High Resolution analysis of the South Pole Atmosphere for CMB observations

Maps of Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) fluctuations in the South Pole Atmosphere are highly informative and suitable to study atmospheric noise leakage into Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data.

Cosmological B-Modes in the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) can provide direct evidence for inflation. The Bicep/Keck Array (BK) program has published the most stringent constraints on inflation to date, and Bicep Array (BA), the newest stage of the experiment, is projected to reach a level of sensitivity one order of magnitude lower than the tightest constraint today. Even as this big detector improvement increases sensitivity, atmospheric fluctuations in space and time limit our ability to explore large angular scales. We have carried out a high temporal and spatial resolution measurements of the atmospheric brightness fluctuations at the South Pole using a Water Vapor Radiometer (WVR) that is scanning the sky in azimuth twice per minute at an elevation that matches the center of BK maps. We have produced atmospheric maps that are suitable for cleaning CMB data.