[asac][almanews] ALMA Memo 477 Released

[Stacy Oliver]

ALMA MEMO #477 

Working At High Altitude: Medical Problems, Misconceptions, and
Solutions 

John B. West (Department of Medicine, University of California San
Diego) 
and Anthony Readhead (Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California
Institute of Technology) 

2003-10-15

Telescopes are being placed at increasingly high altitudes. The summit
of Mauna Kea, Hawaii (altitude 4200 m) has been a
popular site for some time, but more recently telescopes have been
located on the Chajnantor plateau in north Chile at
an altitude of 5050 m. This will also be the site of the multinational
Atacama Large Millimeter Array. Other nearby sites
up to 5800 m have been used for various instruments. Although remote
observing is increasingly employed this is not
always possible, and it will always be necessary to have some human
beings at the sites. These altitudes can have serious
effects on mental and physical performance and quality of sleep. The
deleterious effects are reduced by the process of
acclimatization but it is a misconception to argue that this returns
mental and physical performance to normal. In fact
fully acclimatized astronomers on the summit of Mauna Kea are so
oxygen-deprived that if this was caused by lung disease
at sea level they would be entitled to treatment by continuous oxygen
therapy. All the medical effects of high altitude
are caused by the low partial pressure of oxygen in the inspired air,
and so the most effective way of improving human
performance is to add supplementary oxygen. Recent technical advances
allow this to be done very efficiently by oxygen
enrichment of room air. The occupants of the room are generally unaware
of the added oxygen but their mental and physical
performance is significantly enhanced. Oxygen enrichment for altitudes
of 5000 m and above should be mandatory and would
also be helpful at more modest altitudes such as 4200 m. 

View a pdf version of ALMA Memo #477. 
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-memos/alma477/memo477.pdf

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