Comparison of precipitable water vapour measurements made with an optical echelle spectrograph and an infrared radiometer at Las Campanas Observatory

Richard R. Querel; David A. Naylor; Joanna Thomas-Osip; Gabriel Prieto; Andrew McWilliam

doi:10.1117/12.789365

11 July 2008 Comparison of precipitable water vapour measurements made with an optical echelle spectrograph and an infrared radiometer at Las Campanas Observatory

Richard R. Querel, David A. Naylor, Joanna Thomas-Osip, Gabriel Prieto, Andrew McWilliam

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7014, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II; 701457 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789365
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

We present simultaneous precipitable water vapour (PWV) measurements made at the Las Campanas Observatory in late 2007 using an Infrared Radiometer for Millimetre Astronomy (IRMA) and the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) optical spectrograph. Opacity due to water vapour is the primary concern for ground based infrared astronomy. IRMA has been developed to measure the emission of rotational transitions of water vapour across a narrow spectral region centred around 20 μm, using a 0.1 m off-axis parabolic mirror and a sophisticated atmospheric model to retrieve PWV. In contrast, the MIKE instrument is used in conjunction with the 6.5 m Magellan Clay telescope, and determines the PWV through absorption measurements of water vapour lines in the spectra of telluric standard stars. With its high spectral resolution, MIKE is able to measure absorption from optically thin water vapour lines and can derive PWV values using a simple, single layer atmospheric model. In an attempt to improve the MIKE derived PWV measurements, we explore the potential of fitting a series of MIKE water vapour line measurements, having different opacities.

Citation Download Citation

Richard R. Querel, David A. Naylor, Joanna Thomas-Osip, Gabriel Prieto, and Andrew McWilliam "Comparison of precipitable water vapour measurements made with an optical echelle spectrograph and an infrared radiometer at Las Campanas Observatory", Proc. SPIE 7014, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II, 701457 (11 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789365

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