A satellite survey of cloud cover and water vapor in northwest Africa and southern Spain

D. André Erasmus; R. van Rooyen

doi:10.1117/12.669490

23 June 2006 A satellite survey of cloud cover and water vapor in northwest Africa and southern Spain

D. André Erasmus, R. van Rooyen

Proceedings Volume 6267, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes; 62671O (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.669490
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

A survey of northwest Africa and southern Spain (including the Canary Islands) has been carried out using satellite data from the Meteosat Operational Service (in geostationary orbit at 0^o longitude). The study was funded by European Southern Observatory (ESO) as part of the site survey effort for the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (OWL), recently re-baselined as the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). Cloud cover and water vapor were surveyed over the area 20^oN to 40^oN and 20^oW to 10^oE using satellite data for the 7-year period January 1996 to December 2002. The study included a calibration of the Upper Tropospheric Humidity (UTH) for Meteosat-5, an aerial analysis of cloud cover and precipitable water vapor (PWV) and a verification of the satellite cloud cover using ground-based observations of sky conditions derived from extinction measurements made at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) on La Palma. In view of the importance of establishing the accuracy of the satellite method, a summary of results from earlier verification studies has been included in the relevant section.

Citation Download Citation

D. André Erasmus and R. van Rooyen "A satellite survey of cloud cover and water vapor in northwest Africa and southern Spain", Proc. SPIE 6267, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes, 62671O (23 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.669490

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available