Mesoscale optical turbulence simulations above Dome C, Dome A and South Pole

Abstract

In two recent papers the mesoscale model Meso-NH, joint with the Astro-Meso-NH package, has been validated at Dome C, Antarctica, for the characterization of the optical turbulence. It has been shown that the meteorological parameters (temperature and wind speed, from which the optical turbulence depends on) as well as the Cn2 profiles above Dome C were correctly statistically reproduced. The three most important derived parameters that characterize the optical turbulence above the internal antarctic plateau: the surface layer thickness, the seeing in the free-atmosphere and in the total atmosphere showed to be in a very good agreement with observations. Validation of Cn2 has been performed using all the measurements of the optical turbulence vertical distribution obtained in winter so far. In this paper, in order to investigate the ability of the model to discriminate between different turbulence conditions for site testing, we extend the study to two other potential astronomical sites in Antarctica: Dome A and South Pole, which we expect to be characterized by different turbulence conditions. The optical turbulence has been calculated above these two sites for the same 15 nights studied for Dome C and a comparison between the three sites has been performed.