|
| |
There are a variety of weather conditions which can endanger the safety of the
telescope. It is the responsibility of the operator to take appropriate
action if any of the conditions listed below occur. Several monitors of weather
information are available:
- A tipping radiometer operating at 225 GHz takes measurements every 5
minutes. The control to the tipper is in the control room. Currently the
control panel is located on one of the operators many screens. A plot of the
last day is given in the weather program screen. In addition, updated tau
plots can be found on the ARO website: (http://maisel.as.arizona.edu:8080/weather_stats.html)
- The operator's status display gives information on the current wind
speed, the wind speed averaged over 5 minutes, the highest wind speed (gust)
in the last hour, and the highest wind speed (gust) in the last 24 hours. If
the wind limits are exceeded, warning messages are posted on the monitor
display. The status display will also go red in the appropriate wind
speed area. The operator is responsible for shutting down the telescope if the
winds get too high.
- The operators status display reports the current readout of the
pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and the estimated refraction index.
In addition, it displays the most current tau reading from the tipper.
- Current satellite maps are displayed in real time on one of the operators
many displays.
If the operator judges that the telescope is in danger - he has the authority
to shut the telescope down! That includes for wind, rain, snow, sun, etc. We
want you to get data, so if we have to shut down, please realize that it is
because the telescope/building has to be protected. We will try and open as soon
as it is safe to do so.
|
