A comparative analysis of novel turbulence profiling instrumentation at Paranal Observatory

Ryan Griffiths; Lisa Bardou; Timothy Butterley; James Osborn; Richard Wilson; Edison Bustos; Andrei Tokovinin; Miska Le Louarn; Angel Otarola

doi:10.1117/12.3018432

28 August 2024 A comparative analysis of novel turbulence profiling instrumentation at Paranal Observatory

Ryan Griffiths, Lisa Bardou, Timothy Butterley, James Osborn, Richard Wilson, Edison Bustos, Andrei Tokovinin, Miska Le Louarn, Angel Otarola

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13097, Adaptive Optics Systems IX; 130972U (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018432
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Abstract

A six-night optical turbulence monitoring campaign has been carried at Cerro Paranal observatory in February and March, 2023 to facilitate the development and characterisation of two novel atmospheric site monitoring instruments - the ring-image next generation scintillation sensor (RINGSS) and 24-hour Shack Hartmann image motion monitor (24hSHIMM) in the context of providing optical turbulence monitoring support for upcoming 20-40m class telescopes. Both instruments offer the potential to replace the outdated MASS-DIMM, utilising new technologies to produce detailed, real-time characterisation of optical turbulence conditions at a site. In addition, the well-characterised Stereo-SCIDAR and 2016-MASS-DIMM were both active throughout the campaign providing further data for comparison. Contemporaneous measurements of both the integrated turbulence parameters - including seeing, free atmosphere seeing, coherence time and angle – and the vertical optical turbulence profile are examined along with the first 24-hour, day and night turbulence measurements at the site.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Ryan Griffiths, Lisa Bardou, Timothy Butterley, James Osborn, Richard Wilson, Edison Bustos, Andrei Tokovinin, Miska Le Louarn, and Angel Otarola "A comparative analysis of novel turbulence profiling instrumentation at Paranal Observatory", Proc. SPIE 13097, Adaptive Optics Systems IX, 130972U (28 August 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018432

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