A site evaluation program was planned to provide some basic statistics on Oukaimeden surface meteorology and atmospheric extinction in order to promote the installation of a permanent observatory.
The results of this study support the following conclusions.
The mean night-time temperature is moderate all year round. Extreme temperatures rarely seem to occur and the stability of the night-time temperature is consistent. The wind should not constitute a major problem for astronomical observations since the average wind speed is normally low. The predominant wind direction is from the SE during the night and from WNW during the day. This is not harmful, given the position of the site with respect to the high Atlas Mountains in SE and SW directions. Local humidity is almost always modest. The atmospheric extinction is comparable to the best sites in the world.
The results of analysis from the CAMC data confirm those of the numerous studies made in the past at various sites within the ORM, showing potentially optimum conditions for astronomical observations.
The comparison of both sites and analysis of the measured values allow us to conclude that Oukaimeden is an excellent sites in the northern hemisphere; being a suitable candidate for the installation of new astronomical equipment.
Our research at Oukaimeden needs to continue, particularly with regard to image quality. Atmospheric extinction results reveal the high quality of transparency at both sites, and the frequency of days and nights during which photometric measurements are feasible.
Acknowledgements
This work has been made possible thanks to the Franco-Moroccan cooperation (050/STU/97). We are very grateful to Claus Fabricius for providing the CAMC database and to the Moroccan National Direction of Meteorology. We also want to give our thanks to Terence Mahoney for his comments and careful reading of the manuscript.
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