Observation of a strong inverse temperature dependence for the opacity of atmospheric water vapor in the MM continuum near 280 GHz

Using atmospheric opacity measurements made at 278 GHz (9.3 cm^–1) at McMurdo Station, Antarctica during the austral springs of 1986 and 1987, combined with measurements of water vapor profile and total column density from near-simultaneous balloon flights, we have determined the attenuation per mm of precipitable water vapor (pwv) at this frequency. Our data were taken at significantly lower temperatures than other measurements in the literature for which accompanying water vapor pressure and temperature data are available. The results show a strong inverse dependence with temperature: measured opacity per mm of pwv is roughly a factor of two times greater at –35°C than at –10°C and three times greater than measurements at the same wavelength at +25°C reported by Zammit and Ade. We briefly review various theories proposed to explain excess absorption in continuum regions. Our lowtemperature measurements demonstrate a significantly greater inverse temperature dependence than embodied in several formulations, theoretical or empirical, proposed to represent mm-wave attenuation as a function of temperature and water vapor. The present results are qualitatively similar to observations of strong inverse temperature dependence in the near IR, but if attributed to water vapor dimer formation, imply a greater binding energy for the dimer than generally proposed by others. There is some independent evidence for a local anomaly in temperature dependence as a function of frequency near 280 GHz. It remains to be established whether our own results are strongly frequency dependent or apply generally to the mm-wave continuum.