Presentation 1 : Invited
Strategy of a site survey for an Extremely Large Telescope
Marc Sarazin
The site survey for an Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) requires
an entirely new strategy. It is indeed not anymore possible
to select the best known site on the basis of cloudiness
and seeing only, and to set the design specifications of the telescope
accordingly. Some particularities of giant structures as well as the
continuous use of adaptive optics impose new requirements which
many of the best current observatories worldwide do not fulfill.
Plans for a global search for potential sites are outlined which
make extensive use of recently available databases and related software
tools.