  Real-time seeing and outer scale estimation at the location of the focus of a
telescope is fundamental for the adaptive optics systems dimensioning and
performance prediction, as well as for the operational aspects of instruments.
This study attempts to take advantage of multiwavelength long exposure images
to instantaneously and simultaneously derive the turbulence outer scale and
seeing from the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of seeing-limited images
taken at the focus of a telescope. These atmospheric parameters are commonly
measured in most observatories by different methods located away from the
telescope platform, and thus differing from the effective estimates at the
focus of a telescope, mainly because of differences in pointing orientation,
height above the ground, or local seeing bias (dome contribution). Long
exposure images can either directly be provided by any multiwavelength
scientific imager or spectrograph, or alternatively from a modified active
optics Shack-Hartmann sensor (AOSH). From measuring simultaneously the AOSH
sensor spot point spread function FWHMs at different wavelengths, one can
estimate the instantaneous outer scale in addition to seeing. Although AOSH
sensors are specified to measure not spot sizes but slopes, real-time r0 and L0
measurements from spot FWHMs can be obtained at the critical location where
they are needed with major advantages over scientific instrument images:
insensitivity to the telescope field stabilization, and being continuously
available. Assuming an alternative optical design allowing simultaneous
multiwavelength images, AOSH sensor gathers all the advantages for real-time
seeing and outer scale monitoring. With the substantial interest in the design
of extremely large telescopes, such a system could have a considerable
importance.
