosondes, the established standard in atmospheric research. After correction for systematic effects a median PWV of 2.4 mm is found for Paranal whereas the value for La Silla is 3.7 mm. The results of the study were submitted to the E-ELT site selection advisory committee late in 2009. Valuable lessons for observatory operations have been learned and ESO is planning to permanently deploy a water vapour monitor on Paranal as part of the VISIR upgrade project. For the E-ELT we find that a stand-alone high time resolution PWV monitor will be essential for optimizing the scientific output.
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