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Register a new userInstrumentation for comparing night sky quality and atmospheric conditions of CTA site candidates
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Many atmospheric and climatic criteria have to be taken into account for the selection of a suitable site for the next generation of imaging air-shower Cherenkov telescopes, the Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA. Such data are not available with sufficient precision, thus a comparison of the proposed sites and final decision based on a comprehensive characterization is impossible. Identical cross-calibrated instruments have been developed which allow for precise comparison between sites, the cross-validation of existing data, and the ground-validation of satellite data. The site characterization work package of the CTA consortium opted to construct and deploy 9 copies of an autonomous multi-purpose weather sensor, incorporating an infrared cloud sensor, a newly developed sensor for measuring the light of the night sky, and an All-Sky-Camera, the whole referred to as Autonomous Tool for Measuring Observatory Site COnditions PrEcisely (ATMOSCOPE). We present here the hardware that was combined into the ATMOSCOPE and characterize its performance.
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Arrays of Cherenkov telescopes typically use multi-level trigger schemes to keep the rate of random triggers from the night sky background low. At a first stage, individual telescopes produce a trigger signal from the pixel information in the telescope camera. The final event trigger is then formed by combining trigger signals from several telescopes. In this poster, we present a possible scheme for the Cherenkov Telescope Array telescope trigger, which is based on the analog pulse information of the pixels in a telescope camera. Advanc
ASTRI is a Flagship Project led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. The main objective of the ASTRI project is to develop a prototype of the Small Size class Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) in a dual-mirror configuration (SST-2M). The ASTRI SST-2M is an end-to-end prototype that will be fully developed by the ASTRI Collaboration from the optics design and manufacturing to the focal plane camera, from the structure of the mount to all the needed software. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be placed at the INAF M.G. Fracastoro observing station in Serra La Nave on the Etna Mountain near Catania, Italy. The technological solutions adopted will be tested on field: observations of the Crab Nebula and of other sources will be essential part of the science verification phase, with the aim to assess the achievement of the scientific requirements. In the following we present the Serra La Nave site together with all the auxiliary instruments needed for atmospheric monitoring and characterization, calibration and science verification of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype.
ASTRI is a Flagship Project financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, and led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. Primary goal of the ASTRI project is the design and production of an end-to-end prototype of Small Size Telescope for the CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array) in a dual-mirror configuration (SST-2M) equipped with a camera at the focal plane composed by an array of Silicon Photo-Multipliers and devoted to the investigation of the highest gamma-ray energy band. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be placed at the INAF M.G. Fracastoro observing station in Serra La Nave on the Etna Mountain near Catania, Italy. After the verification tests, devoted to probe the technological solutions adopted, the ASTRI SST-2M prototype will perform scientific observations on the Crab Nebula and on some of the brightest TeV sources. Here we present the Serra La Nave site, its meteorological and weather conditions, the sky darkness and visibility, and the complex of auxiliary instrumentation that will be used on site to support the calibration and science verification phase as well as the regular data reconstruction and analysis of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype.
The main purpose of the Baikal-GVD Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) system is to monitor the status of the detector and collected data. The system estimates quality of the recorded signals and performs the data validation. The DQM system is integrated with the Baikal-GVDs unified software framework (BARS) and operates in quasi-online manner. This allows us to react promptly and effectively to the changes in the telescope conditions.
The analysis of the night cloud cover is very important for astronomical observation in real time, considering a typical observation time of about 15 minutes, and to have a statistics of the night cloud cover. In this paper we use the SQM (Sky Quality Meter) for high resolution temporal analysis of the La Silla and Asiago (Ekar observatory) sky: 3 and 5 minutes respectively. We investigate the annual temporal evolution of the natural contributions of the sky in a site not influenced by artificial light at night (ALAN) and one highly influenced respectively. We also make a correlation between GOES and AQUA satellites data and ground-based SQM data to confirm a relationship between the SQM data and cloud cover. We develop an algorithm that allows the use of the SQM for night cloud detection and we reach a correlation of 97.2% at La Silla and 94.6% at Asiago with the nighttime cloud cover detected by the GOES and AQUA satellites. Our algorithm also classifies the photometric (PN) and spectroscopic nights (SN). We measure 59.1% PN and 21.7% SN for a total percentage of clear nights of 80.8% at La Silla in 2018. The respective Ekar observatory values are 31.1% PN, 24.0% SN and 55.1% of total clear nights time. Application to the SQM network would involve the development of long-term statistics and big data forecasting models, for site testing and real-time astronomical observation.
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