Title: Site characterization for the UPSO-TIFR telescope
Authors: Sagar, R.; Uddin, W.; Pandey, A. K.; Stalin, C. S.; Mohan, V.; Sanwal, B. B.; Gupta, S. K.; Yadav, R. K. S.; Durgapal, A. K.; Joshi, S.; Kumar, Brijesh; Gupta, A. C.; Joshi, Y.; Srivastava, J. B.; Chaubey, U. S.; Singh, M.; Pant, P.; Gupta, K. G.; Padalia, T. D.
Affiliation: Uttar Pradesh State Observatory, Manora Peak, Naini Tal 263 129, India
Journal: Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India, Vol. 28, p. 429-435 (2000)
Publication Date: 06/2000
Abstract Uttar Pradesh State Observatory, Naini Tal and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai plan to install jointly a 3 metre size optical telescope at Devasthal located east of Naini Tal about 50 km by road. The site has been selected after a decade of survey in Kumaon and Garhwal hills. The altitude of the peak is 2450 +/- 5 meters, while longitude and latitude are 79d 40' 57'' E and 29d 22' 46'' N respectively. The location of the site is such that logistics of access and transportation are not too difficult and at the same time, it is far from urban development, has more than 200 astronomically useful nights, dark sky, low atmospheric extinction and most importantly seeing better than 1 arcsec for about 40% of the time. Extensive efforts are going on to characterize the site more precisely.

Title:
Seeing and microthermal measurements near Devasthal top Authors:
Stalin, C. S.; Sagar, R.; Pant, P.; Mohan, V.; Kumar, Brijesh; Joshi, Y. C.; Yadav, R. K. S.; Joshi, S.; Chandra, Ramesh; Durgapal, A. K.; Uddin, W. Affiliation:
State Observatory, Manora Peak, Naini Tal 263 129, Uttaranchal, India
Journal: Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India, Vol. 29, p. 39-52
Publication Date: 03/2001
Abstract Results of the seeing measurements carried out near Devasthal top on 43 nights during March to April 1999 are presented. Open air seeing measurements were carried out with a differential image motion monitor (DIMM) using a 38 cm telescope with the mirror about 2 m above the ground. This, in combination with our earlier reported measurements carried out during October to November 1998 on 37 nights show a median seeing of 1.?1 and 35% of the time seeing is better than 1.?0. A trend in the seeing evolution is noticed with better seeing towards the later part of the night. By analysing the temporal evolution of seeing for seeing fluctuations it is found that the mean ratio of two seeing values separated by a time interval of ?t grows with a time constant of about 17 minutes. To quantify the optical image degradation caused by atmospheric turbulence very near to the ground, microthermal measurements were also simultaneously performed with DIMM observations. Microthermal measurements show that most of the contribution to seeing comes from the 6 - 12 m slab of the atmosphere with a mean value of 0.?86. A significant decrease in turbulence over the height of the mast is noticed with a mean value of 0.?22 for the 12 - 18 m slab. A seeing of ~ 0.?6 can be achieved by locating the telescope at a height of ~ 13 m above the ground.