# Millimetric Astronomy from the High Antarctic Plateau: site testing at Dome C

## 1 Introduction

The high Antarctic Plateau is considered the best site on Earth for astrophysical observations in the millimetric and sub-millimetric wavelength ranges (Burton et al. 1994). In the last few years many astrophysical experiments have been deployed on this continent (Ruhl et al. 1995; Viper Home Page; Balm 1996; Storey, Ashley & Burton 1996 1996; Valenziano et al. 1998) and large telescope projects are presently being developed (Stark 1998). The main astrophysical observing site, already operational, is the U.S. Amundsen-Scott station at the South Pole (SP hereafter), where the CARA (Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica) installed quite a large laboratory. Data on the observing conditions at SP have already been reported in the literature (Dragovan et al. 1990; Chamberlin & Bally 1994; Chamberlin 1995; Chamberlin, Lane & Stark 1997; Lane 1998), while sophisticated tests are being performed by Australian researchers, using an automated instrument (Storey, Ashley & Burton 1996).

Italy has been deeply involved in astrophysical activities in Antarctica since 1987. The Italian Antarctic Program (PNRA - Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide) established an astrophysical observatory (OASI, Osservatorio Antartico Submillimetrico e Infrarosso, Dall’Oglio et al., 1992) at the Italian station Baia Terra Nova (74 41’ 36” S, 164 05’ 58” E). A 2.6 meter sub-millimetric telescope is operating there during the southern summer season. Many facilities are available, including Nitrogen and Helium liquefiers, mechanical workshops, electronic and cryogenic laboratories. The site quality is comparable to mid-latitude mountain observatories for millimetric (Dall’Oglio et al. 1988) and mid-infrared observations (Valenziano 1996).

In 1994, Italy and France started a program for building a permanent scientific station (Concordia) on the high antarctic plateau, at Dome C, hereafter DC, (75 06’ 25” S, 123 20’ 44” E). Domes are regions more elevated than the rest of the continent (DC is at 3280 m), barring the Trans Antarctic Mountains. The highest is Dome A (4100 m), potentially the best observing site on the planet, but it is very difficult to reach.

In December 1995, a test experiment was run to directly compare the short term atmospheric stability (the so-called sky noise) between DC and the Italian station on the coast. Raw data show a reduction in rms noise of factors of 3 and 10 at $`\lambda `$=2 mm and $`\lambda `$=1.2 mm respectively (Dall’Oglio 1997). In December 1996 the APACHE96 (Antarctic Plateau Anisotropy CHasing Experiment) (Valenziano et al., 1997,1998) was set up at DC. Preliminary data analysis shows good atmospheric stability in terms of sky-noise at mm wavelengths. Atmospheric PWV content was measured during the latter mission.

The AASTO experiment, presently running at the SP, is planned to be moved to DC in the next few years. It will allow a careful assessment of the observational quality at DC over a wide wavelength range. However, some interesting information can be obtained from meteorological data, taking advantage of the good statistics based on data collected over eight years.

The AWS project, started in the early 80s, installs automatic units in remote areas of the Antarctic continent. The main objective of this program is to support meteorological research by unattended, low cost, data collecting stations. AWS units operate continuously throughout the year. AWS data for all the stations are publicly available at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. One AWS unit is located a few kilometers from the Concordia Station site. Therefore, it shares the same atmospheric conditions as the planned astrophysics observatory. Another unit is at the geographical SP (Clean Air, elevation 2836 m). Therefore it is possible to compare the two sites on the basis of homogeneous data.

The main goal of this paper is to present data on DC conditions and to compare them with those of well established observing sites. They are useful for planning experiments and for stimulating a deeper exploration of this interesting and promising observing site.

## 2 Automatic Weather Stations

AWS were developed by the Radio Science Laboratory at Stanford University. The basic AWS units measure air temperature, wind speed and wind direction at a nominal height of three meters above the surface, and air pressure at the electronic enclosure at about 1.75 meters above the surface. The height is only nominal, due to possible snow accumulation. Some AWS units can also measure humidity and vertical air temperature difference, but these sensors are not available at either DC or SP stations. Data are transmitted to a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellite and then stored at the University of Wisconsin (Keller et al. 1997). More details on the AWS program are available at http://uwamrc.ssec.wisc.edu/aws/.

## 3 AWS data analysis

AWS data used in this work are already binned in 3 hour intervals. This is useful in order to evaluate the stability of the observing conditions over a reasonably short interval. Some data can be missing, due to instrumental or transmission failures. Data were further averaged in one month intervals. The typical uncertainty in the monthly averages is 15% (standard deviation) for temperature, 1-6% for pressure and 50-75% for wind speed. Plots of these data are shown in Figures 1,3 and 5. Statistical distributions of the whole data set have also been calculated. Data have been binned in 1 intervals for temperature, 1 hPa for pressure, 1 m/s for wind speed and 10 for wind azimuth. Histograms for temperature, pressure, wind azimuth and wind speed are presented in Figures 3,5,7 and 7. Monthly plots of the whole data set and data distributions, along with a table with median values and mean absolute deviation, are reported elsewhere (Valenziano 1997).

## 4 Precipitable Water Vapor measurements

To the best of our knowledge, the first published measurement of the DC PWV content of the atmosphere was performed by the authors in January 1997 (Valenziano et al. 1998). The instrument used was a portable photometer (Volz 1974), with an accuracy of 20 %. The limited sensitivity of the instrument allowed only upper limits to be set in some cases. Data are presented in Figure 8. The average PWV at DC is around 0.6 mm.

A comparison between DC, SP, Atacama and Mauna Kea sites is reported in Table 1. Data for DC were measured by the authors (in one month), while quartile data for the other site are from Lane (1998). Results for the Vostok station (elevation 3488 m) (Townes & Melnick 1990) in summer do not differ significantly from those reported here, but values of less than 0.1 mm were measured during winter. We have also calculated the 225 GHz and 492 GHz opacities from the 50th percentile PWV data, using a model evaluated from the SP data (Lane 1998). We used the following relations:

$`\tau _0(225GHz)=0.030+0.069PWV(mm)`$ (1)   
$`\tau _0(492GHz)=0.33+1.49PWV(mm)`$ (2)   
and we evaluated the corresponding transmissions at the zenith as $`T=\mathrm{exp}^{\tau _0}`$. These values are reported in Table 1, along with available data for other sites (from Lane, 1998).

## 5 Discussion

The analysis of the AWS data set and the PWV measurements shows the following main results:

* DC and SP average temperatures are comparable, ranging between typical values of -65 C in winter and -26 C in summer. The median value for both sites is -53 C, while the correlation of monthly average temperatures between DC and SP is 96%.
* The pressure is always lower at DC than at the SP. Median values are 644 hPa and 682 hPa respectively. Monthly averaged pressure data show a correlation of 92 % between the two sites.
* The wind speed is very low at both sites, with a maximum speed of 15.9 m/s at DC and 18.9 m/s at SP.
* A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test shows that wind speed distributions for the two sites are different. Correlation between monthly averaged wind speed data is less than 30 %. 50th percentile values for wind speed, evaluated for the whole data set, are 1 m/s at DC and 2 m/s at SP.
* Wind azimuth distributions are different: the prevalent direction is approximately azimuth 180 at DC and between azimuth 0 and 90 at SP.
* PWV values measured at DC in January 1997 are comparable with SP values in the same season and lower than those measured at other sites.

In Table 1 and Table 2 our results for Antarctica (over eight years) are compared with a well-established observing site, Mauna Kea (Hawaii Islands) and a future important site in the Atacama desert (Northern Chile). Data for these latter sites are reported from Holdaway (1996).

Some conclusions can be derived from these results:

* Lower wind regimes at the Antarctic sites result in lower turbulence implying a smaller contamination on observations. It is worth considering that most of the sky-noise at Infra-Red and millimetric wavelengths is induced by convective motion and wind driven turbulence in the lowest layers of the atmosphere, where the bulk of water vapor is found (Smoot et al. 1987; Ade et al. 1984; Andreani et al 1990). While the former needs further investigation (Argentini 1998, Burton 1995), the latter is minimal on the Antarctic Plateau.
* Lower average wind speed reduces pointing errors for large antennas (see Holdaway, 1996).
* In terms of wind speed, DC shows better conditions with respect to SP.
* The high Antarctic Plateau is the driest observing site on Earth.
* DC and SP pressure and temperature conditions are strongly correlated, indicating that they share similar meteorological conditions. It is possible to infer that PWV values at DC during wintertime are similar to SP ones in the same season.
* 225 GHz and 492 GHz opacities for DC, calculated using a model valid for SP, show results similar to this site and better than Mauna Kea, when comparable water vapor amounts are considered.

## 6 Conclusions

An analysis of available site quality data for DC has been accomplished, including PWV measurements made by the authors. A comparison with SP and other sites has been performed.

AWS data show that the quality of DC and SP is comparable, at least for meteorological conditions. DC seems to be a more suitable site in terms of wind speed (which is related to atmospheric turbulence).

The PWV content, measured at DC during the 1996-97 antarctic summer, is comparable to that at SP during summertime. The high Antarctic Plateau is shown to be the driest site compared to other observing sites. Further measurements at DC, with improved sensitivity and automatic operation of the instrument, are mandatory in order to explore conditions also during wintertime.

In conclusion, the overall exceptional quality of the high Antarctic Plateau at millimetric wavelengths, widely discussed in the literature (Dragovan et al. 1990; Chamberlin & Bally 1994; Burton et al. 1994; Chamberlin 1995; Chamberlin, Lane & Stark 1997; Lane 1998, Stark 1998), is confirmed by our work. DC conditions are at least comparable and probably better than those at the SP. However, further and more sophisticated site testing experiments are required to completely assess the DC observing quality.

## Acknowledgments

Data were provided by the Automatic Weather Station Project, run by Dr. Charles R. Stearns at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, which is funded by the National Science Foundation of the United States of America. Data are available by anonymous ftp at ice.ssec.wisc.edu. This work is partly supported by PNRA. We wish to thank G. Pizzichini, E. Pian and J. Stephen for the careful revision of the text.

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