Optical seeing monitoring at the Oukaïmeden in the Moroccan high atlas mountains: first statistics

Benkhaldoun, Z.; Abahamid, A.; Azhari, Y. El; Lazrek, M.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20042515

“…The photometric, meteorological, and astro-climatological study of that site provided promising results. However, the pre-selection of Oukaimeden for the E-ELT project was discarded because of it being affected by light pollution despite its excellent astroclimatological qualities (Benkhaldoun et al 1993(Benkhaldoun et al , 2005Hill et al 1994;Jabiri et al 2000;Ziad et al 2001;Benkhaldoun 2002). A site-testing campaign in the framework of the E-ELT project was carried out at Jbel Aklim, which is located in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas mountains, at the geographical coordinates 30 • 7 39 north and 08 • 18 31 west.…”

Section: Selection Strategy Of Aklim Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…About 67 408 values of seeing were measured during that period using a DIMM aperture. The DIMM theory has been explained well in many papers (Martin 1987;Sarazin & Roddier 1990;Tokovinin 2002;Benkhaldoun et al 2005). It consists of two sub-apertures of a small telescope that form two images of a star on a CCD camera.…”

Section: Seeing Measurement At Aklim Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

First characterization of Jbel Aklim in Moroccan Anti-Atlas as a potential site for the E-ELT

Sabil

¹

,

Benkhaldoun

²

,

Lazrek

³

et al. 2010

A&A

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Context. In the framework of the European Extremely Large Telescope project (E-ELT), a survey of prospective sites was launched by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to select a site to host the next generation of optical telescopes of 42 m diameter, i.e., the E-ELT. The Moroccan Anti-Atlas (Jbel Aklim) was selected as one of these sites. Aims. We present an analysis of meteorological parameters and seeing measurements at Aklim, the Moroccan prospective site of the E-ELT project. Methods. We initiated a preliminary campaign to measure the astronomical seeing at Jbel Aklim using a differential image motion monitor (DIMM) instrument. We installed a weather station 2 m above the ground level to measure meteorological parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction. Results. We present data obtained by the DIMM monitor during 105 nights. The median and mean values of the seeing for the entire period of observation are 0.72 and 0.79 , respectively, with a standard deviation of 0.31 . The best value of the seeing obtained during this period is 0.30 . A seasonal analysis of meteorological parameters are presented. We also used data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis database (NCEP/NCAR) to derive more information about the long-term evolution of atmospheric parameters at Aklim site. Conclusions. Our preliminary results indicate that Aklim has indeed good conditions for conducting astronomical observations and could be a site to host a future astronomical observatory, even of E-ELT dimensions.

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“…The DIMM theory has been explained well in many papers, as Martin et al [7], Sarazin and Roddier [8], Tokovinin et al [9], Benkhaldoun et al [10]. The seeing is defined as the width at the half maximum of a star image at the focus of a telescope…”

Section: Brief Theory Of Dimm Seeingmentioning

confidence: 99%

European Extremely Large Telescope: Cross-calibration of DIMM Monitors at Aklim Site

Sabil¹,

Benkhaldoun²,

Habib³

2017

IJCA

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Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) is the standard instrument for site testing, it has become the instrument of choice to measure the seeing and it is now regularly used in many observatories. Since the DIMM instruments are not identical, a cross-calibration is necessary before making a reliable comparison between any two sites using this instrument. The differences are generally due to the instrumental configuration and data processing. in order to carry out a prospecting campaign at Aklim site in Moroccan Anti-Atlas; it's one site from four selected sites to harbor the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) project. To begin a preliminary survey campaign of measurements, a local DIMM instrument a local DIM instrument has been built, and to characterize this instrument, we have carried out a crosscalibration campaign between this local DIMM named LPHEA-DIMM (DIMM of Laboratory Physics of High Energy and Astrophysics) with a stable existing DIMM, hereafter IAC-DIMM (DIMM of Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias). In this paper we represent the results of the 11 nights cross-calibration at Aklim site.

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“…The photometric, meteorological, and astro-climatological study of that site provided promising results. However, the pre-selection of Oukaimeden for the E-ELT project was discarded because of it being affected by light pollution despite its excellent astroclimatological qualities (Benkhaldoun et al 1993(Benkhaldoun et al , 2005Hill et al 1994;Jabiri et al 2000;Ziad et al 2001;Benkhaldoun 2002 A site-testing campaign in the framework of the E-ELT project was carried out at Jbel Aklim, which is located in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas mountains, at the geographical coordinates 30…”

Section: Selection Strategy Of Aklim Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

First characterization of Jbel Aklim in Moroccan Anti-Atlas as a potential site for the E-ELT

Benhida

¹

,

Benkhaldoun

²

,

Sabil

³

et al. 2010

SPIE Proceedings

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1

0

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Context. In the framework of the European Extremely Large Telescope project (E-ELT), a survey of prospective sites was launched by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to select a site to host the next generation of optical telescopes of 42 m diameter, i.e., the E-ELT. The Moroccan Anti-Atlas (Jbel Aklim) was selected as one of these sites. Aims. We present an analysis of meteorological parameters and seeing measurements at Aklim, the Moroccan prospective site of the E-ELT project. Methods. We initiated a preliminary campaign to measure the astronomical seeing at Jbel Aklim using a differential image motion monitor (DIMM) instrument. We installed a weather station 2 m above the ground level to measure meteorological parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction. Results. We present data obtained by the DIMM monitor during 105 nights. The median and mean values of the seeing for the entire period of observation are 0.72 and 0.79 , respectively, with a standard deviation of 0.31 . The best value of the seeing obtained during this period is 0.30 . A seasonal analysis of meteorological parameters are presented. We also used data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis database (NCEP/NCAR) to derive more information about the long-term evolution of atmospheric parameters at Aklim site. Conclusions. Our preliminary results indicate that Aklim has indeed good conditions for conducting astronomical observations and could be a site to host a future astronomical observatory, even of E-ELT dimensions.

show abstract

Optical seeing monitoring at the Oukaïmeden in the Moroccan high atlas mountains: first statistics

Cited by 26 publications

References 12 publications

First characterization of Jbel Aklim in Moroccan Anti-Atlas as a potential site for the E-ELT

First characterization of Jbel Aklim in Moroccan Anti-Atlas as a potential site for the E-ELT

European Extremely Large Telescope: Cross-calibration of DIMM Monitors at Aklim Site

First characterization of Jbel Aklim in Moroccan Anti-Atlas as a potential site for the E-ELT

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