Modeling optical turbulence and seeing over Mauna Kea

Atmospheric turbulence is a primary concern for astronomers. Turbulence causes amplitude and phase fluctuations in electromagnetic waves propagating through the atmosphere, constraining the maximum telescope resolution and resulting in telescope image degradation. Astronomical parameters that quantify these effects are generically referred to as seeing. Adaptive optics (AO) is used to reduce image degradation associated with optical turbulence. However, to optimize AO, knowledge of the vertical profile of turbulence and overall ( integrated) seeing is needed. In this paper, an optical turbulence algorithm is described that makes use of the information on turbulence kinetic energy provided by a planetary boundary layer scheme available in the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5). Optical turbulence data collected on Mauna Kea during the 2002 site monitoring campaign are used to validate the algorithm, which has been implemented in operational runs of MM5 at the Mauna Kea Weather Center.