  Preliminary site testing at Dome C (Antarctica) is presented, using both
Automatic Weather Station (AWS) meteorological data (1986-1993) and
Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) measurements made by the authors. A comparison
with South Pole and other sites is made. The South Pole is a well established
astrophysical observing site, where extremely good conditions are reported for
a large fraction of time during the year. Dome C, where Italy and France are
building a new scientific station, is a potential observing site in the
millimetric and sub-millimetric range. AWS are operating at both sites and they
have been continuously monitoring temperature, pressure, wind speed and
direction for more than ten years. Site testing instruments are already
operating at the South Pole (AASTO, Automated Astrophysical Site-Testing
Observatory), while ''light'' experiments have been running at Dome C (APACHE,
Antarctic Plateau Anisotropy CHasing Experiment) during summertime. A direct
comparison between the two sites is planned in the near future, using the
AASTO. The present analysis shows that the average wind speed is lower at Dome
C (~1 m/s) than at the South Pole (~2 m/s), while temperature and PWV are
comparable.
