Abstract
An accurate knowledge of the attenuation to be encountered over a vertical path through the atmosphere is vital for astronomy, communications and remote sensing in the millimetre region. We report here the results of spectroscopic sky emission measurements made at an altitude of 2.4 km from a mountain site (Izana) in Tenerife, Canary Islands, and compare them with predictions of a monomer water vapour model. An excess absorption is found which depends linearly on water vapour density with an approximate power law frequency dependence of 1.22; this dependence agrees with previous sea level measurements1. We propose that line shape error is the cause of the excess and suggest a method for correcting astronomical observations for atmospheric attenuation and site testing.
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Zammit, C., Ade, P. Zenith atmospheric attenuation measurements at millimetre and sub-millimetre wavelengths. Nature 293, 550–552 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293550a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/293550a0
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