Atmospheric Analysis of the United Arab Emirates for Radio-Astronomy Activities

摘要

Ground-based astronomy is confined to the visible and radio atmospheric windows, wavelength ranges in which the atmosphere is nearly transparent. When the sky is clear, the principal sources of atmospheric attenuation are the molecular resonances of water vapour, oxygen and ozone. In the interest of building the science capabilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UAE Space Agency conducted a study over several sites to understand the country's geographic suitability for radio astronomy observations. This paper will outline the method of conducting the measurements, analysis, and results.