CLASS Observations of Atmospheric Cloud Polarization at millimeter Wavelengths

Yunyang Li; John W. Appel; Charles L. Bennett; Ricardo Bustos; David T. Chuss; Joseph Cleary; Jullianna Denes Couto; Sumit Dahal; Rahul Datta; Rolando Dünner; Joseph R. Eimer; Thomas Essinger-Hileman; Kathleen Harrington; Jeffrey Iuliano; Tobias A. Marriage; Matthew A. Petroff; Rodrigo A. Reeves; Karwan Rostem; Rui Shi; Deniz A. N. Valle; Duncan J. Watts; Oliver F. Wolff; Edward J. Wollack; Zhilei Xu; CLASS Collaboration

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad0233

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)

CLASS Observations of Atmospheric Cloud Polarization at millimeter Wavelengths

Yunyang Li,
John W. Appel,
Charles L. Bennett,
Ricardo Bustos,
David T. Chuss,
Joseph Cleary,
Jullianna Denes Couto,
Sumit Dahal,
Rahul Datta,
Rolando Dünner,
Joseph R. Eimer,
Thomas Essinger-Hileman,
Kathleen Harrington,
Jeffrey Iuliano,
Tobias A. Marriage,
Matthew A. Petroff,
Rodrigo A. Reeves,
Karwan Rostem,
Rui Shi,
Deniz A. N. Valle,
Duncan J. Watts,
Oliver F. Wolff,
Edward J. Wollack,
Zhilei Xu,
CLASS Collaboration

Affiliations

Yunyang Li: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
John W. Appel: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
Charles L. Bennett: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
Ricardo Bustos: ORCiD; Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción , Alonso de Ribera 2850, Concepción, Chile
David T. Chuss: ORCiD; Department of Physics, Villanova University , 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
Joseph Cleary: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
Jullianna Denes Couto: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
Sumit Dahal: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Rahul Datta: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Rolando Dünner: ORCiD; Instituto de Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Avenida Vicuña mackenna 4860, 7820436, Chile; Centro de Astro-Ingeniería, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436, Chile
Joseph R. Eimer: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
Thomas Essinger-Hileman: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Kathleen Harrington: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory , 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
Jeffrey Iuliano: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania , 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Tobias A. Marriage: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
Matthew A. Petroff: ORCiD; Center for Astrophysics , Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Rodrigo A. Reeves: ORCiD; CePIA, Astronomy Department, Universidad de Concepción , Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
Karwan Rostem: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Rui Shi: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
Deniz A. N. Valle: ORCiD; The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; [email protected]
Duncan J. Watts: ORCiD; Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo , P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo, Norway
Oliver F. Wolff: ORCiD; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Edward J. Wollack: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Zhilei Xu: ORCiD; MIT Kavli Institute , Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
CLASS Collaboration

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0233
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 958, no. 2
p. 154

Abstract

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The dynamic atmosphere imposes challenges to ground-based cosmic microwave background observation, especially for measurements on large angular scales. The hydrometeors in the atmosphere, mostly in the form of clouds, scatter the ambient thermal radiation and are known to be the main linearly polarized source in the atmosphere. This scattering-induced polarization is significantly enhanced for ice clouds due to the alignment of ice crystals under gravity, which are also the most common clouds seen at the millimeter-astronomy sites at high altitudes. This work presents a multifrequency study of cloud polarization observed by the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor experiment on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, from 2016–2022, at the frequency bands centered around 40, 90, 150, and 220 GHz. Using a machine-learning-assisted cloud classifier, we made connections between the transient polarized emission found in all four frequencies with the clouds imaged by monitoring cameras at the observing site. The polarization angles of the cloud events are found to be mostly 90° from the local meridian, which is consistent with the presence of horizontally aligned ice crystals. The 90 and 150 GHz polarization data are consistent with a power law with a spectral index of 3.90 ± 0.06, while an excess/deficit of polarization amplitude is found at 40/220 GHz compared with a Rayleigh scattering spectrum. These results are consistent with Rayleigh-scattering-dominated cloud polarization, with possible effects from supercooled water absorption and/or Mie scattering from a population of large cloud particles that contribute to the 220 GHz polarization.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal

ISSN: 1538-4357 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X

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