Determination of the atmospheric water vapour content above La Silla and the prospects for FIR observations
Abstract
The results of a survey to estimate the amount and effects of precipitable water vapor (pwv) are reported, with an emphasis on the influence on FIR observations. The measurements were made at La Silla for 24 hr/day for nine days in July 1981. An increase in pwv was detected only once during daytime, and when rises were observed the temperature was low; pwv and humidity were once seen to decrease simultaneously. Use of a 350 micron filter encountered an atmospheric transmissivity of 34 percent. Standard planets were used to calculate the extinctions due to the water vapor strengths in the IR. The implementation of 24 hr/day monitoring of pwv with an IR hygrometer is recommended to permit transferring observations to lower wavelengths in the presence of a dryer atmosphere.
- Publication:
-
ESO Infrared Workshop
- Pub Date:
- 1982
- Bibcode:
- 1982esoi.work..173S
- Keywords:
-
- Atmospheric Moisture;
- Infrared Astronomy;
- Water Vapor;
- Atmospheric Scattering;
- Far Infrared Radiation;
- Hygrometers;
- Infrared Spectra;
- Astronomy