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Published July 10, 2008 | Published
Book Section - Chapter Open

Multi Aperture Scintillation Sensor (MASS) used in the site selection of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)

Abstract

One of the main tools used in the TMT site testing campaign is the turbulence profiler MASS. We describe empirical investigations and a side by side comparison of two MASS systems which were performed in order to identify the accuracy of MASS turbulence data and its dependence on the instrument calibration. The accuracy of the total seeing delivered by the TMT MASS systems is found to be better than 0"05. The combination of MASS and DIMM allows to observe the seeing within the first few hundred meters of the atmosphere and can be used to investigate possible correlations with meteorological parameters measured close to the ground. We also compare the detection of clouds and cirrus by means of MASS data (LOSSAM method) with measurements of the thermal emission of clouds using a net radiation sensor. These methods are compared with the visual cloud detection using all sky cameras.

Additional Information

© 2008 Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). We are greateful to Hugo E. Schwarz for his work on the development of the all sky camera systems and for pointing out the potential use of a net radiation sensor for the detection of clouds. We thank the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory staff for their support and hospitality. The TMT Project gratefully acknowledges the support of the TMT partner institutions. They are the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. This work was supported as well by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, the National Research Council of Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

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