All Sky Camera for the CTA Atmospheric Calibration work package

Abstract

The All Sky Camera (ASC) is a passive non-invasive imaging system for rapid night sky atmosphere monitoring. By design, the operation of the ASC will not affect the measurement procedure of the CTA observatory, for which we discuss its application in this report. The data collected should enable improved productivity and increased measurement time for the CTA observatory. The goal of ASC is to identify cloud position, atmosphere attenuation and time evolution of the sky condition, working within the CTA Central Calibration Facilities (CCF) group. Clouds and atmosphere monitoring may allow near-future prediction of the night-sky quality, helping scheduling. Also, in the case of partly cloudy night sky the cameras will identify the uncovered regions of the sky during the operation time, and define potential observable sources that can be measured. By doing so, a higher productivity of the CTA observatory measurements may be possible.