Development of a generalized scidar at UNAM

A Generalized SCIDAR is being developed at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, for the monitoring of optical-turbulence profiles and wind velocity profiles at astronomical sites. We report the specifications, design and state of the project. The innovative aspects of this instrument consist mainly in: 1) the use of a low-noise and high-quantum-efficiency CCD without image intensifier, which increases the signal to noise ratio and the limiting magnitude of the observable sources compared to other operational SCIDAR instruments; 2) the image processing, which is performed in real-time on a PC under Linux operating system. Along with the instrument, a numerical simulator is being developed. The aim of this code is to investigate possible instrumental effects. The SCIDAR Simulator is described and the results obtained so far are presented.