Turbulence monitoring at Calern observatory with the Generalised Differential Image Motion Monitor


Abstract in English

The Generalised Differential Image Motion Monitor (GDIMM) was proposed a few years ago as a new generation instrument for turbulence monitoring. It measures integrated parameters of the optical turbulence, i.e the seeing, isoplanatic angle, scintillation index, coherence time and wavefront coherence outer scale. GDIMM is based on a fully automatic small telescope (28cm diameter), equipped with a 3-holes mask at its entrance pupil. The instrument is installed at the Calern observatory (France) and performs continuous night-time monitoring of turbulence parameters. In this communication we present long-term and seasonnal statistics obtained at Calern, and combine GDIMM data to provide quantities such as the equivalent turbulence altitude and the effective wind speed.

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