SGER: The Precipitable Water Vapor Above High Atacama Sites

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

AST-0431503/Cornell: Giovanelli This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will support preliminary work on establishing the world's largest far infrared/submillimeter telescope. The work will encompass the verification of computational fluid dynamic simulations that suggest that layering of water vapor in the atmosphere is strongly dependent on local topography. Atmospheric water vapor content and layering, in turn, are factors in determining the quality of an observing site, which is a major consideration for astronomical instrumentation.