Detection of a 14-d atmospheric perturbation peak at Paranal associated with lunar cycles

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the correlation between the atmospheric perturbations at Paranal Observatory and the Chilean coast tides, which are mostly modulated by the 14-day syzygy solar-lunar tidal cycle. To this aim, we downloaded 15 years (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017) of cloud coverage data from the AQUA satellite, in a matrix that includes also Armazones, the site of the European Extremely Large Telescope. By applying the Fast Fourier Transform to these data we detected a periodicity peak of about 14 days. We studied the tide cycle at Chanaral De Las Animas, on the ocean coast, for the year 2017, and we correlated it with the atmospheric perturbations at Paranal and the lunar phases. We found a significant correlation (96%) between the phenomena of short duration and intensity (1-3 days) and the tidal cycle at Chanaral. We then show that an atmospheric perturbation occurs at Paranal in concomitance with the low tide, which anticipates the full (or the new) moon by 3-4 days. This result allows to improve current weather forecasting models for astronomical observatories by introducing a lunar variable.

Satellite measurements of artificial light at night: aerosol effects

“…The aerosol concentration is another fundamental parameter for site testing (Lombardi et al 2008). We then made a Fourier analysis of these data by extrapolating the first fundamental periodicity of the two series, and we related them to the lunar synodic cycle (Cavazzani, Ortolani & Zitelli 2017;Cavazzani et al 2019). The presence of the Moon affects the light detection as described in Cavazzani et al (2020) and Puschnig, Wallner & Posch (2020).…”

Potential of frost damage of off-ground foundation stones in Norwegian Stave Churches since 1950 using land surface temperature

“…Specifically, the use of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) extrapolates the main periodicities (e.g., short term seasonal periodicity) of a series of data. These periods can be used in climate and forecast models (Cavazzani et al 2017, 2019, and 2020 [45] , [46] , [47] ). The FFT is an algorithm for the fast calculation of the DFT.…”

Potential of Frost Damage of Off-Ground Foundation Stones in Norwegian Stave Churches Since 1950 Using Land Surface Temperature

“…Specifically, the use of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) extrapolates the main periodicities (e.g., short term seasonal periodicity) of a series of data. These periods can be used in climate and forecast models (Cavazzani et al 2017, 2019, and 2020 [45,46,47]). The FFT is an Fig.…”