SNODAR: AN ACOUSTIC RADAR FOR ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE PROFILING WITH 1 m RESOLUTION

Abstract

Snodar is a 5 kHz monostatic acoustic radar designed to measure the atmospheric turbulence within the first 200 m of the atmosphere with a vertical resolution of 1 m. An in situ calibration target is used to give absolute intensity calibration. The primary moti- vation for building Snodar is to quantify the site conditions for a future astronomical observatory in Antarctica. Two Snodar instruments are operating at Dome A, Antarctica, during 2009 as part of the completely robotic PLATO facility. The instruments are separated by 20 m and sample fro m8mt o 200 mwith a resolution of 1 m allowing the spatial and temporal characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer to be investigated. We present here the acoustic design of Snodar and example data demonstrating the performance of the instrument.