Preliminary DIMM and MASS Nighttime Seeing Measurements at PEARL, in the Canadian High Arctic

TL;DR

This study reports initial measurements of atmospheric seeing at PEARL in the Canadian High Arctic using DIMM and MASS/DIMM instruments, revealing median seeing around 0.76-0.85 arcsec and a model relating seeing to wind speed.

Contribution

It introduces a semi-empirical model linking ground wind speed to atmospheric seeing, based on data from PEARL, and compares different measurement techniques at this high-latitude site.

Findings

Median seeing is approximately 0.76 arcsec with MASS/DIMM.

Best 20 percentile seeing reaches 0.53 arcsec.

Ground wind speed influences atmospheric seeing significantly.

Abstract

Results of deploying a Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) and a DIMM combined with a Multi-Aperture Scintillation Sensor (MASS/DIMM) are reported for campaigns in 2011 and 2012 on the roof of the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL). This facility is on a 610-m-high ridge at latitude 80 degrees N, near the Eureka weatherstation on Ellesmere Island, Canada. The median seeing at 8-m elevation is 0.85 arcsec or better based on DIMM data alone, but is dependent on wind direction, and likely includes a component due to the PEARL building itself. Results with MASS/DIMM yield a median seeing less than 0.76 arcsec. A semi-empirical model of seeing versus ground wind speed is introduced which allows agreement between these datasets, and with previous boundary-layer profiling by lunar scintillometry from the same location. This further suggests that best 20 percentile seeing reaches 0.53 arcsec, of which typically 0.30 arcsec is due to the free atmosphere. Some discussion for guiding future seeing instrumentation and characterization at this site is provided.