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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/8719
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dc.contributor.authorSingh, Tanmay-
dc.contributor.authorRao, Mayuri Sathyanarayana-
dc.contributor.authorThakur, Ritoban Basu-
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-25T06:31:03Z-
dc.date.available2026-05-25T06:31:03Z-
dc.date.issued2026-05-07-
dc.identifier.citationThe Astronomical Journal, 2026, Vol. 171 (6), AR No. 331en_US
dc.identifier.issn1538-3881-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2289/8719-
dc.descriptionOpen Access. Also available at arXiv.orgen_US
dc.description.abstractThe Himalayan plateau region of Ladakh, India, is a potential host for a science-class submillimeter observatory, building on existing astronomical infrastructure near Hanle and Merak. Using the fifth-generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis (ERA5) data, we analyze precipitable water vapor (PWV) at monthly resolution over 184 months from 2010 January to 2025 April, map PWV statistics across Ladakh, and identify candidate regions that reach PWV ≤1 mm. For promising locations, we compute atmospheric transmittance and the corresponding atmospheric photon-noise using the am (Atmospheric Model) radiative transfer code; we present transmittance and brightness temperature estimates over 10–1000 GHz and compare the inferred performance to sites hosting current or planned submillimeter facilities worldwide. We find Ladakh to be favorable for submillimeter observations, with multiple ERA5 grid cells reaching PWV ≤ 1 mm. Within ERA5’s spatial resolution, two regions emerge as particularly promising: Site A (≈34.25∘N, 78.75∘E) and Site B (≈32.50∘N, 79.00∘E), which satisfy PWV ≤1 mm for about 23% and 19% of the study duration, respectively, compared to about 5% and 8% for the Hanle and Merak grid cells. These results motivate targeted in situ radiometer measurements for final site selection.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherAmerican Astronomical Societyen_US
dc.relation.urihttps://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.13487en_US
dc.relation.urihttps://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ae5e4een_US
dc.rights© 2026. The Author(s).en_US
dc.subjectObservational astronomyen_US
dc.subjectObservatoriesen_US
dc.subjectTelescopesen_US
dc.subjectWater vaporen_US
dc.subjectAstronomical instrumentationen_US
dc.subjectSubmillimeter astronomyen_US
dc.subjectAtmospheric effectsen_US
dc.subjectRadiative transferen_US
dc.subjectRemote sensingen_US
dc.subjectEarth atmosphereen_US
dc.titleSite Quality Analysis for an Indian Submillimeter Telescope: A Reanalysis-based Approachen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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