Adaptive Optics Parameters connection to wind speed at the Teide Observatory

TL;DR

This study investigates how atmospheric turbulence parameters at Teide Observatory relate to wind speeds, using extensive measurements to improve adaptive optics system design for large telescopes.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive analysis of adaptive optics parameters in relation to wind speed at Teide Observatory, utilizing over 20,000 turbulence profiles and balloon data.

Findings

Strong correlation between wind speed at 200 mbar and turbulence parameters.

Confirmation of high atmospheric stability at Teide Observatory.

Potential for using wind data to estimate turbulence for telescope planning.

Abstract

Current projects for large telescopes demand a proper knowledge of atmospheric turbulence to design efficient adaptive optics systems in order to reach large Strehl ratios. However, the proper characterization of the turbulence above a particular site requires long-term monitoring. Due to the lack of long-term information on turbulence, high-altitude winds (in particular winds at the 200 mbar pressure level) were proposed as a parameter for estimating the total turbulence at a particular site, with the advantage of records of winds going back several decades. We present the first complete study of atmospheric adaptive optics parameters above the Teide Observatory (Canary Islands, Spain) in relation to wind speed. On-site measurements of CN2(h) profiles (more than 20200 turbulence profiles) from G-SCIDAR observations and wind vertical profiles from balloons have been used to calculate the seeing, the isoplanatic angle and the coherence time. The connection of these parameters to wind speeds at ground and 200 mbar pressure level are shown and discussed. Our results confirm the well-known high quality of the Canary Islands astronomical observatories.