Precipitable water vapor (PWV) is an important parameter in the atmospheric column, which impacts the performance of an astronomical observatory in the research of the infrared (IR) and millimeter bands.
Water vapor is the most important absorber of cosmic radiation and the main cause of the opacity for ground-based astronomical observation in infrared and other bands. Therefore, accurately measuring and researching on the temporal variability of PWV is critical in site testing tasks.
In order to explore the observation condition of Muztagh-ata station in the IR and millimeter bands, a research team led by XU Jing from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated the PWV distribution and the transmission in the mid-infrared bands at the station based on the remote-sensing datasets and limited radiometers data.
Since 2017, researchers from XAO have been observing conditions at the Muztagh-ata station.
The results confirmed that the Muztagh-ata station has excellent condition with low level water vapor for astronomical observations. The PWV values in median clear days were 2.28 mm and 2.37 mm for 2018 and 2019, respectively.
The researchers calculated the atmospheric transmission in mid-infrared bands. They confirmed the potential of Muztagh-ata station for IR observation and the hosting of the 1.9m telescope.
The next phase of this research will focus on exploring the observation potential in millimeter and submillimeter bands.
