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Sites in NW Argentina

Sites in NW Argentina. P.Recabarren ( 1,2 ) , M.Mosconi ( 1 ) , M.Sarazin (3) & R.Giovanelli (4) . (1) Observatorio Astronómico, Univ.Nac. de Córdoba, Argentina. (2) Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. (3) European Southern Observatory.

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Sites in NW Argentina

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  1. Sites in NW Argentina P.Recabarren (1,2), M.Mosconi (1) , M.Sarazin (3) & R.Giovanelli (4). (1) Observatorio Astronómico, Univ.Nac. de Córdoba, Argentina. (2) Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. (3) European Southern Observatory. (4) Dep. Astronomy of Cornell University, USA.

  2. Introduction We propose in this project a systematic study aimed to characterize the astronomical quality of the north-west region of Argentina.Our project includes a comparative analysis of this region with well known high quality Chilean astronomical sites.The main purpose of this program is to find high quality sites for the installation of international astronomical facilities well above 4000 m over sea level.The studies will concentrate on the different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and particular attention is focused on logistic, seismologic and legal aspects of the potential sites. In the present contribution we show preliminary results based on GOES image data, provided by ESO, two exploration trips and several sources of public information (Internet, weather offices, etc).

  3. Surveyed area Taking into account the humidity and hight, we selected an area from 22.8 º to 32.0 South Lat. and from 66.0 º to 69.9 º West Long. This area includes altitudes from 3500 m to more than 6000 m and is the driest region of Argentina. We distinguish three subsectors; A) Interesting and explored. B) Very interesting but not explored. C) Non interesting. 70 W 69 W 68 W 67 W 66 W 23 S 24 S 25 S 26 S 27 S 28 S 29 S 30 S 31 S 32 S

  4. Data analysis In this preliminary study we made temperature matrix of 1750 locations spaced 0.1 degree (aprox. 10 km) of each 02:45 UT GOES image from July 1999 to December 2000 in the 10.7 microns band. We know that the data set must be longer in order to make a final assessment, that’s why our results are preliminary. We have processed the information with GVIEW (IDL application by K.Dean), Oziexplorer, SM Excel and SuperMongo.

  5. Clear sky plot This plot shows a ranking of sky clearest (red) to sky covered areas (blue). Percentages are relative. We expect these values to go lower when we consider data of the whole night in the next stage of this work. We think there will be no important changes in the geographical distribution of the sky clear areas.

  6. Candidate Locations We have selected the following sites from the preceding plot (list includes kown Chilean sites to compare). 1) Paso de Aguas Calientes 25.62 S 68.27 W > 4000 m 2) Co. Quimal (Chile) 23.10 S 68.65 W 4277 m 3) Co. Chascon (Chile) 23.01 S 67.58 W 5548 m 4) Co. Paranal (Chile) 24.60 S 70.20 W 2630 m 5) Co. Nacimiento 27.25 S 68.49 W 6) Loro Huasi 25.97 S 68.00 W 7) Matambre 27.47 S 68.11 W 8) Mina La Casualidad (Norte) 25.03 S 68.17 W 3980 m 9) Paso de San Francisco 26.87 S 68.30 W 4747 m 10) Co. Cascasco (chile) 21.57 S 68.53 W 4385 m 11) Co. Bonete 28.00 S 68.62 W 6872 m 12) La Tamberia 27.30 S 68.28 W 13) Estación Caipe 24.67 S 67.97 W 14) Antofalla 25.55 S 67.65 W 15) Alto Chorrillo 24.22 S 66.45 W 4583 m 16) Volcán Galan (Sur) 25.95 S 66.93 W 17) Paso de Jama 23.24 S 67.04 W 4425 m 18) Paso de Sico 23.84 S 67.26 W 4130 m 19) Co. Pocitos 24.35 S 66.98 W 5050 m 20) Tolar Grande 24.57 S 67.43 W 3550 m 21) Salar del Rincon 24.13 S 66.94 W 4011 m 22) Co. Yungara 23.81 S 66.69 W 4500 m 23) Olacapato 24.11 S 66.72 W 4055 m 24) Tololo (Chile) 30.15 S 70.80 W 2210 m 25) CAsLeo 31.78 S 69.23 W 2552 m

  7. 70 W 69 W 68 W 67 W 66 W Seismic Map of the surveyed area 23 S 23 S 24 S 25 S 25 S 26 S 70 W 27 S 65 W Subsector B shows the lower seismic activity. 28 S 29 S 30 S 30 S 31 S 32 S

  8. Subsectors A and B road map

  9. Paso de San Francisco, Co.Nacimiento, LaTamberia & Matambre. 27 S 28 S 69 W 68 W

  10. 24 S 24 S Paso de Aguas Calientes & Mina La Casualidad 25 S 25 S Po.Aguas Calientes 68 W 67 W

  11. 23 S Tolar Grande, Paso de Sico, Paso de Jama, Olacapato, Co. Yungara, Co.Pocitos, Caipe & Alto Chorrillo. This area was visited two times(2000 & 2002). 24 S 67 W 66 W

  12. Satellite image “collage” of the sector A and part of sector B. 24 S 25 S Aguas Calientes 26 S 68 W 68 W 67 W 67 W

  13. Main towns on the Northern area. Susques (23º 25’S - 66º 32’ W, 4010 m) San Antonio de Los Cobres (24º 22’ S -66º 31’ W, 3803 m)

  14. Alto Chorrillo flat (24º 23’ S - 66º 45’ W,4580 m) and Acay mount (5990 m) in the back

  15. Tolar Grande (24º 34’ S - 67º 25’ W, 3550 m), on Arizaro Salt flat. Mountains in the back has more than 5000 m.

  16. Arizaro Salt Flat

  17. Summary In our preliminary study we can distinguish three zones with candidate places; 1) One of them includes Aguas Calientes, Nacimiento, Loro Huasi, Matambre, La Tamberia & Paso de San Francisco. This group has the clearest sky conditions. Aguas Calientes shows as the clearest location, and the seismic activity is relatively low. The average altitude is more than 4500 m. Except for the Paso de San Francisco, the area has no good logistic (towns, roads, etc). Paso de San Francisco seems to be the best site taking into account altitude, clear sky and logistic. 2) The second group includes Caipe, Tolar Grande, Co. Pocitos & Mina La Casualidad. It has good clear sky conditions and a relatively good logistic (road, railway, electric line). 3) The third one includes Paso de Jama, Paso de Sico, Salar del Rincon, Co.Yungara, Olacapato & Alto Chorrillo. It is the northern one, and the sky and logistic conditions in Paso de Jama and Sico are similar to the well known region of Atacama. The main towns in the area are San Antonio de los Cobres and Susques. 23 S Jama 3 Co.Yungara Sico 24 S 3 Olacapato Alto Chorrillo 2 Co.Pocitos Tolar Grande 2 Caipe 25 S Aguas Calientes 1 1 26 S 27 S Po.San Francisco Po.San Francisco 68 W 67 W 28 S 66 W

  18. Conclusions and future plans There are several places in the surveyed area which justify to continue the efforts in analyzing the whole set of GOES images in the 10.7 and 6.7 microns band to characterize the visible and the water vapor distribution in the region. Sector C, the southern most, will be excluded of the survey. The best places are located in zone B, but there is not enough information about logistical and accessibility aspects which invites us to do an exploration trip ASAP, with the exception of Paso de San Francisco, which is located on an international road. After selected some places with the present methodology, we will begin with seeing measurements campaigns.

  19. Bibliography “A Satellite Survey of Cloud Cover & Water Vapor in Northern Chile”, 2001, D.A.Erasmus & C.A. van Staden. “Optical seeing and infrared atmospheric transparency in the upper Atacama Desert”, 2000, R.Giovanelli. Report of the recognition trip of an astronomical site survey in Argentine NW, 2002, P.Recabarren & M.Mosconi. “Site Testing en la Puna de Atacama”, 44 Asociación Argentina de Astronomía Meeting, 2000 ,P.Recabarren & M.Mosconi. Data on INPRESI (Instituto de Prevision Sismica de la Provincia de San Juan). GVIEW and IDL user manuals. Acknowledgments We want to thank to Diego García Lambas and Hernán Muriel for useful comments and helpful suggestions.

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