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arXiv · 1902.07977

Towards the forecast of atmospheric parameters and optical turbulence above an astronomical site on 24h time scale

G. Martelloni·E. Masciadri·A. Turchi
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Abstract

Forecast of the atmospheric parameters and optical turbulence applied to the ground-based astronomy is very crucial mainly for the queue scheduling. So far, most efforts have been addressed by our group in developing algorithms for the optical turbulence (CN2) and annexed integrated astroclimatic parameters and quantifying the performances of the Astro-Meso-Nh package in reconstructing such parameters. Besides, intensive analyses on the Meso-Nh performances= in reconstructing atmospheric parameters relevant for the ground-based astronomy has been carried out. Our studies referred always to the night time regime. To extend the applications of our studies to the day time regime, we present, in this contribution, preliminary results obtained by comparing model outputs and measurements of classical atmospheric parameter relevant for the ground-based astronomy in night and day time. We chose as a test case, the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Canary Islands), that offers a very extended set of measurements provided by different sensors belonging to different telescopes on the same summit/Observatory. The convective regime close to the ground typical of the day time is pretty different from the stable regime characterising the night time. This study aims therefore to enlarge the domain of validity of the Astro-Meso-Nh code to new turbulence regimes and it permits to cover the total 24 hours of a day. Such an approach will permit not only an application to solar telescopes (e.g. EST) but also applications to a much extended set of scientific fields, not only in astronomical context such as satellite communications.

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G. Martelloni, E. Masciadri, A. Turchi. 2019-02-21. Towards the forecast of atmospheric parameters and optical turbulence above an astronomical site on 24h time scale. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312489

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