Mesoscale optical turbulence simulations above Tibetan Plateau: first attempt

The vertical distributions of optical turbulence (C n2 profiles) are a major factor in defining the capabilities of ground-based telescopes and interferometers. As site-testing campaigns are extremely expensive and instruments only provide the local atmospheric parameter, atmospheric modeling might represent an advance prediction result in astronomical sites. The key meteorological parameters and the integrated astroclimatic parameters (Fried parameter r₀, seeing ɛ, isoplanatic angle θ_AO and wavefront coherence time τ_AO) related to the C n2 profiles above the Tibetan Plateau are investigated for astronomical applications by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Radiosonde measurements from a field campaign at Lhasa station above the Tibetan Plateau are used to quantify the ability of this model. The results show that the C n2 profile decreases rapidly in the surface layer, increasing with height from the boundary layer to low stratosphere, and decreases gradually in the high free atmosphere. From the whole campaign measurements above the Tibetan Plateau, the mean r₀ is 8.64 cm, the mean ɛ is 1.55'', the mean θ_AO is 0.42'' and the mean τ_AO is 1.89 ms, and the comparison with the other world's leading observatory sites have been presented. In addition, such as the bias and the root-mean-squared error are used to quantify the performance of the WRF model. In spite of the model performance in reconstructing the meteorological parameters is reasonable in general, the uncertainty in quantifying the C n2 profiles and the integrated parameters are not negligible in some cases. The main results of this study tell us that the WRF model could provide a useful resource to design, monitor the performance of, and even optimize the operation of sophisticated Adaptive Optics (AO) systems.