<title>Turbulence and wind profiling with generalized scidar at Cerro Pachon</title>

Abstract

We present the first simultaneous monitoring of the vertical distributions of the optical turbulence strength C<SUB>N</SUB><SUP>2</SUP>(h) and the wind velocity V(h), along the whole optical path. For that purpose, a new algorithm has been developed for the analysis of the spatio-temporal correlation of scintillation images, obtained with the Generalized Scidar (GS). The algorithm allows for dome seeing identification. The new method has being applied to the GS data collected during four one-week runs uniformly distributed during 1998, for the characterization of Cerro Pachon, the Gemini South Telescope site. Comparison of V(h) obtained with the GS and instrumented balloons, respectively, gives a great deal of confidence in the new method. The analysis of the 6900 C<SUB>N</SUB><SUP>2</SUP>(h) and V(h) profiles obtained, leads to a statistical study of the most important parameters relevant for the development of adaptive optical systems.