Minimum precipitable water in the atmosphere above Skibotn,Northern Norway

For the site of the astronomical observatory operated by The University of Tromsø in Skibotn, Northern Norway, the distribution of very small amounts of atmospheric water vapour is estimated from aerological data. For 5 winter months through a period of 11 years, during at least 6 per cent of the time, the precipitable water is likely not to exceed 3.0 mm, i.e. observations at wavelengths as long as 25 and a little short of 1 mm are possible. For a mountain site at 1250 m altitude, the corresponding amount is estimated to be 1.8 mm. The small amounts considered, were observed in the subsidence of tropospheric ridges. The Skibotn site is compared with other sites for infrared measurements in the Subtropics and in the Arctic.