Related papers: Optical turbulence characterization at the SAAO Su…
The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is developing a Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system for the Kodaikanal Tower Telescope (KTT). In this context, we have measured the daytime turbulence strength profile at the Kodaikanal…
We report what is believed to be the first example of fully continuous, 24-hour vertical monitoring of atmospheric optical turbulence. This is achieved using a novel instrument, the 24-hour Shack-Hartmann Image Motion Monitor (24hSHIMM).…
We present some statistics of turbulence monitoring at the Plateau de Calern (France), with the Generalised Differential Image Motion Monitor (GDIMM). This instrument allows to measure integrated parameters of the atmospheric turbulence,…
Atmospheric interaction with light has been an area of fascination for many researchers over the last century. Environmental conditions, such as temperature and wind speed, heavily influence the complex and rapidly varying optical…
We discuss several improvements in the detection of atmospheric turbulence using SLOpe Detection And Ranging (SLODAR). Frequently, SLODAR observations have shown strong ground-layer turbulence, which is beneficial to adaptive optics. We…
We investigate how to quantitatively model the observed differential image motion (DIM) in relative astrometric observations. As a test bed we used differential astrometric observations from the FORS2 camera of the Very Large Telescope…
Conventional ground-based astronomical observations suffer from image distortion due to atmospheric turbulence. This can be minimized by choosing suitable geographic locations or adaptive optical techniques, and avoided altogether by using…
We present comprehensive seeing statistics for the San Pedro M\'artir site derived from the Thirty Meter Telescope site selection data. The observations were obtained between 2004 and 2008 with a Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) and…
Monitoring turbulence parameters is crucial in high-angular resolution astronomy for various purposes, such as optimising adaptive optics systems or fringe trackers. The former are present at most modern observatories and will remain…
Atmospheric turbulence profile plays an important role in designing and operating adaptive optics (AO) systems with multiple laser guide stars. To obtain representative free atmospheric profiles and resolved ground layer profiles for future…
Accurate characterization of atmospheric optical turbulence is essential for evaluating astronomical sites and optimizing adaptive optics systems. The Multistar Turbulence Monitor (MTM) infers the vertical distribution of the…
We present a reanalysis of several years of DIMM data at the site of Dome C, Antarctica, to provide measurements of the coherence time $\tau_0$. Statistics and seasonal behaviour of $\tau_0$ are given at two heights above the ground, 3m and…
Using an observational derived model optical turbulence profile (model-OTP) we have investigated the performance of Adaptive Optics (AO) at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO), Australia. The simulations cover the performance for AO techniques…
The next generation of adaptive optics (AO) systems will require tomographic reconstruction techniques to map the optical refractive index fluctuations, generated by the atmospheric turbulence, along the line of sight to the astronomical…
Whole atmosphere seeing \beta_0 is the most important parameter in site testing measurements. Estimation of the seeing from a variance of differential image motion is always biased by a non-zero DIMM exposure, which results in a wind…
The Profiler of Moon Limb is a recent instrument dedicated to the monitoring of optical turbulence profile of the atmosphere. Fluctuations of the Moon or the Sun limb allow to evaluate the index refraction structure constant C_n^2(h) and…
We present an analysis of the science image quality obtained on the twin 6.5 metre Magellan telescopes over a 1.5 year period, using images of ~10^5 stars. We find that the telescopes generally obtain significantly better image quality than…
From the South Pole, microthermal turbulence within a narrow surface boundary layer some 200m thick provides the dominant contribution to the astronomical seeing. We present results for the seeing at a wavelength of 2.4um. The narrow…
Adaptive optics (AO) systems using tomographic estimation of three-dimensional structure of atmospheric turbulence requires vertical atmospheric turbulence profile, which describes turbulence strength as a function of altitude as a prior…
Current projects for large telescopes demand a proper knowledge of atmospheric turbulence to design efficient adaptive optics systems in order to reach large Strehl ratios. However, the proper characterization of the turbulence above a…