Characterisation of the optical turbulence at siding spring

Michael Goodwin*, Charles Jenkins, Andrew Lambert

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Measurements of the optical turbulence profile above Siding Spring Observatory were conducted during 2005 and 2006. This effort was largely motivated by the need to predict the statistical performance of adaptive optics at Siding Spring. The data were collected using a purpose-built instrument based on the slope detection and ranging (SLODAR) method where observations of a bright double star are imaged by Shack-Hartmann taken with the Australian National University 24-inch and 40-inch telescopes. The analysis of the data yielded a model consisting of a handful of statistically prominent thin layers that are statistically separated into the ground layer (37.5, 250 m) and the free atmosphere (1, 3, 6, 9, 13.5 km) for good (25%), typical (50%), and bad (25%) observing conditions. We found that ground-layer turbulence dominates the turbulence profile with up to 80% of the integrated turbulence below 500 m. The turbulence tends to be non-Kolmogorov, especially for the ground layer with a power-law index of β ∼ 10/3. The mirror/dome seeing can be a significant fraction of the ground-layer turbulence. The median atmospheric seeing is around 1.2 arcsec, in agreement with observational reports.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbere009
    JournalPublications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
    Volume30
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jan 2013

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