* Astronomy

Title: 225 GHz Atmospheric Opacity Measurements from Two Arctic Sites
Authors: S. Matsushîta (1), M.-T. Chen (1), P. Martin-Cocher (1), K. Asada (1), C.-P. Chen (1), M. Inoue (1), S. Paine (2), D. Turner (3), E. Steinbring (4) ((1) ASIAA, (2) SAO, (3) National Severe Storms Laboratory, (4) HIA)

We report the latest results of 225 GHz atmospheric opacity measurements from two arctic sites; one on high coastal terrain near the Eureka weather station, on Ellesmere Island, Canada, and the other at the Summit Station near the peak of the Greenland icecap. This is a campaign to search for a site to deploy a new telescope for submillimetre Very Long Baseline Interferometry and THz astronomy in the northern hemisphere. Since 2011, we have obtained 3 months of winter data near Eureka, and about one year of data at the Summit Station. The results indicate that these sites offer a highly transparent atmosphere for observations in submillimetre wavelengths. The Summit Station is particularly excellent, and its zenith opacity at 225 GHz is statistically similar to the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array in Chile. In winter, the opacity at the Summit Station is even comparable to that observed at the South Pole.

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