Related papers: ARCADE - Atmospheric Research for Climate and Astr…
A question of global concern regarding the sustainable future of humankind stems from the effect due to aerosols on the global climate. The quantification of atmospheric aerosols and their relationship to climatic impacts are key to…
Atmospheric monitoring is an integral part of the design of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), as atmospheric conditions affect the observations by Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) in multiple ways. The variable optical…
After proposing a new method of deriving the atmospheric time constant from the speed of focus variations (Kellerer & Tokovinin 2007), we now implement it with the new instrument, FADE. FADE uses a 36-cm Celestron telescope that is modified…
Aerosols from natural and antropogenic sources are one of the atmospheric components that have the largest spacial-temporal variability, depending on the type (land or ocean) surface, human activity and climatic conditions (mainly…
Aerocapture uses atmospheric drag to decelerate spacecraft and achieve orbit insertion. One of the significant risks associated with aerocapture is the uncertainty in the atmospheric density, particularly for outer planets. The paper…
Measurements of the cosmic-ray air-shower fluorescence at extreme energies require precise knowledge of atmospheric conditions. The absolute calibration of the cosmic-ray energy depends on the absorption of fluorescence light between its…
The Pierre Auger Observatory is the largest operating cosmic ray observatory ever built. Calorimetric measurements of extensive air showers induced by cosmic rays are performed with a fluorescence detector. Thus, one of the main challenges…
Atmospheric refraction affects to various degrees exoplanet transit, lunar eclipse, as well as stellar occultation observations. Exoplanet retrieval algorithms often use analytical expressions for the column abundance along a ray traversing…
Atmospheric density profiles as well as several light absorption and scattering processes depend on geographic position and are generally time-variable. Their impact on the atmospheric Cherenkov technique in general (imaging or non-imaging)…
Although the photon structure is most efficiently studied with the accelerator instruments, there is also a scientifically complementary potential in investigations on photons produced in the outer space. This potential is already being…
Low concentrations aerosols quantification is rather challenging for LIDAR instruments due to eye-safety restrictions so high energy pulses cannot be utilized to improve the sensitivity. Highly sensitive but eye-save LIDAR has been…
FRAM - F/(Ph)otometric Robotic Atmospheric Monitor is the latest addition to the atmospheric monitoring instruments of the Pierre Auger Observatory. An optical telescope equipped with CCD camera and photometer, it automatically observes a…
We present a new elastic LIDAR concept, based on a bi-axially mounted Nd:YAG laser and a telescope with HPD readout, combined with fast FADC signal digitization and offline pulse analysis. The LIDAR return signals have been extensively…
The method of detection of light scattering on stratospheric aerosol particles on the twilight sky background is considered. It is based on the data on sky intensity and polarization in the solar vertical at zenith distances of up to 50 deg…
Recent precision measurements of the Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) arrival directions, spectrum and parameters related to the mass of the primary particle have been done by the HiRes, Pierre Auger and Telescope Array (TA)…
The Pierre Auger Observatory is making significant contributions towards understanding the nature and origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. One of its main challenges is the monitoring of the atmosphere, both in terms of its state…
We study the implications of averaging methods with different reference depth scales for 3D hydrodynamical model atmospheres computed with the Stagger-code. The temporally and spatially averaged (hereafter denoted as <3D>) models are…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the world's first observatory for detecting gamma-rays from astrophysical phenomena and is now in its prototyping phase with construction expected to begin in 2015/16. In this work we present the…
Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR), of energy >10 EeV, arrive at the Earth regularly, but their sources, acceleration mechanisms, details of propagation through the universe, and particle composition remain mysteries. In addition, their…
We study the impact of the atmospheric differential chromatic refraction on the measurements and precision of relative astrometry. Specifically, we address the problem of measuring the separations of close pairs of binary stars with…