FASS: a turbulence profiler based on a fast, low-noise camera

Guesalaga, A; Ayancán, B; Sarazin, M; Wilson, RW; Perera, S; Le Louarn, M

Abstract

The measurement of the atmospheric optical turbulence with a new scintillation profiler is described and demonstrated. The instrument, FASS (Full Aperture Scintillation Sensor), uses new fast and low-noise detectors to record and process sequences of scintillation images. Statistical processing of these data is based on the calculation of power spectra of intensity in annular pupil zones over the angular coordinate. The angular power spectra are used to measure the optical turbulence intensity of 14 layers located at logarithmically spaced distances from 0.3 to 25 km. The reference functions relating turbulence strength to the angular power spectra are computed by numerical simulation. Measurement of the ground-later turbulence and total seeing with FASS is possible when the detector is conjugated to a negative (below ground) distance. Results of measurement campaigns at Paranal are reported, documenting a good agreement of turbulence profiles measured by FASS with two other instruments, SCIDAR and MASS.

Citation

Guesalaga, A., Ayancán, B., Sarazin, M., Wilson, R., Perera, S., & Le Louarn, M. (2021). FASS: a turbulence profiler based on a fast, low-noise camera. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 501(2), 3030-3045. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3823

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 8, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 11, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-02
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 2, 2021
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Royal Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 501
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 3030-3045
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3823
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1246240