Submillimeter Site Testing at Dome C, Antarctica

We have developed a 350μm radiometer to perform automated site testing in remote regions of Antarctica. In summer 2000-2001 the instrument operated at Concordia, a new station under construction at Dome C on the Antarctic Plateau. We present the results, and compare them with the atmospheric opacity measured at the South Pole in the same five-week period. During these five weeks, observing conditions at Dome C were, on average, substantially better than those at the South Pole.