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Lunar scintillometer array for atmospheric turbulence measurement

University of British Columbia

The performance of large telescopes is directly related to the quality of the site. Of particular importance is the turbulence profile within the lower few hundred meters of the atmosphere. We have developed a new technique for measuring this profile, and the Fried parameter r₀, by measuring spatial correlations in the scintillation of moonlight. Our lunar scintillometer array uses 12 photodiodes to measure the intensity fluctuation covariance function, and from this we obtain the index of refraction profile C²[sub N] to a height of about 200 m with a vertical resolution of order 2%. This paper describes the instrument, the technique, and results of initial tests.

Text

2010-01-05

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/17523

Astronomy

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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