Dr. Balthasar T. Indermuehle Profile

Dr. Balthasar T. Indermuehle

Senior Experimental Scientist at CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (6)

Proceedings Article | 10 July 2018 Presentation + Paper

Using near real-time satellite data for severe weather protection of remote telescope facilities

Balthasar Indermuehle, Lisa Harvey-Smith, Malte Marquarding, John Reynolds

Proceedings Volume 10704, 107041W (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2311926

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Satellites, Antennas, Meteorological satellites, Radar, Meteorology, Sensors, Satellite imaging

Read Abstract +

Remotely operated astronomical radio telescope facilities that are spread over a large geographical area demand a new kind of protection from severe weather phenomena such as wind gusts and lightning. Both of these factors pose a unique danger to dish shaped antennas which many radio telescopes are based on. Structural damage can be incurred by severe wind gusts if a dish antenna is not stowed into its minimum wind profile position, and lightning protection might not be at its optimal configuration if the dish is not stowed. Traditionally, anemometers have provided wind information to base stow decisions on. In the case of thunderstorms capable of triggering microburst events however, anemometers do not provide timely enough warning, and their spot measurements are too localised to provide safety for distributed antenna networks.

We discuss our implementation of a near real-time satellite data based severe storm warning system built for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), the methods used to diagnose convective developments, and we will show on a number of examples how well such a satellite based system can work, despite the system inherent time lag. We conclude by discussing future developments and improvements that can be made to the system for deployment with extremely large projects such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) currently being planned and built in South Africa and Australia that will require monitoring of an area orders of magnitude larger even than we are monitoring today.

Using data products derived from the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) deployed on the Japanese Meteorological Agency’s (JMA) Himawari 8 satellite, we can obtain information on convective developments in the troposphere that are likely to result in dangerous wind gusts. This data is taken in 10 minute intervals and generally available no later than 8 minutes after the observation time, thus providing near real-time information on the weather situation. One additional challenge is the large area covered by the radio interferometers we are operating. In the case of the Australian Square Kilometre Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope in remote West Australia’s Murchison Radio Observatory (MRO), the landmass covers dozens of square kilometers featuring 36 dish antennas of 12m diameter each.

Proceedings Article | 10 July 2018 Paper

RFI mitigation through prediction and avoidance

Balthasar Indermuehle, Lisa Harvey-Smith, Malte Marquarding, John Reynolds

Proceedings Volume 10704, 107042S (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2311917

KEYWORDS: Antennas, Signal detection, Satellites, Radio propagation, Receivers, Atmospheric modeling, Earth's atmosphere

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 6 August 2014 Paper

Remote access and operation of telescopes by the scientific users

P. Edwards, S. Amy, D. Brodrick, E. Carretti, S. Hoyle, B. Indermuehle, D. McConnell, S. Mader, P. Mirtschin, B. Preisig, M. Smith, J. Stevens, R. Wark, M. Wieringa, X. Wu

Proceedings Volume 9149, 91490I (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2058794

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Space telescopes, Observatories, Antennas, Astronomical telescopes, Receivers, System on a chip, Control systems, Radio telescopes, Astrophysics

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 24 September 2012 Paper

Water vapour radiometers for the Australia telescope compact array

Balthasar Indermuehle, Michael Burton, Jonathan Crofts

Proceedings Volume 8452, 84521Z (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925250

KEYWORDS: Radiometry, Calibration, Atmospheric modeling, Temperature metrology, Telescopes, Antennas, Receivers, Water, Space telescopes, Image processing

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 30 July 2010 Paper

Mopra remote observing: a story of innovation and success

Balthasar Indermuehle, Philip Edwards

Proceedings Volume 7737, 773715 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.863608

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Space telescopes, Observatories, Control systems, Radio telescopes, Astronomy, Receivers, Reliability, Astronomical telescopes, Telecommunications

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 23 June 2006 Paper

Site testing Dome A, Antarctica

J. Lawrence, M. C. Ashley, M. Burton, X. Cui, J. Everett, B. Indermuehle, S. Kenyon, D. Luong-Van, A. Moore, J. W. Storey, A. Tokovinin, T. Travouillon, C. Pennypacker, L. Wang, D. York

Proceedings Volume 6267, 62671L (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.670960

KEYWORDS: Domes, Observatories, Turbulence, Infrared radiation, Astronomy, Control systems, Sensors, Telecommunications, Atmospheric optics, Iridium

Read Abstract +

Showing 5 of 6 publications

View contact details

UPDATE YOUR PROFILE

Is this your profile? Update it now.

Sign into your SPIE.org account

Don’t have a profile and want one?

Create an account on SPIE.org

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years