An infrared radiometer for millimeter astronomy

Abstract

The performance of existing and planned millimeter and submillimeter astronomical arrays is limited by fluctuations in the amount of atmosperic water vapor along the atenna's line of sight. Correcting the resulting phase distortion of the received signals is seen as a significant technological challenge. Measurements of the variation in the line-of-sight water vapor abundance at the level of 1 micron precipitable water vapor on a time scale of 1 second and at arbitrary antenna positions are required. This thesis describes the design of, and preliminary results obtained with, a water vapor monior operating at abundance at the level 1 micron precipitable water vapor on a time scale of 1 second and at arbitrary antenna positions are required. This thesis describes the design of, and preliminary results obtained with, a water vapor monitor operating at infrared wavelengths which shows considerable promise for this application. Improvements in, and future plans for, the second generation water vapor monitor currently under development are also discussed.