Performance modeling of a wide-field ground-layer adaptive optics system

Andersen, D.; Stoesz, J.; Morris, S.L.; Lloyd-Hart, M.; Crampton, D.; Butterley, T.; Ellerbroek, B.; Jolissaint, L.; Milton, N.M.; Myers, R.M.; Szeto, K.; Tokovinin, A.; Veran, J-P.; Wilson, R.W.

Abstract

Using five independent analytic and Monte Carlo simulation codes, we have studied the performance of wide-field ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO), which can use a single, relatively low order deformable mirror to correct the wave-front errors from the lowest altitude turbulence. GLAO concentrates more light from a point source in a smaller area on the science detector, but unlike with traditional adaptive optics, images do not become diffraction-limited. Rather, the GLAO point-spread function (PSF) has the same functional form as a seeing-limited PSF and can be characterized by familiar performance metrics such as full width at half-maximum (FWHM). The FWHM of a GLAO PSF is reduced by 0 1 or more for optical and near-infrared wavelengths over different atmospheric conditions. For the Cerro Pachón atmospheric model, this correction is even greater when the image quality is poorest, which effectively eliminates “bad seeing” nights; the best seeing-limited image quality, available only 20% of the time, can be achieved 60%–80% of the time with GLAO. This concentration of energy in the PSF will reduce required exposure times and improve the efficiency of an observatory up to 30%–40%. These performance gains are relatively insensitive to a number of trade-offs, including the exact field of view of a wide-field GLAO system, the conjugate altitude and actuator density of the deformable mirror, and the number and configuration of the guide stars.

Citation

Andersen, D., Stoesz, J., Morris, S., Lloyd-Hart, M., Crampton, D., Butterley, T., …Wilson, R. (2006). Performance modeling of a wide-field ground-layer adaptive optics system. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 118(849), 1574-1590. https://doi.org/10.1086/509266

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Nov 29, 2006
• Deposit Date: Jun 26, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 20, 2010
• Journal: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
• Print ISSN: 0004-6280
• Electronic ISSN: 1538-3873
• Publisher: Astronomical Society of the Pacific
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 118
• Issue: 849
• Pages: 1574-1590
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/509266
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1581428
• Publisher URL: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/PASP/journal/search.html