First identied in 2009 as the site with the lowest precipitable water and best terahertz transmission on Earth,
Ridge A is located approximately 150 km south of Dome A, Antarctica. To further rene this optimum location
prior to deployment in 2012 of a robotic THz observatory, we have modelled the atmospheric transmission as
a function of location over a 1,000,000 km square grid using three years of data from the Microwave Humidity
Sounder on the NOAA-18 satellite. The modelling identies a broad area of exceptionally low water vapour close
to the 4,000 metre elevation contour, reaching below 100 microns for extended periods of time.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Citation
Geoff Sims ; Craig Kulesa ; Michael C. B. Ashley ; Jon S. Lawrence ; Will Saunders, et al.
"Where is Ridge A?", Proc. SPIE 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV, 84445H (September 17, 2012); doi:10.1117/12.925512; http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.925512
