Abstract

The Macón's zone (24°S, 66°W) is preselected for possible construction of the astronomical observatory ELT (Extremely Large Telescope) by ESO. Preliminary analysis shows that this area is optimal for astronomical activity, therefore data of turbulence has been collected, important factor in seeing and for adaptive optics (AO). In this area, campaigns of measurements of meteorological variables were made, with an automatic station. Simulations with the weather system modeling MM5 were performed on the collected data and were correlated with the corresponding satellite images. In the analysis of the atmospheric conditions it was found that the greatest contribution of atmospheric instability in this area, is produced by high trough and jet stream. The trajectory analysis identified that the air that reaches the summit Macón comes from about 4500 meters above sea level, in average. This confirm that the turbulence that forms on the salt of Arizaro (3500 m.a.s.l.) does not rise to the top of Macón (4500 m.a.s.l.). © 2008 Copyright SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.