Project AMOS: an Infrared Observatory

Characterization of Meteorological and Seeing Conditions at Haleakala

“…The seeing at MSSS has been characterized many times over the years, from the early 1960s through the present (Zirkind 1965;Greenwood et al 1976;Miller & Zieske 1978;Brown & Good 1984;Beland et al 1988;Walters & Bradford 1997). The original site study indicated excellent seeing, but over the years opinion on the seeing has varied, leading to additional measurements, with campaigns lasting from days to years.…”

“…The original site study indicated excellent seeing, but over the years opinion on the seeing has varied, leading to additional measurements, with campaigns lasting from days to years. Techniques to measure seeing have ranged from star trail measurements (Zirkind 1965), fine-wire anemometers, acoustic sounders, and differential image motion with photographic plates (Greenwood et al 1976), to modulation transfer function-based methods (Miller & Zieske 1978), balloon-borne thermosondes (Brown & Good 1984;Beland et al 1988), and differential image motion monitors (CCD camera-based; this paper). Much of the measurement data are buried in reports that are not easily available to the public.…”

“…The results from the various measurements have been mixed, and in some cases it is hard to assign error bars to the data. Zirkind (1965) presents data from 72 observations over a 11 month period, indicating a median seeing equivalent to an r 0 of cm, with a standard deviation of 0Љ .38. When later 28 ‫ע‬ 15 observations failed to support this kind of seeing, an investigation of the seeing was undertaken by Greenwood et al (1976).…”