Tropospheric wind regimes and site topography effects: importance for site characterization

Antonia M. Varela; Casiana Muñoz-Tuñón; Begoña García-Lorenzo; Jesús J. Fuensalida

doi:10.1117/12.671387

23 June 2006 Tropospheric wind regimes and site topography effects: importance for site characterization

Antonia M. Varela, Casiana Muñoz-Tuñón, Begoña García-Lorenzo, Jesús J. Fuensalida

Proceedings Volume 6267, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes; 62671X (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671387
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) at La Palma (Canary Islands) is one of the two top sites selected for hosting the future European Large Telescope (ELT) (http://www.eso.org/projects/e-elt/), the other being Paranal (in Chile). Meteorological and seeing conditions are crucial for the site selection. New concepts related to geophysical properties (seismicity and microsismicity), local climate variability, the presence of aerosols, atmospheric conditions related to the optical turbulence (tropospheric and ground wind regimes) have recently been introduced for selecting sites for a new generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (Munoz-Tunon 2002, Munoz-Tunon et al. 2003 a, 2003 b; Varela et al., 2002; Varela & Munoz-Tunon, 2004; Varela et al., 2004 a, 2004 b) and also for telescope design and feasibility studies for adaptive optics. Wind speed at 200 mbar is one of the key parameters proposed for characterizing atmospheric turbulence above the Observatory (Sarazin & Tokovinin, 2002, Garcia-Lorenzo et al., 2005). A lower average 200 mbar wind speed is obtained at the ORM in comparison with other astronomical sites; furthermore, the ORM ranks first in in suitability for adaptive optics suitability (Garcia-Lorenzo et al., 2005). The usefulness of this value might be conditional on the continuity of the wind value and wind direction from the upper troposphere to the ground level. With this motivation we are undertaking a study of tropospheric and ground winds at several observing sites.

Citation Download Citation

Antonia M. Varela, Casiana Muñoz-Tuñón, Begoña García-Lorenzo, and Jesús J. Fuensalida "Tropospheric wind regimes and site topography effects: importance for site characterization", Proc. SPIE 6267, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes, 62671X (23 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671387

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available