The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Project will consist of two arrays of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes to study high-energy gamma radiation in the range of a few tens of GeV to beyond 100 TeV. To achieve full-sky coverage, the construction of one
array in each terrestrial hemisphere is considered. Suitable candidate sites are being explored and characterized. The candidate sites in the Southern Hemisphere include two locations in Argentina, one in San Antonio de los Cobres (Salta Province, Lat. 24:02:42 S, Long. 66:14:06 W, at 3600 m.a.s.l) and another one in El Leoncito (San Juan Province, Lat. 31:41:49 S, Long. 69:16:21 W, at 2600 m.a.s.l). Here we describe the two sites and the instrumentation that has been deployed to characterize them. We summarize the geographic, atmospheric and climatic data that have been collected for both of them.
The Pierre Auger Observatory is designed to study cosmic rays with energies greater than 10^{19} eV. Two sites are envisaged for the observatory, one in each hemisphere, for complete sky coverage. The southern site of the Auger Observatory, now appro
aching completion in Mendoza, Argentina, features an array of 1600 water-Cherenkov surface detector stations covering 3000 km^2, together with 24 fluorescence telescopes to record the air shower cascades produced by these particles. The two complementary detector techniques together with the large collecting area form a powerful instrument for these studies. Although construction is not yet complete, the Auger Observatory has been taking data stably since January 2004 and the first physics results are being published. In this paper we describe the design features and technical characteristics of the surface detector stations of the Pierre Auger Observatory.
