Peter Webb wrote:

....

So its your contention that the atmosphere is transparent all the way up
from microwaves to IR?

I didn't see anything referring to atmospheric transparency in Ms.
Schulter's response but I'll point you to
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-...7/memo187.html
or
'MMA Memo 187: Modeling of the Submillimeter Opacity on Chajnantor'

specifically figures 1-6 which show opacities through air paths and
modeled opacities over Mauna Kea, HI. Farther on the authors discuss
predicting opacities over the ALMA site in Chile.

What it comes down to is: No, the atmosphere is not 'transparent all
the way up from microwaves to IR,' but there are windows of transparency
where valuable observations can be made.

Something else possibly worth perusing is
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/naasc/present...07_Handout.pdf

and of course the entire ALMA/MMA Memo Series,
http://www.alma.info/