Submillimeter fourier-transform spectrometer measurements of atmospheric opacity above mauna kea.

We present accurately calibrated submillimeter atmospheric transmission spectra obtained with a Fourier-transform spectrometer at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. These measurements cover the 0.9-0.3-mm wavelength range and are the first in a series aimed at defining the terrestrial long-wave atmospheric transmission curve. The 4.1-km altitude of the Mauna Kea site provides access to extremely low zenith water-vapor columns, permitting atmospheric observations at frequencies well above those possible from sea level. We describe the calibration procedures, present our first well-calibrated transmission spectra, and compare our results with those of a single-layer atmospheric transmission model, AT. With an empirical best-fit continuum opacity term included, this simple single-layer model provides a remarkably good fit to the opacity data for H(2)O line profiles described by either van Vleck-Weisskopf or kinetic shapes.

[1]  Thomas D. Wilkerson,et al.  Atmospheric Water Vapor , 1980 .

[2]  W B Grant,et al.  Water vapor absorption coefficients in the 8-13-microm spectral region: a critical review. , 1990, Applied optics.

[3]  Hans J. Liebe,et al.  ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR: A NEMESIS FOR MILLIMETER WAVE PROPAGATION , 1980 .

[4]  G. Winnewisser,et al.  The Physics and Chemistry of Interstellar Molecular Clouds , 1995 .

[5]  P. Ade,et al.  Absolute measurements of the atmospheric transparency at short millimetre wavelengths , 1979 .

[6]  Hans J. Liebe,et al.  MPM—An atmospheric millimeter-wave propagation model , 1989 .

[7]  B. L. Ulich,et al.  Recommendations for calibration of millimeter-wavelength spectral line data. , 1981 .

[8]  E. Weisstein,et al.  FTS atmospheric transmission measurements and observations of planetary atmospheres , 1995 .

[9]  P. Solomon,et al.  Measurement of atmospheric opacity at 278 GHz at McMurdo Station, Antarctica in austral spring seasons, 1986 and 1987 , 1990 .

[10]  J. Bally,et al.  225-GHz atmospheric opacity of the South Pole sky derived from continual radiometric measurements of the sky-brightness temperature. , 1994, Applied optics.

[11]  Hans J. Liebe,et al.  The atmospheric water vapor continuum below 300 GHz , 1983, 1983 Eighth International Conference on Infrared and Millimeter Waves.

[12]  E. I. Robson,et al.  Absolute measurements of atmospheric emission and absorption in the range 100–1000 GHz , 1978 .

[13]  P. Rosenkranz.  Pressure broadening of rotational bands. I - A statistical theory , 1985 .

[14]  H. Aumann,et al.  IRAS OBSERVATIONS OF THE DIFFUSE INFRARED BACKGROUND , 1984 .

[15]  Samuel Harvey Moseley,et al.  LARGE-SCALE CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERSTELLAR DUST FROM COBE DIRBE OBSERVATIONS , 1994 .

[16]  S. Fonti,et al.  Reflectivity measurements of Eccosorb , 1985 .

[17]  J. W. Waters,et al.  2.3. Absorption and Emission by Atmospheric Gases , 1976 .

[18]  E. Serabyn,et al.  Fourier Transform Spectroscopy of the Orion Molecular Cloud Core , 1995 .

[19]  B. L. Ulich,et al.  Improved correction for millimeter-wavelength atmospheric attenuation , 1980 .

[20]  F. X. Kneizys,et al.  Line shape and the water vapor continuum , 1989 .

[21]  R. W. Haas,et al.  Absolute calibration of millimeter-wavelength spectral lines , 1976 .

[22]  C. W. Wood,et al.  Far Infrared Absorption of the Atmosphere Above 4.2 km , 1971 .

[23]  C. Bennett,et al.  Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background spectrum by the COBE FIRAS instrument , 1994 .

[24]  H. Müller,et al.  Submillimeter, millimeter, and microwave spectral line catalog. , 1985, Applied optics.

[25]  P. Rosenkranz,et al.  Absorption of Microwaves by Atmospheric Gases , 1993 .

[26]  Richard H. Tipping,et al.  Water vapor continuum in the millimeter spectral region , 1990 .

[27]  P. Ade,et al.  Zenith atmospheric attenuation measurements at millimetre and sub-millimetre wavelengths , 1981, Nature.

[28]  D. Naylor,et al.  Atmospheric transmission at submillimetre wavelengths from Mauna Kea , 1991 .

[29]  E. Weisstein,et al.  Calibration of planetary brightness temperature spectra at near-millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths with a Fourier-transform spectrometer. , 1996, Applied optics.

[30]  R. Goody.  Principles of atmospheric physics and chemistry , 1995 .

[31]  W A Traub,et al.  Theoretical atmospheric transmission in the mid-and far-infrared at four altitudes. , 1976, Applied optics.