Cerro Chajnantor
The candidate site for CCAT is at 5612 m altitude about 200 m ENE of and 50 m below the summit of Cerro Chajnantor. To evaluate environmental and observing conditions, a submillimeter tipper, a weather station, and other instruments were deployed there in 2006 May. The data from these instruments are available here.
Instruments
Submillimeter Transparency
About every 15 min, a tipper measures the atmospheric transparency in the submillimeter. This instrument alternates between measurements at 350 μm and 200 μm (nominal). A second tipper is installed at the CBI. This allows simultaneous comparison of observing conditions at Cerro Chajnantor (5600 m) and the Chajnantor plateau (5000 m).
Meteorology
A weather station records the air temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind every 15 min.
Surveillance Images
A surveillance camera records several images each day.
Station Position
The CCAT instruments are located about 200 m ENE and 50 m below the summit of Cerro Chajnantor, Chile. By repeated GPS measurements, a high accuracy position has been determined.
| Cerro Chajnantor Station Position | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WGS 84 | SAm 56 | |||
| Latitude [South] | 22° 59' 8.30" | ± 10 mas | 22° 58' 55.3" | |
| Longitude [West] | 67° 44' 25.00" | ± 10 mas | 67° 44' 18.7" | |
| UTM Zone 19: | Northing | 7 457 516 m | ± 0.3 m | 7 457 880 m |
| Easting | 629 119 m | ± 0.3 m | 629 308 m | |
| Altitude [receiver] | 5611.8 m | ± 0.3 m | ||
Satellite view (Google Maps) — Placemark (Google Earth)
Maps
Caveats
These data are results from site characterization measurements made by Cornell and Caltech with the authorization of CONICYT and in cooperation with the University of Chile and others. They are available for use by the CCAT project and other researchers, but please note:- Not all links are active. Some files are preliminary and may be replaced without notice.
- Some files may contain "bad" data when, for example, instruments were malfunctioning. Although we have tried to edit out these data, use the files at your own risk.
- Please do not refer to these data in any publication, etc., without contacting us first.
Simon Radford, CCAT Deputy Project Manager