Automated wind velocity profiling from adaptive optics telemetry

Laidlaw, Douglas J; Osborn, James; Morris, Timothy J; Basden, Alastair G; Gendron, Eric; Rousset, Gérard; Townson, Matthew J; Wilson, Richard W

Abstract

Ground-based adaptive optics (AO) systems can use temporal control techniques to greatly improve image resolution. A measure of wind velocity as a function of altitude is needed to minimize the temporal errors associated with these systems. Spatio-temporal analysis of AO telemetry can express the wind velocity profile using the SLODAR technique. However, the limited altitude-resolution of current AO systems makes it difficult to disentangle the movement of independent layers. It is therefore a challenge to create an algorithm that can recover the wind velocity profile through SLODAR data analysis. In this study we introduce a novel technique for automated wind velocity profiling from AO telemetry. Simulated and on-sky centroid data from CANARY - an AO testbed on the 4.2 m William Herschel telescope, La Palma - is used to demonstrate the proficiency of the technique. Wind velocity profiles measured on-sky are compared to contemporaneous measurements from Stereo-SCIDAR, a dedicated high-resolution atmospheric profiler. They are also compared to European centre for medium-range weather forecasts. The software package that we developed to complete this study is open source.

Citation

Laidlaw, D. J., Osborn, J., Morris, T. J., Basden, A. G., Gendron, E., Rousset, G., Townson, M. J., & Wilson, R. W. (2020). Automated wind velocity profiling from adaptive optics telemetry. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 491(1), 1287-1294. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz3062

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 18, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Nov 4, 2019
• Publication Date: Jan 31, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 8, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 8, 2019
• 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: 491
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1287-1294
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz3062
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1283885