Remote control and telescope auto-alignment system for multiangle LIDAR under development at CEILAP, Argentina

JUAN PALLOTTA; PABLO RISTORI; LIDIA OTERO; FERNANDO CHOUZA; DELIA RAUL; FRANCISCO GONZALEZ; ALBERTO ETCHEGOYEN; EDUARDO QUEL; CTA CONSORTIUM

Saclay

Workshop; Atmospheric Monitoring for High Energy Astroparticle Detectors (AtmoHEAD 2013); 2013

CEA ( French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission)

At CEILAP (CITEDEF-CONICET), a multiangle LIDAR is under development to monitor aerosol extinction coefficients in the frame of the CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array) Project. This is an initiative to build the next generation of ground-based instruments to collect very high energy gamma-ray radiation (>10 GeV). The atmospheric conditions are very important for CTA observations, and LIDARs play an important role in the measurement of the aerosol optical depth at any direction. The LIDAR being developed at CEILAP was conceived to operate in harsh environmental conditions during the shifts, and these working conditions may produce misalignments. To minimize these effects, the telescopes comprising the reception unit are controlled by a self-alignment system. This paper describes the self-alignment method and hardware automation.