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An Australian autonomous observatory, PLATO at Dome A

Entry ID: ASAC_3137_SUMMIT_DOMEA_PLATO

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Summary

Abstract: Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 3137
See the link below for public details on this project.

Robotic Science from the High Plateau

Australia's astronomers are exceptionally well placed to lead and to partner major international programs in Antarctic astronomy. These bring Australian industry increased access to cutting edge technology, and create business opportunities in the ... infrastructure and support of Antarctic research. This project aims to capture the lead for Australia in Antarctic astronomy, allowing us to fully capture the benefits of future international investment. Australia's participation in these programs also ensures continued technology exchange, and builds our knowledge base in robotics, harsh-environment engineering and computational fluid dynamics, while creating important new astronomical opportunities. It serves to demonstrate robotic science from the high plateau.

Data from the first year of the project is available for download from the provided URL.

Project objectives:
Within the next decade, the first major optical/infrared telescopes will be built on the Antarctic Plateau, taking advantage of the remarkable conditions known to exist at established sites such as Dome C. In January 2008 our autonomous observatory, PLATO, was deployed by a Chinese team to Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic Plateau and potentially the best observing site on earth. With Dome A now accessible for the first time, we will lead a detailed multi-year study to compare Dome A and Dome C, creating an improved understanding of the Antarctic atmosphere and providing the essential data needed by designers of Antarctic telescopes, interferometers and adaptive optics systems.

This project makes use of robotic technologies in order to gather the data needed for its science. It is a prime example of the way to conduct science from remote locations, such as the Antarctic plateau, where human presence is limited. It can serve as a model for the way other such investigations could be carried out in the future - robotic science from the high plateau.

Public summary of the season progress:
Dome A is the highest point on the Antarctic plateau, and lies within the Australian Antarctic Territory. It is likely the coldest and driest location on the surface of the Earth, and possibly the finest site to make sensitive observations of the faint light from the distant Cosmos. A Chinese scientific station is now under construction there, Kunlun Station. An Australian autonomous observatory, PLATO (PLATeau Observatory), built at the University of New South Wales, was installed at Dome A in 2008. It has now completed two seasons of operations, completely unattended following the departure of the Chinese commissioning expedition. A suite of instruments operated by PLATO are now returning data on the atmospheric conditions at Dome A, in particular relating to the sensitivity that future telescopes could have. These are remarkable achievements and demonstrate Australian leadership and ingenuity in the development of the Antarctic plateau for frontier scientific investigations.

Related URL

Link: GET DATA

Description: Download point for the data

Geographic Coverage

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Spatial coordinates

N: -81.0

S: -81.0

E: 77.0

W: 77.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Release Date: 2011-04-15

Dataset DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4225/15/514A619A36F5C

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2008-01-27

Stop Date: 2010-12-31

Location Keywords

CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA > Dome A

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Science Keywords

ATMOSPHERE > AIR QUALITY > EMISSIONS

ATMOSPHERE > AIR QUALITY > VISIBILITY

ISO Topic Category

CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE

ENVIRONMENT

Platform

FIXED OBSERVATION STATIONS

OBSERVATORIES

Instrument

ACOUSTIC RADAR

Telescopes

Quality Values provided in temporal coverage are approximate only.

Field work:
A Chinese servicing mission to Dome A took place in January 2009. The Chinese icebreaker, Xuelong, received new instrumentation and supplies at Fremantle, and proceeded to the Chinese Antarctic coastal station of Zhongshan. A 2 week tractor traverse, carrying 500 tonnes of equipment ...

Access Constraints Data from the first year of the project are available for download from the provided URL. Copies of two of the publications are available for download only to AAD staff from the provided URL.

Use Constraints This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=ASAC_313... when using these data.

Ancillary Keywords

PLATO

DOME A

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Originating Center

Australian Antarctic Division

Data Center

Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia

Data Center URL: http://data.aad.gov.au

Data Center Personnel
Name: DATA OFFICER AADC Phone: +61 3 6232 3244 Fax: +61 3 6232 3351 Email: metadata at aad.gov.au Contact Address: Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway City: Kingston Province or State: Tasmania Postal Code: 7050 Country: Australia

Distribution

Distribution Media: HTTP

Distribution Size: 973 MB

Distribution Format: csv

Fees: Free

Distribution Media: HTTP

Distribution Size: 808 kb

Distribution Format: pdf

Fees: Free

Personnel

MICHAEL BURTON

Role: INVESTIGATOR

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Role: DIF AUTHOR

Phone: +61 2 9385 5618

Fax: +61 2 9385 6060

Email: M.Burton at unsw.edu.au

Contact Address:

School of Physics

University of New South Wales

City: Sydney

Province or State: NSW

Postal Code: 2052

Country: Australia

Publications/References

Will Saunders, Jon S. Lawrence, John W.V. Storey, Michael C.B. Ashley, Seiji Kato, Pat Minnis, David Winker, Guiping Liu, Craig Kulesa (2009), 'Where is the best site on Earth? Domes A, B, C and F, and Ridges A and B', Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, 121, 976-992

Extended Metadata Properties

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Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2010-04-15

Last DIF Revision Date: 2013-03-25

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