Site characteristic of Southern Utah sites for astronomical observatories

The University of Utah has recently begun construction of a new 0.8m optical/IR robotic telescope to be operated as a regional astronomy resource in the Intermountain West. The new Southern Utah Observatory (SUO) will require a high altitude (>3000 m) site with excellent atmospheric seeing, favorable weather conditions, and nearby infrastructure, including road, power, and high speed internet. We have explored six possible sites for the SUO telescope with favorable climate, night sky darkness and infrastructure. Since spring 2007, we have performed detailed measurements of atmospheric seeing at several of these sites, and have identified the preferred site for the SUO telescope at Frisco Peak, UT. Several large (1 sq. mile) areas of State Trust Land are nearby the new SUO telescope site. These large, flat areas may be excellent sites for large area, next generation Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) arrays such as AGIS or northern CTA.