Microwave remote sensing to help astronomical observations: the Atacama Large Millimeter Array project

摘要

This contribution is aimed at reviewing the impact of the atmosphere for millimeter and submillimeter wave observations performed from platforms inside the Earth's atmosphere with special focus on interferometry and, in particular, on the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) project. The reference atmospheric radiative transfer code for ALMA will be discussed along with some examples of its applications related to ground-based submillimeter astronomy.