PLATO-R is an autonomous, robotic observatory that can be deployed anywhere on the Antarctic plateau by Twin Otter
aircraft. It provides heat, data acquisition, communications, and up to 1kW of electric power to support astronomical and
other experiments throughout the year. PLATO-R was deployed in 2012 January to Ridge A, believed to be the site with
the lowest precipitable water vapour (and hence the best atmospheric transmission at terahertz frequencies) on earth.1-4
PLATO-R improves upon previous PLATO designs that were built into ten-foot shipping containers by being much smaller
and lighter, allowing it to be field-deployable within 2-3 days by a crew of four.
Nigel is a fiber-fed UV/visible grating spectrograph with a thermoelectrically-cooled 256×1024 pixel CCD camera,
designed to measure the twilight and night sky brightness from 300nm to 850 nm. Nigel has three pairs of fibers,
each with a field-of-view with an angular diameter of 25 degrees, pointing in three fixed positions towards the
sky. The bare fibers are exposed to the sky with no additional optics. The instrument was deployed at Dome A,
Antarctica in January 2009 as part of the PLATO (PLATeau Observatory) robotic observatory. During the 2009
winter, Nigel made approximately six months of continuous observations of the sky, with typically 104 deadtime
between exposures. The resulting spectra provide quantitative information on the sky brightness, the auroral
contribution, and the water vapour content of the atmosphere. We present details of the design, construction
and calibration of the Nigel spectrometer, as well some sample spectra from a preliminary analysis.
Snodar is a high resolution acoustic radar designed specifically for profiling the atmospheric boundary layer on the high
Antarctic plateau. Snodar profiles the atmospheric temperature structure function constant to a vertical resolution of 1 m
or better with a minimum sample height of 8 m. The maximum sampling height is dependent on atmospheric conditions
but is typically at least 100 m. Snodar uses a unique in-situ intensity calibration method that allows the instrument to be
autonomously recalibrated throughout the year. The instrument is initially intensity calibrated against tower-mounted
differential microthermal sensors. A calibration sphere is located in the near-field of the antenna to provide a fixed echo
of known intensity, allowing the instrument to be continuously re-calibrated once deployed. This allows snow
accumulation, transducer wear and system changes due to temperature to be monitored. Year-round power and
communications are provided by the PLATO facility. This allows processed data to be downloaded every 6 hours while
raw data is stored on-site for collection the following summer. Over 4 million processed samples have been downloaded
through PLATO to date. We present signal attenuation from accumulation of snow and ice on Snodar's parabolic
reflector during the 2009 at Dome A.
The high altitude Antarctic sites of Dome A and the South Pole offer intriguing locations for future large scale optical
astronomical Observatories. The Gattini project was created to measure the optical sky brightness, large area cloud cover
and aurora of the winter-time sky above such high altitude Antarctic sites. The Gattini- DomeA camera was installed on
the PLATO instrument module as part of the Chinese-led traverse to the highest point on the Antarctic plateau in January
2008. This single automated wide field camera contains a suite of Bessel photometric filters (B, V, R) and a long-pass
red filter for the detection and monitoring of OH emission. We have in hand one complete winter-time dataset (2009)
from the camera that was recently returned in April 2010.
The Gattini-South Pole UV camera is a wide-field optical camera that in 2011 will measure for the first time the UV
properties of the winter-time sky above the South Pole dark sector. This unique dataset will consist of frequent images
taken in both broadband U and B filters in addition to high resolution (R~5000) long slit spectroscopy over a narrow
bandwidth of the central field. The camera is a proof of concept for the 2m-class Antarctic Cosmic Web Imager
telescope, a dedicated experiment to directly detect and map the redshifted lyman alpha fluorescence or Cosmic Web
emission we believe possible due to the unique geographical qualities of the site.
We present the current status of both projects.
For continuous observation at locations that are inhospitable for humans, the desirability of autonomous observatories is
self evident. PLATO, the 'PLATeau Observatory' was designed to host an easily configurable instrument suite in the
extremely cold conditions on the Antarctic plateau, and can provide up to 1 kW of power for the instruments. Powered
by jet fuel and the Sun, PLATO and its instruments have been taking nearly uninterrupted astronomical science and sitetesting
data at Dome A, the coldest, highest and driest location1 on the Antarctic Plateau, since their deployment by the
24th Chinese expedition team in January 2008. At the time of writing, PLATO has delivered a total uptime of 730 days.
Following a servicing mission by the 25th Chinese expedition team in 2008-9, PLATO has achieved 100% up-time (520
days) and has been in continuous contact with the rest of the world via its Iridium satellite modems. This paper discusses
the performance of the observatory itself, assesses the sources of energy and dissects how the energy is divided between
the core observatory functions of instrument power, heating, control and communication.
PLATO is a self-contained robotic observatory built into two 10-foot shipping containers. It has been successfully
deployed at Dome A on the Antarctic plateau since January 2008, and has accumulated over 730 days of
uptime at the time of writing. PLATO provides 0.5{1kW of continuous electrical power for a year from diesel
engines running on Jet-A1, supplemented during the summertime with solar panels. One of the 10-foot shipping
containers houses the power system and fuel, the other provides a warm environment for instruments. Two
Iridium satellite modems allow 45 MB/day of data to be transferred across the internet.
Future enhancements to PLATO, currently in development, include a more modular design, using lithium
iron-phosphate batteries, higher power output, and a light-weight low-power version for eld deployment from a
Twin Otter aircraft.
Technologies used in PLATO include a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus, high-reliability PC/104 com-
puters, ultracapacitors for starting the engines, and fault-tolerant redundant design.
PLATO, the 'PLATeau Observatory', is a robotic Antarctic observatory developed by UNSW for deployment to
Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau. PLATO is designed to run autonomously for up to a year, providing
power, communications and thermal management for a suite of scientific and site-testing instruments. To achieve this
degree of autonomy, multiple-redundant Linux-based 'supervisor' computers, each with their own watchdog-timer and
Iridium satellite-modem, communicate with each other and with the outside world. The active supervisor computer
monitors and controls the PLATO power distribution, thermal and engine management subsystems via a CAN (Control
Area Network) bus. High-bandwidth communication between the instruments and the supervisor computers is via a
100 Mbps Local Area Network. Data is stored in cold-verified flash memory. The PLATO computers monitor up to 140
analog channels and distribute electrical power and heating to 96 current-monitored channels via an intelligent load-shedding
algorithm.
PLATO (PLATeau Observatory) is the third-generation astronomical site-testing laboratory designed by the University
of New South Wales. This facility is operating autonomously to collect both scientific and site-testing data from
Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau, at an elevation of 4093m. We describe the power generation and
management system of PLATO. Two redundant arrays of solar panels and a multiply-redundant set of small diesel
engines are intended to provide 1-2kW of electrical power for a full year without refueling or other intervention. An
environmental chamber has been constructed to study the
high-altitude performance of the diesel engines, and suitable
cold-starting procedures and engine lubrication techniques have been developed. PLATO's power system is an
innovative solution with wide applicability to small astronomical facilities on the Antarctic plateau, offering minimum
environmental impact and requiring minimal human intervention.
Over a decade of site testing in Antarctica has shown that both South Pole and Dome C are exceptional sites for
astronomy, with certain atmospheric conditions superior to those at existing mid-latitude sites. However, the highest
point on the Antarctic plateau, Dome A, is expected to experience colder atmospheric temperatures, lower wind speeds,
and a turbulent boundary layer that is confined closer to the ground. The Polar Research Institute of China, who were the
first to visit the Dome A site in January 2005, plan to establish a permanently manned station there within the next
decade. As part of this process they conducted a second expedition to Dome A, arriving via overland traverse in January
2008. This traverse involved the delivery and installation of the PLATeau Observatory (PLATO). PLATO is an
automated self-powered astrophysical site testing observatory, developed by the University of New South Wales. A
number of international institutions have contributed site testing instruments measuring turbulence, optical sky
background, and sub-millimetre transparency. In addition, a set of science instruments are providing wide-field high time
resolution optical photometry and terahertz imaging of the Galaxy. We present here an overview of the PLATO system
design and instrumentation suite.
We present the Gattini project: a multisite campaign to measure the optical sky properties above the two high altitude
Antarctic astronomical sites of Dome C and Dome A. The Gattini-DomeC project, part of the IRAIT site testing
campaign and ongoing since January 2006, consists of two cameras for the measurement of optical sky brightness, large
area cloud cover and auroral detection above the DomeC site, home of the French-Italian Concordia station. The cameras
are transit in nature and are virtually identical except for the nature of the lenses. The cameras have operated
successfully throughout the past two Antarctic winter seasons and here we present the first results obtained from the
returned 2006 dataset. The Gattini-DomeA project will place a similar site testing facility at the highest point on the
Antarctic plateau, Dome A, with observations commencing in 2008. The project forms a small part of a much larger
venture coordinated by the Polar Research Institute of China as part of the International Polar Year whereby an
automated site testing facility called PLATO will be traversed into the DomeA site. The status of this exciting and
ambitious project with regards to the Gattini-DomeA cameras will be presented.
Pre-HEAT is a 20 cm aperture submillimeter-wave telescope with a 660 GHz (450 micron) Schottky diode heterodyne
receiver and digital FFT spectrometer for the Plateau Observatory (PLATO) developed by the University of New South
Wales. In January 2008 it was deployed to Dome A, the summit of the Antarctic plateau, as part of a scientific traverse
led by the Polar Research Institute of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dome A may be one of the best sites
in the world for ground based Terahertz astronomy, based on the exceptionally cold, dry and stable conditions which
prevail there. Pre-HEAT is measuring the 450 micron sky opacity at Dome A and mapping the Galactic Plane in the
13CO J=6-5 line, constituting the first submillimeter measurements from Dome A. It is field-testing many of the key
technologies for its namesake -- a successor mission called HEAT: the High Elevation Antarctic Terahertz telescope.
Exciting prospects for submillimeter astronomy from Dome A and the status of Pre-HEAT will be presented.
KEYWORDS: Acoustics, Calibration, Scattering, Radar, Information operations, Data acquisition, Optical spheres, Transducers, Atmospheric modeling, Domes
The height of the atmospheric boundary layer on the Antarctic plateau is of particular importance to designers of optical
telescopes for Antarctica. Snodar was developed at the University of New South Wales to measure the height of the
atmospheric boundary layer at Dome A and Dome C on the Antarctic plateau. Snodar, or Surface layer Non-Doppler
Acoustic Radar, is a true monostatic high-frequency acoustic radar (SODAR) operating between 5 kHz and 15 kHz. As
the height of the boundary layer at Dome C is expected to be less then 30 m, and unknown at Dome A, Snodar was
designed to have a minimum sampling height of 5 m with a vertical resolution of 1 m or better. Snodar uses a PC/104
computer to perform signal processing in real time, and a USB sound card for low-latency analog IO. Snodar was
designed to run autonomously storing data on USB flash disks for retrieval the following summer, while uploading of
data acquisition scripts and spot checking of data is possible via Iridium satellite through UNSW's PLATO facility.
Snodar also incorporates a unique in-situ calibration sphere. We present details of the design and results from testing of
Snodar.
The Gattini cameras are two site testing instruments for the measurement of optical sky brightness, large area cloud cover and auroral detection of the night sky above the high altitude Dome C site in Antarctica. The cameras have been in operation since January 2006. The cameras are transit in nature and are virtually identical, both adopting Apogee Alta ccd detectors. The camera called Gattini-SBC images a 6 degree field centred on the South Pole, an elevation of 75° at the Dome C site. The camera takes repeated images of the same 6 degree field in the Sloan g' band (centred on 477nm) and, by adopting a lens with sufficiently long focal length, one can integrate the sky background photons and directly compare to the equivalent values of the stars within the field. The second camera, called Gattini-allsky, incorporates a fish-eye lens and images ~110 degree field centred on local zenith. By taking frequent images of the night sky we will obtain long term cloud cover statistics, measure the sky background intensity as a function of solar and lunar altitude and phase and directly measure the spatial extent of bright aurora if present and when they occur. An overview of the project is presented together with preliminary results from data taken since operation of the cameras in January 2006.
Profiling the ground layer turbulence for daytime seeing applications using an array of photodiodes has been documented
in literature, in particular by Beckers who coined the term "SHABAR" for the instrument, short for Shadow Band
Ranger. In this case the photodiodes measure the variation of solar intensity as a function of time and the correlation of
scintillation between spatially separated scintillometers can be used to derive structure constant values for the lower
100m or so. More recently SHABARs have been applied to night time atmospheric profiling using the moon as the
extended source, such as the Pan-STARRS lunar SHABAR, a more challenging venture given the lower structure
constant values and therefore higher sensitivity required. We present a summary of the lunar SHABAR currently
operating at the Antarctic site of Dome C, one of the three Gattini site testing instruments for the Italian-led IRAIT
project. The SHABAR was designed with low noise performance in mind and for low temperature operation. Ground
layer profiling is of particular importance at the Dome C site during winter-time as it is known the majority of the
integrated seeing measured at ground level is created in a turbulent layer very close to the ground.
Recent data have shown that Dome C, on the Antarctic plateau, is an exceptional site for astronomy, with atmospheric
conditions superior to those at any existing mid-latitude site. Dome C, however, may not be the best site on the
Antarctic plateau for every kind of astronomy. The highest point of the plateau is Dome A, some 800 m higher than
Dome C. It should experience colder atmospheric temperatures, lower wind speeds, and a turbulent boundary layer that
is confined closer to the ground. The Dome A site was first visited in January 2005 via an overland traverse, conducted
by the Polar Research Institute of China. The PRIC plans to return to the site to establish a permanently manned station
within the next decade. The University of New South Wales, in collaboration with a number of international institutions,
is currently developing a remote automated site testing observatory for deployment to Dome A in the 2007/8 austral
summer as part of the International Polar Year. This self-powered observatory will be equipped with a suite of site
testing instruments measuring turbulence, optical and infrared sky background, and sub-millimetre transparency. We
present here a discussion of the objectives of the site testing campaign and the planned configuration of the observatory.
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