Satellite tracking and imaging is conducted by the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) and Electro-Optic Systems at Mount Stromlo as part of the Space Environment Management Cooperative Research Centre to support debris tracking. To optimally design adaptive optics systems for those applications, it is important to know the atmospheric profile, i.e. how the turbulence is distributed as a function altitude. We have designed a new stereo-SCIDAR instrument1 to conduct a site characterisation campaign at Mount Stromlo site. This paper summarises our current progress: specifications, design choices and post-processing techniques. In particular, we compare two different post-processing algorithms for stereo-SCIDAR, using simulated data cubes. One of the codes is implemented by the RSAA, the other by the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, University of Durham. The comparison shows that the current implementations of both codes produce decent results. However, we can see potential for further improvements.

Date Published: 19 September 2016
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 9979, Laser Communication and Propagation through the Atmosphere and Oceans V, 99790L (19 September 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2240643

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9979:
Laser Communication and Propagation through the Atmosphere and Oceans V
Alexander M. J. van Eijk; Christopher C. Davis; Stephen M. Hammel, Editor(s)