Astronomical Site Monitoring for the joint Paranal-Armazones Observatories: high-priority measurements and instruments
Abstract
The European Southern Observatory strategy is supporting an integrated operations programme of the Paranal- Armazones Observatories. This plan arises from the need to create an operations model that is more economic and efficient than operating individual separated observatories. The plan is based on three main principles (so-called pillars): Lean Operations (i.e. optimized level of synergies), Remote Operations (allowing automatic and continuous monitoring of key parameters for the safe and efficient operations of telescopes and instruments); and, High-Performance Operations (on the science operations aspects this implies maximizing the scientific productivity by improving the scheduling of science observing blocks to best match the current atmospheric conditions).
Following the guiding principles shared above, the ESO science operations team is working towards the design and implementation of an astronomical site monitoring effort that: a) shall provide information to optimally assist all the observatory processes for which weather and atmospheric turbulence information is required, including health & safety of operations, technical & engineering processes, science operations; b) accurate forecasting of critical weather conditions to enable safe operations and c) provide information(measurements and forecast) for an optimal exploitation of the seeing limited and adaptive optics nature of existing and future astronomical instrumentation, at the Paranal and Armazones observatory sites. Accurate forecast, in short- and mid-timescales shall help us exploit the best atmospheric conditions of the site maximizing the on-sky science time.
This paper summarizes the status of our existing work and plans, for the ESO’s astronomical site monitoring system, to fulfil the needs and requirement for the safe and optimum engineering and science operations of the VLT and ELT telescopes.
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Physics [physics]Origin | Files produced by the author(s) |
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