Meso-Nh simulations of the atmospheric flow above the internal Antarctic Plateau

Franck Lascaux; Elena Masciadri; Susanna Hagelin; Jeffrey A. Stoesz

doi:10.1117/12.787571

10 July 2008 Meso-Nh simulations of the atmospheric flow above the Internal Antarctic Plateau

Franck Lascaux, Elena Masciadri, Susanna Hagelin, Jeffrey A. Stoesz

Proceedings Volume 7012, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes II; 70124D (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.787571
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

Mesoscale model such as Meso-Nh have proven to be highly reliable in reproducing 3D maps of optical turbulence (see Refs. 1, 2, 3, 4) above mid-latitude astronomical sites. These last years ground-based astronomy has been looking towards Antarctica. Especially its summits and the Internal Continental Plateau where the optical turbulence appears to be confined in a shallow layer close to the icy surface. Preliminary measurements have so far indicated pretty good value for the seeing above 30-35 m: 0.36" (see Ref. 5) and 0.27" (see Refs. 6, 7) at Dome C. Site testing campaigns are however extremely expensive, instruments provide only local measurements and atmospheric modelling might represent a step ahead towards the search and selection of astronomical sites thanks to the possibility to reconstruct 3D C²_N maps over a surface of several kilometers. The Antarctic Plateau represents therefore an important benchmark test to evaluate the possibility to discriminate sites on the same plateau. Our group⁸ has proven that the analyses from the ECMWF global model do not describe with the required accuracy the antarctic boundary and surface layer in the plateau. A better description could be obtained with a mesoscale meteorological model. In this contribution we present the progress status report of numerical simulations (including the optical turbulence - C²_N) obtained with Meso-Nh above the internal Antarctic Plateau. Among the topic attacked: the influence of different configurations of the model (low and high horizontal resolution), use of the grid-nesting interactive technique, forecasting of the optical turbulence during some winter nights.

Citation Download Citation

Franck Lascaux, Elena Masciadri, Susanna Hagelin, and Jeffrey A. Stoesz "Meso-Nh simulations of the atmospheric flow above the Internal Antarctic Plateau", Proc. SPIE 7012, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes II, 70124D (10 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.787571

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