SGER: United States participation in the 2007 Traverse to Dome A- Optical Sky Brightness and Ground Layer Turbulence Profiling

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will allow the participation of a U.S. scientist in the science program being prepared by a Chinese-Australian team of astronomers, and in a traverse from the Antarctic coast to Dome A in the interior. The traverse will be undertaken by the Polar Research Institute of China. The objective of the science program is to measure the atmospheric characteristics of the high altitude site and their impact on the quality of astronomical observations. This grant will be used to provide instrumentation that will quantify the level of atmospheric turbulence near the surface, and the optical sky properties at the site. The camera will be integrated into an Australian-designed autonomously operating research module. No US personnel will accompany the equipment on the traverse.