First Annual Report
|
Contract
N° |
HPRI-CT-1999-40003 |
|
Start
date of contract |
01
March 2000 |
|
End
date of contract |
29
February 2004 |
|
Network
Title |
Infrastructure
Cooperation Network in Radio Astronomy (RADIONET) |
|
Website address |
www.jive.nl/jive/jive/european/radionet.htm |
|
Name
of Coordinator |
Prof.
R.T.Schilizzi |
|
E-Mail
address |
schilizzi@jive.nl |
Partnership Summary
|
Participant number (Coordinating partner as participant N°1 |
Name of Participating Organisation |
Name of responsible person |
Role in network* |
|
1. |
R.T.Schilizzi |
LSF-IHP |
|
|
2. |
National
Research Council of Italy (CNR.IRA) |
F.Mantovani |
LSF-IHP |
|
3. |
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der
Wissenschaften (MPG.IRASTR) |
K.Menten |
LSF-IHP |
|
4. |
Helsinki
University of Technology (UHELS.MRRS) |
S.Urpo |
LSF-IHP |
|
5. |
Centro Nacional de Informacion Geografica (CNIGE.OAN) |
J.Gómez-González |
LSF-IHP |
|
6. |
Netherlands
Foundation for Research in Astronomy (NFRA) |
H.R.Butcher |
LSF-IHP |
|
7. |
The
Victoria University of Manchester (UMNC.NRAL) |
P.J.Diamond |
LSF-IHP |
|
8. |
Chalmers
University of Technology (CUT.OSO) |
R.S.Booth |
LSF-IHP |
|
9. |
Nicholas
Copernicus University (UNICO.DRA) |
A.J.Kus |
LSF-IHP |
|
10. |
Université de Bordeaux 1 (UBOD1.OSU) |
A.Baudry |
OTHER |
|
11. |
Institut
de Radioastonomie Millimetrique (IRAM) |
M.Grewing |
LSF-OTH |
* LSF-IHP: a research infrastructure funded for
access under the IHP programme
LSF-TMR: a research infrastructure
funded for access under the TMR programme
LSF-OTH: a research infrastructure
outside the IHP or TMR programmes
USER: a research organization representative of users
of the facilities covered by the Round-Table;
SOC: European scientific societies
IND: an industrial or commercial enterprise
OTHER: other types of participant
1.
Executive Summary
The Infrastructure and Cooperation Network in Radio Astronomy (RADIONET) coordinates new initiatives in the field of radio astronomy. These include enhancing the quality of operations and making more effective use of the existing European VLBI Network of radio telescopes (EVN), and building up the necessary scientific, technical and organizational consensus for the two major future radio astronomy facilities, the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
During the first year, RADIONET supported coordination activities at nine EVN institutes aimed at improved quality and interoperability of the network. A workshop was held to agree on measures to be implemented to achieve these aims. The newly established EVN Reliability Index (ERI) was tested as a measure of the quality of operations. RADIONET participated in sponsorship of an EVN Symposium (Gothenburg, Sweden, June 2000) and publication of its proceedings. The Network is also involved in the preparation for the EVN School 2001 (San Pietro, Italy, September 2001).
RADIONET supported in part two ALMA working meetings for European astronomers on the ALMA science case and related technologies (Bonn, October 2000; Grenoble, February 2001). This resulted, in particular, in the publication of the document ‘Science with ALMA’.
Finally, RADIONET supported participation of the European radio astronomers in several meetings dedicated to the science and technology of the Square Kilometre Array project. The Network was instrumental in establishing the European Square Kilometre Array Consortium and in concluding the international MoU on the SKA project
2.
General Meeting
The contractors met in Madrid on 2 December 2000 to review progress and to hear comments from users of the EVN, the European Astronomical Society, OPTICON, and DG Research. The minutes of the meeting are attached as Annex 1.
The agenda for the meeting was as follows:
1. ICN activity reports from the European VLBI Network institutes
- Status of the EVN (J. A. Zensus, Chair, EVN Board)
- ASTRON Foundation, Dwingeloo, NL (W. A. Baan)
- Institute of Radio Astronomy, Bologna, IT (F. Mantovani)
- Jodrell Bank Observatory, Jodrell Bank, UK (P. J. Diamond)
- Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy, Bonn, DE
(J. A. Zensus)
- National Astronomical Observatory, Alcala, ES (J. Gomez Gonzales)
- Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, SE (R. S. Booth)
- Torun Center for Astronomy, Torun, PL (A. Kus)
- Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe, Dwingeloo, NL
(M. A. Garrett)
- Symposia and Schools (L. I. Gurvits, F. Mantovani)
2. Comments from the EVN Users representatives: Prof. I. Fejes (SGO, Hungary) and Dr L. Lara (IAA, Spain)
3. ICN activity report from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array project (K. Menten)
4. ICN activity report from the Square Kilometer Array project (H. R. Butcher)
5. Activity reports from other EC contracts
a. Access to Major Research Infrastructure (M. A. Garrett)
b. RTD – Enhancing the EVN (L. I. Gurvits)
c. Concerted Action in Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics (M. A. Garrett)
6.Report on informal meeting with representatives of the optical ICN, OPTICON (R. T. Schilizzi). Topics discussed:
a. Joint meeting at JENAM-2001 (September 2001)
7. Data archiving in astronomy (D. Egret, Strasbourg, FR)
8.
Report on EC-ESF Conference on Research Infrastructures; Information on
FP5 and FP6 (C. Warden, DG Research,
Brussels)
9. Comments from B. Nordstrom (European Astronomical Society)
10. Any other business
11. Date and venue of the next General Meeting
Discussion on point 7 of the agenda led to an agreement that Jodrell Bank Observatory would participate in an OPTICON-led RTD proposal on accessing astronomical data archives (Astrophysical Virtual Observatory).
The Infrastructure Cooperation Network in Radio Astronomy (RADIONET) was established to provide a forum for the exchange of information on good practice amongst infrastructures forming the European VLBI Network (EVN) and between the EVN and its user community, as well as to monitor and stimulate progress in initiatives leading to future large-scale facilities in radio astronomy.
Specific goals are to
1) enhance the quality and quantity of the access provided to users of the EVN;
2) coordinate input on the scientific imperatives and technical requirements for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) from the wider astronomical community in Europe as part of the ongoing design and development phase of this project;
3) map out collaborations leading to a formal proposal for the construction of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).
In addition, an annual “Round Table” meeting on astronomy involving RADIONET and OPTICON (the Infrastructure Cooperation Network in optical and infra-red astronomy) was foreseen to take place at the annual meeting of the European Astronomical Society.
Progress has been made on each of these specific goals during the first year of the contract. Details are given in the following sections of the report.
3.1
Enhancing EVN operations
The goal here is to coordinate the achievement of sustained reliable operation of the EVN as a whole. The work involves
1) organising workshops on VLBI-specific operational practices, optimum maintenance, and on automated systems:
2) coordination and synchronisation of the implementation of new practices and technical improvements at the radio telescopes, participating in VLBI observations;
3) coordination of observations with the EVN, testing the reliability achieved.
The deliverables at the end of the contract period are:
1) improved inter-operability of the radio telescopes in the EVN measured in terms of sustained reliable operation, with the percentage of data lost due to equipment and operational failures being less than 10%;
2) frequency agile operation;
3) automated calibration and flagging of data.
3.1.1
Specific objectives in year 1
The specific objectives for the first year of the contract were to 1) agree on measures to be taken to achieve sustained reliable operation, 2) make progress on the implementation of these measures, and 3) establish a reference point for the performance of the array against which future progress can be measured (deliverable no 1). The measures to be implemented are long term in nature and, as expected, have not been completed during the first year of the contract. A further objective for the first year was 4) to begin a study of new generation data transport methods for the EVN.
3.1.2
Progress made
Specific objective 1
A 3-day meeting on the state of EVN operations was held at
the Jodrell Bank Observatory in May 2000. This provided a forum for a review of
EVN operational practices, in particular those relating to all areas of recorder performance and maintenance, to be
reviewed and agreements to be made on how improvements should be implemented at
the individual telescopes in the first 2 years of the contract. Other topics
included training in critical diagnostic and operational procedures during
observing runs, procedures for reducing phase noise and improved amplitude
calibration in order to achieve higher
image sensitivity and improved image fidelity, measures to be taken to
combat radio frequency interference, exchange of experience in implementing
frequency agile operation, and automatic
computer control mode switching of VLBI base-band converter settings and
recording paths with the Mark IV backend and field system in order to improve
reliability by avoiding physical manual intervention with the system hardware.
The work done to coordinate the implementation of these
changes is reported by individual contractors in the next section.
Overall coordination
of the improvement in EVN reliability has been the responsibility of the
Chairman of the EVN Technical and Operations Group (TOG), Dr Michael Garrett.
This has involved setting out the goals of the project, and monitoring progress
at the different institutes. It is his responsibility to make an evaluation of
the performance of the EVN in regard to the first deliverable; a start has been
made in terms of the EVN Reliability Indicator (see report on specific
objective 3 below). The network coordinator to assist the TOG Chairman will be
appointed in the second year of the contract. The content of the work package
to be carried out by the network coordinator has been agreed between Dr Garrett
and the TOG, and the selection process for an appointee initiated.
RADIONET funding has been used for coordinating the implementation of new operational practices at the two Italian VLBI stations at Medicina and Noto. One of the main tasks is to ensure that the observing schedules and requested data acquisition set-up of VLBI experiments are checked ahead of time to eliminate errors that would compromise the quality of the observations. The two Italian stations carry out regular geodetic VLBI observations which require a different instrumentation set-up to that required for radio astronomical observations. Moreover, the antennas are often used in 'single dish' mode. Particular care must also be taken for the instrumentation set-up during EVN sessions with spectral line observations interleaved in the session schedule with observations in continuum modes.
Another task is to supervise telescope staff engaged in improving the quality of calibration data generated by the Medicina and Noto telescopes. The calibration information is of fundamental importance for achieving high quality VLBI operations. Particular issues addressed in this ongoing program are:
(i) generating accurate gain curves of the telescope for each receiver in
all observing configurations;
(ii) providing continuous radiometry (Tsys measurements) in the format required by the standard VLBI data processing software, AIPS.
Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy
(MPG.IRASTR, Germany)
Under the ICN contract, the MPIfR is planning to undertake the coordination of activities and studies towards the improvement of reliability of operations for VLBI at the Effelsberg radio telescope and other EVN telescopes. Furthermore, MPIfR will coordinate the research and development of specific enhancements of calibrations and pointing accuracy of the 100-m telescope and other EVN telescopes.
These activities require additional personnel. It was not possible to appoint a suitable individual during year 1 of the contract. Such a person will be hired July 1, 2001 and carry out work in years 2 to 4 of the contract.
Centro Nacional de Informacion
Geografica / Observatorio Astronomico Nacional of Spain (CNIGE.OAN)
The "Centro Nacional de Informacion Geografica" has contracted a company (TTI Norte SL) to coordinate activities leading to sustained reliable operation of the 14 meter radiotelescope at the National Astronomical Observatory (OAN) at Yebes (Guadalajara, Spain) in the VLBI observational campaigns for the European VLBI Network. An engineer has been employed by this company to help to supervise these improvements.
Long-standing technical and logistical problems at the 14-m Yebes radio telescope, are being addressed by the engineer with the ultimate goal of achieving reliable operations. In particular, the following issues are being addressed:
(i) Smooth transition and interoperability between regular single-dish observations and VLBI experiments with the radio telescope, in particular, checking the hardware and software setups, observing schedules, observing modes, and logistics. In order to do so, several aspects of the operations are being upgraded and brought into automatic computer control (such as the phase calibration unit, needed to change between continuum and spectral line experiments).
(ii) Improvement of the station noise measurements, providing the accurate information needed for proper calibration of the collected data. This will be done by preparing a set of software procedures, optimised for each different observing setup. A follow up of schedule and procedures is also needed to ensure compatibility at all times.
(iii) Design of a system or method for optimal change of the sub-reflector, needed to switch frequencies during the observations, that provides minimum time and maximum security for people and materials.
The engineer is assisting OAN staff in coordinating the implementation of the following specific changes at the 14-m Yebes radio telescope and in the VLBI data acquisition system to improve the reliability of VLBI operations:
- upgrade of the MKIV formatter with new firmware.
- upgrade of several modules of the VLBA4 recorder: a new headstack is being installed, thin tape transport is being improved, and modifications to the Analog Sensor Module are being made.
- development of a replacement for the telescope control computer
Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy (NFRA,
The Netherlands)
During the first year of
the RADIONET contract, the primary operational priority of the Westerbork Synthesis
Radio Telescope (WSRT) has been to make
the telescope Robust and Reliable and to make it produce high Quality
data (RRQ). The WSRT RRQ program seeks to ensure that:
a) all data from the WSRT is of the highest quality for the
scientists using the telescope as a phased-array system within the EVN or as a
stand-alone instrument,
b) the WSRT is reliable in its operation with a minimum of data loss
due to system failures, and
c) the data loss due to radio frequency interference is being
minimized.
Procedures to improve
reliability have been discussed and implemented during the past twelve months.
WSRT staff members have coordinated work on the following issues:
Observing
procedures - Since the EVN Observing Session in May 2000, VLBI operation of
the WSRT has been run under control of the Telescope Management System. While
this system is still being worked on, the reliability and flexibility have
improved steadily. In particular, the new protocol implemented for session 00/4
improved the reliability of the conversion of VLBI schedules to WSRT
phased-array observations by removing many manual operations.
System monitoring - A monitoring script has been implemented to send serious error
messages from the VLBI Field System log-file to the Observatory's standard warning
system.
System
reliability - The issue of reliability of the complete
observing system has been addressed during the last year. In particular, some
tools have been borrowed from industrial
“process control” and “process management”. For this purpose, the WSRT
observing system has been broken down into components, in order to make an
evaluation of the failure rates of these components. Since the WSRT has been
fundamentally renewed during the recent years, such an evaluation is still
difficult to execute. On the other hand, this evaluation is essential in making
visible the major modes of system failure and in planning preventive
maintenance.
First results
from observing sessions – Although there
are significant variations in data loss, the WSRT EVN observations are found to
be increasingly reliable during recent sessions. Due to various aspects of the
ongoing work on the WSRT Upgrade, various earlier sessions have not been so
reliable. The November EVN 00/4
session the WSRT observing system had an overall failure rate of 3.5% in the
first 40 hours and a rate of 0.3% during the last 100 hours. During the January
EVN 01/1 session no data was acquired during 7% of the time due to various
system upgrade related issues.
Suppression of
radio frequency interference
- The modern radio telescopes in the EVN have
been equipped with extremely sensitive receivers, that also makes them
vulnerable to man-made signals. A 24-hour monitoring program has been started
in order to identify the major sources of internal and external interference in
all frequency bands that are used at the Observatory. A major effort has also been started to clean up the internal
sources of interference, such as high-speed computers and advanced electronics.
Much of this equipment is already placed within a screened-off space.
System monitoring – A procedure has been
implemented to monitor system parameters regularly in order to identify system
degradation in the various receivers. Many of these parameters are logged with
the observational data and are supplied to the observers.
Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO) hosted the first workshop held under RADIONET auspices – the VLBI Recorder Workshop - from 4-6 May 2000. This workshop was supported by ICN funds and brought together 28 VLBI hardware coordinators and engineers from around Europe to discuss and exchange techniques for the maintenance of VLBI recorders and other equipment at the observatories.
Following on from this Workshop, the activities financed by RADIONET funds at JBO have focussed on coordinating the improvement of the reliability of the VLBI operation. VLBI has a high priority at JBO but there are many other activities: single dish spectral line and pulsar studies, and in particular studies with MERLIN, the 6 telescope interferometer spread across England. ICN developments have focused on improving the robustness and reliability of moving from one activity to the next.
The implementation of these improvements was not possible within JBO’s current work programme. The RADIONET funds have enabled JBO to support a VLBI engineer, P.Burgess, to coordinate the work programme. He is responsible for producing the work-plan, coordinating the various technical groups involved in generating the hardware and software solutions required and in ensuring that the new and updated systems are implemented, tested and commissioned.
Mr Burgess has begun the coordination of a number of sub-projects. For example, a complex cable system, which requires extensive re-connection in order to switch observing modes, is being replaced by an automatic system that can select any of the various modes by simply flicking a switch. The reliability of the remote Cambridge telescope is also a target for the ICN programme; the Cambridge signal travels across 218 km of microwave links before arriving back at the VLBI terminal at JBO. There have been, in the past, significant problems with ensuring the quality of the data, the recording and the calibration information. In addition, significant software work is planned to enable the systems integration of the various observing programmes.
Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory (CUT.OSO, Sweden)
Under this contract, Dr J. Conway
is charged with coordinating the improvement of operational and technical
practices at OSO. He attended the EVN Technical Operation Group (TOG) and
recorder maintenance workshop in Jodrell Bank during May 2001 which set out the
guidelines for improving the reliability of EVN operations. In the first year
of the contract, Conway coordinated the efforts of the Onsala technical staff
involved in the construction of a new septum polariser which covers the whole
of L-band (1200 MHz – 1750 MHz). This polariser was used for the first time in
the November 2000 EVN session, and replaces the two polarisers previously used
for 21 cm and 18 cm respectively - increasing operational flexibility and
making interchange between these two bands much easier. The new polariser also
has much lower cross-polarisation with measured cross-polarisation power
rejection of between 30dB and 40dB. The overall measured cross polarisation
D-terms in VLBI experiments should now be less than 5%, substantially improving
the quality of data provided for the users. The new noise source and
cross-coupler to the polariser also gives much more stable noise across than
band which has improved amplitude calibration performance.
Dr Conway is also
coordinating the implementation of frequency flexibility and rapid switching
between observing bands on the Onsala telescopes. Under his supervision, a new
LO system has been designed (from December 2000 to March 2000). This system
will allow the receiver local oscillator to be tuned anywhere between 600 MHz
and 7000 MHz. This system is presently under construction (April 2001).
He also supervised
technical staff in making formatter and tape drive upgrades to allow high
density (512 and 1024 Mbit/s recording) in 2001. In collaboration with M.Garrett
and E.Himwich he has also been involved in drawing up specifications for a more
robust amplitude calibration system for the EVN.
Nicholas Copernicus University (UNICI.DRA, Poland)
The critical areas of station operation affecting the reliability of VLBI data acquisition have been analysed by a management group composed of Prof. A. Kus (Director Torun Centre for Astrophysics-TCfA), Dr. Kazimierz Borkowski (coordinator of EVN observations), Mr. Eugeniusz Pazderski (chief engineer, coordinator of all instrumental work at Torun), Mr. Andrzej Kepa (coordinator of telescope mechanical maintenance), and Mr. Grzegorz Hrynek (chief of the software group).
Major problems have been identified which are to be solved within the RADIONET project time, and appropriate coordination action already has been undertaken for some of these problems in the first year of the contract. The items receiving attention are:
32m telescope instrumentation
-
optimisation of the UHF band feed to
improve telescope sensitivity and to allow
quick
installation.
- reducing
the sensitivity of the receiver systems to adverse weather conditions
- improvement of receiver cooling efficiency for more reliable operation of the receivers.
- improvement of the calibration of the performance of the receivers.
Recording terminal
Following the Workshop at Jodrell Bank Observatory in May 2000, systematic service procedures have been developed to improve the performance of the VLBI data acquisition terminal.
The operational and organisational practices for the VLBI observing sessions have been improved. Weekly meetings with the telescope operators and monthly training of operators and supporting technical staff now take place. New check-lists allowing detailed checking of VLBI equipment and telescope maintenance are being prepared. Special log books and maintenance books were issued, and standard procedures have been developed to allow the telescope operators to solve the most frequently occurring problems.
The total observing time at the telescope is divided between three major programmes: EVN observations, pulsar timing and search, and spectroscopy of molecules. In the reported year the telescope was fully used and the astronomical observing time covered 90.2% of the total time. The accounted loss was due to 8.6% service and test observations, and only 1.2% due to failures. The significant improvements of observation quality, compared to 1998/1999, has been achieved by introducing organisational changes and a new set of rules resulting in better coordination of all activities related to the EVN programs.
Observations with the EVN during the contract year have been processed at the EVN Mark IV data processor at JIVE, and the results analysed to measure the quality of the data. A quantitative measure of the quality of the data has been developed, called the EVN Reliability Indicator (ERI), which is the ratio of the number of interferometer data points actually contributing to the final image of the radio source (a typical final product of VLBI observation) divided by the number of data points that could have contributed if a perfect observation had been carried out. ERI=1 indicates a perfect observation.
The ERI has been computed for two observations in the observing session in February 2001. At an observing wavelength of 6 cm with 10 radio telescopes spread across Europe and Asia, the ERI was 0.75, while at 18 cm the ERI was 0.99. Time when radio telescopes were “off-the-air” due to bad weather conditions has been discounted. The latter observation satisfies the deliverable for reliable operation set at ERI=0.90, but there are many observations for which we do not yet have an ERI. The measurement of the ERI will be expanded so that a picture can be built up of the level of reliability sustained throughout a long observing period.
A small working group has been set up to investigate options for the future development of raw data transport in the EVN from the telescopes to the data processor. Particular attention is being paid to new generation commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tape recorders and portable hard disk drives, as well as possibilities of making use of the pan-European research and education network fibre infrastructure. The main scientific thrust of this activity is to achieve far greater sensitivity to faint radio sources by transporting data at higher bit rate than has been possible so far. The working group is led by the Metsähovi Radio Observatory whose report follows.
The reliability problems experienced in the EVN have two major causes:
· The equipment was designed 15--20 years ago and manufactured 10--15 years ago and it is aging rapidly. The fundamental designs are, in some cases, obsolete and thus hard to maintain.
· Stations get feedback only after the tapes have been correlated, one week to several months after the observing session.
Effective solutions to these problems are being sought in Metsähovi Radio Observatory contribution to the ICN "Sustained Reliable Operation of the EVN" project.
The design goals and architectural outlines of next-generation VLBI data acquisition and data processing systems have been laid out in three documents published on the Web (available at http://kurp.hut.fi/vlbi/instr/):
"Concept for Next-Generation VLBI" depicts the main concept of applying readily-available COTS data communications and computer equipment in VLBI data processing.
"Next Generation VLBI Station" explores the possibility of replacing complex and expensive analog station electronics with direct IF sampling and digital signal processing.
"Cost-Effective Next Generation Correlator" studies the implication of high-speed data networking to the correlator architecture. If data can be stored in files and moved easily using standard Internet protocols, the existing bit-aligned data stream architecture of VLBI correlators is no longer necessary.
Standard commercial Gigabit Ethernet switch performance has been briefly evaluated as the basic building block of next-generation VLBI data interconnect/crosspoint switch. Multi-Gbps performance can be achieved using off-the-shelf switches and properly configured Linux computers with both UDP/IP and TCP/IP protocols.
The work accomplished on improving the EVN reliability appears to be on schedule. Implementation of the agreed measures at individual observatories is an on-going
2-year process in most cases.
In the workplan for the study of future data transport methods for the EVN (specific objective 4), an evaluation of COTS magnetic tape drives was suggested. The recent developments at MIT Haystack Observatory demonstrating the use of magnetic disks have shown that disks will outperform tapes very quickly and at lower cost. Thus the focus was shifted from tape to evaluating standard disk technology performance.
3.1.4
Planned activities in year 2
· A second workshop will be held in Bonn in June 2001 to evaluate progress on achieving sustained operational reliability, and to review operational practices.
· Partners will continue to implement measures to improve reliability.
· The EVN Reliability Index will be determined for the test and monitoring experiments during observing sessions.
· Different methods of extracting sampled VLBI data with standard COTS computers and data communications equipment will be evaluated. A software auto-correlator will be used to verify the validity of data. A simple scalability analysis of COTS hardware/software will be performed to check the feasibility of the scalable architecture suggested in design goal documents.
3.1.5
Meetings held
1) Coordination
meeting at Jodrell Bank Observatory (May 2000). Purpose: to agree on measures
to be taken to achieve a network-wide improvement in reliability. There were 28
participants including representatives of the 9 partners involved in the EVN. Recognised experts (from
within the EVN itself and from the US) were on hand to lead the discussion with
VLBI technical and observing staff.
2)+3) The feasibility of using Internet-based high-speed data communications for future EVN data transport was evaluated in two European meetings. The visit to DANTE (Cambridge, November 2000) was devoted to evaluating the usability of next-generation research Internet backbone networks for VLBI purposes. The visit to CERN (Geneva, February 2001) demonstrated distributed supercomputing architectures based on COTS Linux PCs, connected together with standard Internet protocols and high-speed commercial data communications hardware.
3.2.
EVN Symposium and Summer School
The objectives of the EVN Symposium are to provide a forum in which the most recent VLBI results can be presented and to provide an opportunity for young astronomers to make contact with their more established colleagues and initiate trans-national collaborations. The objective of the EVN Summer School is to propagate knowledge of radio interferometry and VLBI techniques widely throughout the astronomical community in Europe.
An EVN Symposium was held in Gothenburg, Sweden from 29 June to 1 July 2000 with more than 80 astronomers participating from 15 countries. Organisation was in the hands of the Onsala Space Observatory, one of principal contractors of RADIONET. Time was also made available during the Symposium for a General Users Meeting in which EVN management heard, and reacted to, comments from the user community on EVN operational efficiency and plans for future development.
J. Conway (OSO) was the
chairman of the local organizing. Approximately three weeks of full time effort
were spent preparing and helping run the symposium. Conway was also the main
editor of the proceedings which appears in both book form and as an online version.
RADIONET funds, administered by JIVE, were used to support the participation of six selected young astronomers who would otherwise not have been able to attend, and to help support the costs of publication of the Proceedings. A copy of the Proceedings accompanies this report.
Istituto di Radioastronomia (Bologna, Italy) is taking the lead in organising the EVN School 2001. The School will be held in Sen Pietro (near Bologna) in the period 17-29 September 2001. The School will be co-sponsored by the RADIONET, NATO ASI, CNR and several Italian national funding sources. The RADIONET funds will be made available to support those participants of the school who originate from the Member or Associated states but would be unable to attend the school without the RADIONET travel grants. The RADIONET funding will be also used to partially support publication of the school-related materials (pre-proceedings).
3.4.
ALMA
RADIONET funds are being used in the coordination of scientific and technical input in the design and development phase of the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA). In particular, the aim is to establish European scientific and technical priorities for ALMA by organising workshops, writing reports on the outcomes for the ALMA project management, and presenting the outcomes in international scientific and technical meetings.
Workshops were to be held at the MPIfR in Bonn, IRAM in Grenoble, and Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK on topics to be selected.
Two workshops were organised in the first contract year, the first on the scientific perspectives at the MPIfR in Bonn on October 2000, the second on array configurations at IRAM in Grenoble in February 2001.
The results of the workshop on the scientific perspectives
have been published and a paper copy is included with this report. The Grenoble meeting adopted, as official
ALMA design decisions, the principles of the array configuration design for
intermediate spacings proposed by J.
Conway from the Onsala Space Observatory and published as ALMA memo 348,
February 2001. A copy of this document
is enclosed. A report on the Grenoble Workshop accompanies this report.
Three workshops were planned and two were organised. The third workshop planned to take place at the Jodrell Bank Observatory was postponed. It is likely that the ALMA activity will take 3 years rather than the 2 years foreseen in the workplan.
3.4.4
Planned activities in year 2
Workshops are planned in Cambridge (UK), Onsala (Sweden), and Bordeaux (France).
1) Workshop on the science objectives for ALMA, October 2000. Purpose: to develop the science case from the European perspective. A total of 10 scientists took part including representatives from six of the partners, as well as invited experts from 4 other institutes in Europe.
2) Workshop on ALMA configurations, Grenoble, February 2001. Purpose: to evaluate the different concepts for the configuration of the ALMA array. A total of 24 scientists took part including representatives from 4 of the partners, as well as invited experts from 12 other institutes in Europe, USA, Japan and Chile.
3.5.
Mapping studies for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
The SKA is in an early phase of development as a global project. The main goal of RADIONET activity in this area is to map out the collaborations leading to a formal proposal for the telescope. The deliverable will be a document which outlines the scientific case for the SKA, the technical concepts to be employed, plans for prototyping critical elements, a proposal for managing the project including the division of responsibility amongst the partners, and a strategy for seeking funding for the project.
3.5.1
Specific objectives in year 1
The main
objectives were 1) to establish a consortium of the institutes in Europe
interested in contributing to the development of SKA, 2) to play a leading role
in the global coordination of the project, and 3) to hold workshops on specific
technical issues as part of the process of evaluating competing technologies.
3.5.2
Progress
During
this first year of this contract, the SKA related activities were as follows:
1. European
participants in the SKA project met in Munich in March 2000 with their
counterparts from around the world in the first gathering of the International
SKA Steering Committee (ISSC). The main
item of business was discussion of a draft Memorandum of Agreement on
cooperation on the development of SKA.
2. An
initial, organizational meeting of European partners was held on 9 May 2000, at
which a plan of activities was agreed. The minutes of this meeting are attached
in Annex 2.
3. An
MoU among participating European institutes was drawn up and signed. The
European SKA Consortium (ESKAC) so constituted will represent the interests of
member institutes in the various global forums in which the SKA is being
discussed and planned.
4. The
global agreement to cooperate on the development of the SKA was finalised and
signed during the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in
Manchester UK in Aug 2000. The chairman of the ESKAC signed on behalf of the
Consortium, and also accepted the vice-chairmanship of the International SKA Steering
Committee (ISSC). The ISSC was charged with coordinating the preparatory
activities for SKA on a global scale.
5. The
work plan proposed by the ISSC includes
·
submission of a management plan in 2003 to
governments and the EU,
·
a decision on the technical concept and a site for
SKA in 2005, and
·
preparation of proposals to governments and the EU
for full development of SKA in about 2007-8.
6. The
ESKAC expects that planning for a proposal to the EU’s 6th Framework
Programme for serious prototype development for SKA should begin soon, with a
view to submitting a proposal for Europe’s contribution to the full-scale SKA
as part of the 7th Framework Programme from 2007.
7. A
technical workshop to review the status of R&D activities around that world
was held at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in early August 2000. Attendance by
radio astronomers from a dozen countries ensured a lively exchange of ideas. A
consensus seemed to emerge that the technical concept for SKA would likely be a
hybrid design, incorporating aspects of the large N array antenna designs being
studied in the US, Europe and Australia.
8. Preparations
were made for a workshop on dealing with the increasing levels of man-made
interference to be held at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie in Bonn
at the end of March 2001. A central technical requirement for all future large
radio telescopes will be measures for suppressing external interference.
3.5.3
Planned vs accomplished activities
The
planned activities were largely accomplished. It is expected that the
appointment of a Project Secretary for the ESKAC will be made in the second
year of the contract.
3.5.4
Planned activities in year 2
Appointment
of Project Secretary. Workshops on suppression of radio frequency interference,
SKA configurations, and progress on technical concepts. Participation in
International SKA Steering Committee meetings.
3.5.5
Meetings
1) Initial
meeting of the International SKA Steering Committee, Munich, March 2000.
Purpose: to establish the ISSC and to review progress from around the world. A
total of 21 people took part including representatives from six RADIONET
partners and the two Associated Members of RADIONET (ATNF- Australia, and HIA -
Canada).
2) Initial
meeting of the European SKA Consortium, Helsinki, May 2000. Purpose: to
formally establish the Consortium. A total of 14 people took part including
representatives from six RADIONET partners.
3)
Workshop on SKA technological concepts, Jodrell Bank Observatory, Manchester,
August 2000. Purpose: to review progress on the design of the SKA. A total of
55 participants from around the world took part including representatives from
six RADIONET partners and the two Associated Members of RADIONET (ATNF-
Australia, and HIA - Canada).
4)
A meeting of the ISSC was also held at JBO following the technical workshop
including participation by the six ESKAC/RADIONET partners and the tow
Associated Members.
5)
A third meeting of the ISSC to review progress in the project was held in
Boston in January 2001. A total of 15 people took part including
representatives of 4 of the 6 RADIONET partners and the two Associated Members.
4.
Deliverables
1) Organisation
of the EVN Symposium and publication of the Proceedings
2) Organisation of ALMA Workshops and publication of the report on
Science with ALMA
3)
Memorandum of Understanding establishing the European SKA Consortium
1) Proceedings of the 5th EVN Symposium (2000), published by Onsala Space Observatory, ISBN 91-631-0548-9, editors: J. Conway, A. G. Politidis, R S. Booth, and Y. Pihlström. The Proceedings have been disseminated to all participants and to astronomical libraries around the world. The web version of the Proceedings can be found at http://ww.oso.chalmers.se/~jconway/EVN5/
2) Three documents on future data transport techniques for the EVN have been produced by J. Ritakari (Metsähovi Radio Observatory):
"Concept for Next-Generation VLBI",
"Next Generation VLBI Station", and
"Cost-Effective Next Generation Correlator".
They have been published on the EVN Technical email exploder which effectively reaches not only European but also most of the international technical VLBI experts in the world. The main document "Concept for Next-Generation VLBI" can also be found on the Metsähovi web site (http://kurp.hut.fi/vlbi/instr/), in the repository for EVN technical documents (http://www.jive.nl/jive/jive/techinfo/evn_docs/evndoc111.ps.gz), and in the MIT Haystack Observatory Mark IV memo series
(ftp://dopey.haystack.edu/pub/mark4/memos/281.pdf).
4) “Recommendations of the Configuration Preliminary Design Review”, ALMA meeting in Grenoble.
5) Memorandum of Understanding on the European SKA Consortium
6) RADIONET was described in a presentation by R. T. Schilizzi at the Strasbourg Conference on Research Infrastructures organised by the EC and the ESF in September 2000.
RADIONET is managed by the directors of the partner institutes. Coordination of activities takes place via face-to-face meetings at the time of the RADIONET annual general meeting, the twice-yearly meetings of the European VLBI Consortium, ALMA management meetings, and meetings of the International SKA Steering Committee. Communication at other times occurs via email and telephone. A website has been established for RADIONET at www.jive.nl/jive/jive/european/radionet.htm. This includes pointers to the EVN, Alma and SKA homepages.
The RADIONET secretariat is headed by Dr
Leonid Gurvits at JIVE. His duties have involved organisation of meetings, administering the travel support provided to
participants in the EVN Symposium organized by the Onsala Space Observatory as
well as to participants in the ALMA Workshops, and writing this annual report.
Early in 2001, discussions in RADIONET led to an RTD proposal from the radio astronomy community for research into the production of cost-effective receiver arrays for radio telescopes (the Faraday project). The technology developed will be applicable to existing infrastructures and allow an important European contribution to be made to the technology of the SKA and the science done with ALMA and the Planck Surveyor satellite.
The RADIONET and OPTICON coordinators met informally at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Manchester UK in August 2000 to prepare the way for a joint open session on large scale astronomical facilities in Europe at the Joint European and National Astronomical Meeting (JENAM) to be held in Munich in September 2001. There will also be a meeting of the two Infrastructure Cooperation Networks to discuss priorities in European astronomy and progress in ICN activities.
6.2. Table
1: Resources per task in year 1 of the contract
Table 1: Budget
profile in year 1 of the contract
|
Partner |
Personnel cost (kEuro) |
Travel costs (kEuro) |
Other specific costs (publications &
meetings) (kEuro) |
Overhead (kEuro) |
||||
|
|
plan |
actual |
plan |
actual |
plan |
actual |
plan |
actual |
|
JIVE |
31 |
15.875a |
7.75 |
10.917b |
2.5 |
1.654 |
0 |
0 |
|
CNR.IRA |
30 |
19.344 |
2.10 |
4.53c |
0 |
0 |
0.4 |
4.775 |
|
MPG.IRASTR |
30 |
0d |
7.1 |
0.476b |
4.0 |
0.647e |
2.4 |
0 |
|
UHELS.MRRS |
30 |
13.668f |
3.50 |
1.929 |
0 |
0 |
6.7 |
3.119 |
|
CNIGE.OAN |
30 |
18.020 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
NFRA |
41.25 |
32.507 |
2.1 |
3.923 |
0 |
0 |
0.4 |
7.286 |
|
UMNC.NRAL |
30 |
26.307 |
12.1 |
0g |
0 |
0 |
8.17 |
6.098 |
|
CUT.OSO |
30 |
22.791 |
2.1 |
0.978 |
0 |
0 |
0.4 |
4.754 |
|
UNICO.DRA |
30 |
4.01h |
2.1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.4 |
0.6 |
|
UBOD1.OSU |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
IRAM |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0i |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
a JIVE was not able to find a suitable candidate for the position of network coordinator in the first year of the contract. This contributed to the smaller than expected expenditure on personnel costs. The position will be filled in year 2.
b JIVE administered the travel support for the ALMA workshop in Bonn because the workshop was held in early October before the advance could be transferred from JIVE to MPG.IRASTR.
c Travel expenditure on SKA-related travel was higher than expected.
d MPG.IRASTR decided that, in terms of timing of the impact on improved reliability of EVN operations, a better approach was to make an appointment in the second year of the contract; this will take place on 1 July 2001.
e Expenditures related to organising the ALMA-EURO-SAC meeting in Bonn, 02-03 Oct 2000. Does not include funding for the publication costs of the ‘Science with ALMA’ document. The latter published with external financial support.
f Expenditure by UHELS.MRRS was less than expected at the start of the contract.
g The ALMA workshop at UMNC.NRAL was postponed to year 2 or 3 of the contract.
h Administrative delays in Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun led to the advance payment being made available only on 1 January 2001
I The ALMA workshop in Grenoble was held during the last 3 days of
the contract year. The travel claims had not been submitted at the end of the
contract period; they will be claimed in the cost statement for year 2.
Annex 1:
Minutes of
the first Annual General Meeting of the
Infrastructure Cooperation Network in Radio AstronomyNotes from ICN Meeting
,
Madrid
Dec 2, 2000 ‑ MAG
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
Attending: I. Fejes (SGO,
Budapest), S. Urpo (MRO, Metsäha
K. Menten (MPIfR ‑ Bonn), A. Kus (TCfA ‑
Torun), W. Baan (WSRT,
Dwingeloo), A. Baudry
(Bordeaux obs), R. Booth (OSO, Onsala),
F. Colomer (OAN,
Alcala), P. Diamond (JBO/MERLIN ‑ Jodrell Bank),
D. Egret (CDS, Strasbourg), M.
Garrett (JIVE, Dwingeloo), J. Gomez (OAN,
Alcala), L. Lara
(IAA, Granada), F. Mantovani (IRA, Bb
B. Nordstrom
(European Astronomical Society), R. Schwartz (MPIfR, Bonn),
A. Zensus (MPIfR, Bonn), C. Warden (European Commission).
Chairman: R. Schilizzi (JIVE, Dwingeloo)
Apologies: from
various people, in particular H.R.
Harvey
D. Ekers (ATNF, Sydney), S.
Lilly (HIA, Ottawa)
(SKA
agenda
item covered by Phil Diamond.
0. R. SchilizziRTS meeting:
(i) VLBI ‑– EVN
sustained reliability and performance),
(ii) Next
Generation Facilities
‑ EVN2010, SKA, ALMA, EVN2010 and
(iii) Iinteraction with
OPTICON ICN and broader
European bodies such as the European
Astronomical Society.
1.
ICN Activities
A. ZensusZ
‑ - Ppolicy decision making
is made by the EVN Board of directors (composed of the directors of
the
EVN institutes;,
rotating chairman, currently AZ)
- ‑ EVN is an open
facility to all astronomers ‑ use of the facility is based solely on
scientific merit (proposals are
rated by the EVN Programme Committee)
- Technical ‑
Technical and
Operational Developments are the responsibility of the Technical Operations
Group (TOG).
- The EVN Programme Chair (S. Garrington) and
TOG chair (M.A. Garrett) report directly to the Board.
- With three 100‑m class antennas, the EVN is the most
sensitive VLBI array in the world. It collaborates with US VLBA in global VLBI
observations.
ICN coordination
activity reports:
- WSRT, The Netherlands
ICN activity is focused on
achievingEmphasis on robust
operations, withuser
friendly facility, improved sensitivity. To coordinate this, ICN
funding has been used for a Developments
supported by ICN include ‑ 1/2 VLBI
technician, and a1/2 telescope physicist (both 0.5fte). , creation In addition, a of VLBI
Target Team has been
created to prioritisees
and monitor VLBI operations at the WSRT., spare part procurement. In
the last observing session
the estimated data loss was 1.3% (total observing time 163 hours) which is
close to the desirable
level of down time.
- Medicina
& Noto, Italy
Orfei and Tuccari contribute to TOG activities
(latter is TOG vice‑chair). Specific activites to improve
operationsDevelopments at the telescopes include
the frequency flexibility programme, active surface control, pcal switching
automated via FS (Field System ‑ softwarecomputer that
controls the telescopes and VLBI
equipment, including recorders). The Italians are active in VLBI
education andB
a VLBI Science School is planned for October 2001 supported in part by the ICN. The level of
their participation in both ALMA and SKA is now increasing.
- Jodrell Bank Observatory, UKBO
VLBI has a high priority at JBO but there are many other activities ‑
single dish spectral line and pulsars, and in particular MERLIN, the 6
telescope interferometer spread across England. ICN developments focus on
improving the robustness and reliability of moving from one activity to the next.
A complex cable system will be replaced by an automatic system that can select
the VLBI observing mode by simply flicking a switch. The reliability of
Cambridge is also a target for the ICN (the Cambridge signal travels across microwave
links ‑ 218 km ‑ before arriving back at the VLBI terminal at JBO).
This will be coordinated by a VLBI engineer supported via ICN as well as by JBO
technical lab technician man‑power. Automated Local Oscillator control is
also being implemented. Improvements in amplitude calibration are expected as welltoo.
- Metsähovi, Finland
Activities supported by the
ICN include upgrade of the telescope sServo
systems, a has been
upgradednd,
FS software development conducted at Metsähovi ‑ in
particular support of FS tailored Linux
kernel. Research into next generation VLBI data acquisition systems (fiber
and commercial recorders) and correlators.
- Yebes, Spain
At Yebes simplification of cabling to‑ increaseing reliability
when switching between single‑dish and VLBI observations is being implemented. Telescope control has been improved,
MkIV
upgradeand,
automated PCAL switching, brought into operation. T‑ the
intention is to make sure that these new developments can also be used to
benefit the new 40‑m
telescope.
- Effelsberg, Germany
Rationalisation of switching
between VLBI and other observing modeswill contribute to reliable operation in the EVN.,
Other ICN activity
includes large technical input and support of TOG. dDevelopment of
local FS software to improve the pointing and calibration of telescope,
participatione
in fringe verification experimentspts
before sessions, improvement
of frequency
agile,
receiver reliability being improved, coordination of the formatter
firmware upgrade across the EVN, and investiogation of a fibre connection
between Effelsberg and MPIfR Bonn. Handles tape logisitcs for network and scheduling.
- Onsala, Sweden
Includes 20 and 25
meter telescopes at Onsala,Coordination of and plus SEST in Chile. iImprovements in
receiver performance (including
polarisation purity)., RFI monitoring and, amplitude calibration for the 20 and 25 meter telescopes at
Onsala areimprovements ‑ all
supported via ICN. 5 GHz observations
will move to the
20 meter telescope which is‑
shielded by a ray‑dome
so down‑time due to wind will be minimised for 5 GHz.
- Torun, Poland
Operates 32 and 15 m
telescopes, 32‑m is primary instrument, Pproblems ICN funding addresses are:
recorder quality, timing issues, receiver
development, IF distribution, automated, RFI monitoring and, frequency
agility.,
RFI
monitoring. Lots of human training involved in
maintaining FS, recorder, electronics; local VLBI observing check list is now
used before every expt startsEngi, engineer cover
is improved during VLBI observations, emergency computer routines exist to
recover system after serious crashes ‑ observations can re‑start
quickly and smoothly.. Dedicated
people to VLBI logistics ‑ tape and log shipment, schedules etc.
- JIVE, The Netherlands
JIVE
The pPosition of Network
coordinator has recently been advertised; , responsibilities
will include: (i) coordination of various ICN reliability developments across
the EVN, (ii) monitoring of EVN
performance by inspecting station reports, correlated data and obtaining user feedback,
(iii) assisting TOG chair and ICN coordinators at other EVN observatories, (iv)
organising TOG workshops ‑ establishing good observing practice at the
telescopes and distributing knowledge from individualm one stations to the rest of the
network, (v) coordination of central spare parts pool and investigating
replacements for obsolete components.
- Symposia and Schools
The first ICN-sponsored Symposium at Onsala from 29 June to 1 July,
was attended by 100 people including many PhD students and Postdocs During the 3 day
meeting a
½-half‑day
was given over to an EVN users meeting. The next Symposium will be in Bonn in
May 2002. Publication of the Onsala Sympoosium is
expected in January 2001. The first ICN-sponsored VLBI School will be held in Castel
St. Pietro ‑ located nearby Bologna – in September 2001. 100 people are expected to attend the 10 day school. The school will consider the astrophysical phenomena targeted by the VLBI technique and the relations with observations in other astronomical wavebands. Most lecturers will attend for the full duration of the course. Funding is sought from the EC and NATO.
C. Warden commented on the various reports. He encouraged all the
various activities being supported under the ICN. to continue. He sSuggested that the
complexity of the EVN might be usefully investigated using
"hard" and
"soft" technical analysis philosophies. Hard approaches
(although
necessary) are not adequate in addressing the complex environments
that
exist in distributed facilities such as the EVN. Soft approaches
look
more broadly at other factors and the environment in which the
solution
will operate. Its not often employed in astronomical environments
but
the EVN might be a case in point that could benefit from this analysis
‑ an investigation by the ICN network coordinator (see JIVE
above) should be considered
and given the EC’s interest in creating more virtual and
distributed facilities an EC sponsored published report should be
considered. The EC was very
responsive to the publication of such
reports.
There was a general feeling that it would be useful to find out more
about suchthese new
management philosophiesy
and see if they can be applied to
the EVN as a whole and stations individually. Regarding summer schools
‑ C. Warden suggested that
teaching time be limited to 4 hours per day
plus posters. The deadline for EC support for the school was 1
February 2001, with the
‑ results of the assessment of
the proposal being
available within 3 should be fast < 3
months. EC and NATO funding could be complementary. The EC could only
support residents of the EU and associated EU states but had no
restrictions on other nationalities attending (unlike the NATO
support).
2. Comments from EVN users
I. Fejes reported on the benefit
Hungarian PIs had received from
the EC's support of the EVN (in particular via the access
contract). There are no radio telescope facilities in Hungary – the
access
contract allows Hungarian scientists to be fully supported in using
the
EVN ‑ both financially (travel, accommodation, subsistence
etc) and
technically (via dedicated JIVE support). Hungarian PIs had been
remarkably successful in obtaining EVN time ‑ over the last 5
years 11
Hungarian- led
projects have been
granted time totaled 11. Two PhD projects had been
supported
with excellent scientific results that included new EVN observations
of
SS433 which had revealed radio emission perpendicular to the main
radio
jet axis ‑ a phenomena that was completely unexpected. VLBI
observations of high redshiftz quasars had
also benefited cosmological
studies. But the Hungarians had not simply confined their activities
to
using the EVN, they had also contributed to Space VLBI Scheduling
assistance software that had been released to the VLBI community
generally and had been widely used by VLBI astronomers proposing to
use
the Japanese led Space VLBI project ‑ VSOP.
L. Lucas Lara
(Spain) listed the
good points of the EVN, in particular the unique
capabilities of the array at 6 GHz, high sensitivity of the array
with
the large European antennas, joint EVN and MERLIN observations
providing intermediate scale angular resolution, the development of
new
techniques such as wide‑field imaging, and cluster‑cluster
techniques. The
AO (Call for proposals) was widely distributed, external user
support
was good, agreements with external organisations such as the NASA
Deep
Space Network and Arecibo were to be encouraged. Technical
information
via the re‑designed EVN web pages, improved ANTAB calibration
files and
the introduction of a dedicated EVN correlator at JIVE were also
applauded. HeLucas
also reported on areas some less
positive aspects of the network operations which he would like to see improved::
‑ he would like to see a dedicated
instrument running 365 days per year
(rather than the 90 days per year currently available), frequency
flexibility was not yet available at all telescopes, polarisationpolarization
observations with supporting calibration would be useful, more high
frequency capability at 22 and 43 GHz was required, multi‑epoch
observations were limited since the array did not operate on a full
time basis, better uv-coverage should be obtained by bringing in the
Chinese stations at Shanghai and Urumqi on a more regular basis. Scheduling was
still difficult
for novice users ‑ especially tape handling; support scientist
support was
still required in this area but improvements in the software
would make this unnecessary. Target of Opportunity observations were
difficult to organise in the EVN, and there was some confusion about
thick
and thin tapes. Compatibility between the EVN and MERLIN should be
sought w.r.t. coordinate system epoch (MERLIN uses 1950.0, EVN J2000).
C.ampbell
Warden thanked both users for their comments ‑ they were
clearly of great value to the EVN. The access contract will be
monitored via the user feedback forms ‑ these would be used in
the
mid‑term audit of the IHP access contract. The EC welcomed
feedback
itself w.r.t. the questions that are being asked on the form and
whether another approach could be taken. M. Garrett noted that it was
important to get feedback from all EVN users and this was not
currently
formalised – it is expected the ICN network coordinator will take on
this
responsibility.
3. ICN ALMA activities
K. Menten reported on the
capabilities of the next generation
mm‑interferometer ‑ ALMA. The project was 50‑50 Europe/USA with a
strong possibility that Japan would also contribute as an equal
partner. ALMA will have an order of magnitude better resolution than
existing arrays and 10000 times the sensitivity. Source counts would
begin to approach that of the HDF and be similar to that expected
for
the SKA. The advantage over optical observations is that the sub‑mm
(and the radio) are not obscured by dust, and at high z the mm and
sub‑mm sources are blessed by a significant negative k‑correction
that allows
high z galaxies to be detected up to z=20. Planetary science within
the
solar system, and the study of more distant planetary formation and
star formation regions would also benefit. The cost of ALMA was
expected to be 500 MUSD. Real operations would begin in 2005, by
2007
the array would be better than any existing facility and by 2010 the
array would be complete.
The organisational structure of ALMA was also presented. The ICN had
supported a recent meeting in Berlin ‑ which resulted in the
release of a
90 page science document. A mm‑astronomy school supported in part by the ICN was planned in addition to further workshops.
4. ICN
SKA activities
P. Diamond noted that if longer wavelength radio
astronomy was to compete with the next
generation of optical 30m and 100m telescopes, not to mention ALMA,
a
significant increase in sensitivity would be required. With receiver
noise close to the quantum limit, and with limited gain w.r.t
bandwidth
at the lower frequencies the only way to get better sensitivity was
to increase the collecting area ‑ hence SKA (Square Kilometerm
Array). SKA would
be 1000 times more sensitive than existing
arrays.
A global MOU had recently been drawn‑up and signed at the IAU
in
Manchester in August 2000. A consortium had been created and
included most of the
major radio astronomy institutes. A technical workshop had been held
at
JBO and the presentations would soon be available via the web. The
next technical workshop would be in Berkeley, CA on in 9 July 2001. There were
various ideas about what the configuration of SKA should be ‑
a meeting
would be organised at Ringberg castle in spring 2001 by A. Zensus and M.
Garrett. RFI mitigation was also an important technical areaconsideration
that
needed to be developed – W. Baan was to organise a meeting supported
in part by the ICN in Bonn 2‑6
April 2001. On October 10‑13 2001 a. A meeting would be
held at MPG HQ in
Berlin in
October 2001 ‑– bringing together thefocusing on the
complementary science that can
be done with the next generation radio, mm, far‑infrared,
optical/uv
and x‑ray instruments. Talks would probably be requested by
invitation
only; an appropriate title for the meeting was also required. A meeting between the Radio astronomy ICN and
OPTICON would take place at JENAM (10-14 Sept 2001). The formation of an
International SKA consortium (chair ‑– R. Ekers) was formalized in Manchester in
August in order to begin making progress on various fronts ‑ site
selection, science goals/priorities,
array configuration, technical concept etc. It was hoped that the
project
would be well defined by the end of 2005.
A. Zensus noted that
the management structure of SKA only applied to this conception
phase. W. Baan noted that site selection had already began for LOFAR
and
that this research could be used by SKA too. Investigations of radio
quiet zones and rfi mitigation techniques were also beginning.
5. EC contracts
M. ‑ Garrett
reported that the Access contract was already 50% complete
after just one year ?of the contract ‑ 13 projects had been
scheduled, and
36 users were being
supported in total. C.ampbell Warden
noted that a new
call for ARI proposals had recently been announced and the Radio ICNwe
should
consider submitting a new proposal before the 15 Feb 2001 deadline ‑– in
order to ensure there was no gap between the current contract
finishing
and the next contract starting (in FP6).
R. Schilizzi
reported on the RTD contract in the absence of L.eonid
Gurvits. Good progress was being made on all fronts ‑ the feasibility study on a fibre-linked e-EVN was complete and a report produced.
M. Garrett
reported on the FINA concerted action. This had supported
investigations into a high sensitivity VLBI system, ‑ using
the
thin‑film head technology. Unfortunately this technology was
now
considered unsuitable. A final FINA report was due in March 2001 ‑– the
EVNs contribution would be a document
summarising the next steps towards new, high sensitivity VLBI systems. The
document may
form the basis for part of an new RTD
proposal.
6. OPTICON
A joint meeting between the radio astronomy ICN and OPTICON iwas planned
for JENAM –2001 in Munich.
Presentations of the next generation astronomy
facilities would be made, including EVN, OWL, ALMA, ENO, SKA and
“virtual” telescopes. It iwas
hoped to inform the community of what iwas being planned and to try and
bring the various efforts together so that the projects could be
coordinated ‑especially in terms of funding bids.
The Radio astronomy ICN strongly supported the concept of Oort
fellowships and hoped to become more involved in this activity. It
was
important that the fellowships were open to all areas of
astronomy. C. Warden reported that the concept of these
“elite"
fellowships would in principle be open to any scientific
discipline in which European leadership had been demonstrated. It
was
important to bring
this to the attention oflobby the Commission’s Programme Committee who would
judge whether such a fellowship
programme
should be supported by the EC in FP6.
ACTION: R. SchilizziTS
will distribute the names of those on the Programme Committee to ICN
contractors. Subsequently they should contactlobby their local
national PC membercontact
making it clear that this fellowship scheme was widely supported in
the
European astronomical community.
ACTION: R. SchilizziRTS
will also distribute the most recent version of the Oort
proposal to ICN members.,
C. Warden had suggested that an astronomy
brochure should be
produced, describing and highlighting the various activities and
facilities associated with the Rradio astronomy ICN and OPTICON.
R. Schilizzi
reported that, iIn addition to the Oort fellowships,
OPTICON activities included very large telescopesOWLs,
emerging technologies and the astrophysical virtual observatory.
7. Data Archiving
D. Egret described the progress being made with the virtual
observatory project. Progress focused on observatory/telescope
based archives, data centres, data bases, information systems,
bibliography services (see http://cdsweb.u‑strasbg.fr/ and
also
www.stecf.org/astrovirtel/). A demonstration of the various
capabilities was presented. The CDS archive receives about 50 e‑mail
messages a week containing relevant feedback.
R.T.
Schilizzi noted that Dr. Tiziana
Venturi (CNR-IRA,
Bologna, Italy) would chair the EVN archive
group. D. Egret
suggested she attend the interoperability workshops.
P. Diamond demonstrated the new MERLIN archive. A pipeline was
running
through archive MERLIN data from 1998 back to 1992. Publication
quality
maps and calibrated data would be available as well as calibrated data.
There was an easy web
based search facility to find the relevant maps/data. Eventually the
pipeline will run on MERLIN data as it flows directly from the
correlator.
B. Nordstrom noted that the next meeting of the joint European and
National
Astronomical meeting would be in Munich 10‑14 Sep 2001. The
EAS
newsletter was produced 3 times per year and it appeared appropriate
that the activities of the radio astronomy ICN be reported there (P.aul
Murdin had already published a piece on OPTICON). Newsletters of the
EAS
are available at www.iap.fr/eas/newsletters.html
8. EC report
C. Warden reported that he was very positive with respect to what he
had heard and seen w.r.t. to the radio astronomy ICN. He gave a
report
on the current status of FP5 and also gave a flavour of some of the
aspects being considered for FP6. As far as FP5 was concerned 165
Access proposals had been submitted with 111 actually funded (to the
tune of 87.2 MEuro), 42 ICN proposals (25 funded ‑ 12.3
MEuro), 42 RTD
proposals (only 19 funded ‑ 21.4 MEuro); 60
MEuro still had to be spent
via the next round of proposals. As far as FP6 was concerned, the programme was
still in the
discussion phase ‑ a draft proposal would be ready in Feb
2001, put
before the parliament in the summer of 2001, with the final approved
version in place by the end of the same year. In order to empower
the
scientific community and reduce the amount of micro‑management
and
overhead currently absorbed by the commission, it was possible that
the
ICN concept would
develop into an all encompassing programme supporting individual
particular fields of science, and for
example assuming
including both
the Access
and RTD programmes. It was also possible that FP6 would support
development
and operational costs of new projects but only to the level of
10‑15%. Areas that were currently seen to be weak in Europe
included
mobility between academic institutes and industry. P. Diamond noted
that that at JBO a survey had been made of the current positions of
former JBO students ‑ their impact within industry (in
particular
advanced
technology companies) was impressive. C. Warden noted that this
was exactly the sort of information that had to be fed back to
national
governments, national funding agencies, and the EC. He again encouraged
the Radio astronomy ICN and OPTICON to spread positive messages such
as
these via the EC brochure, thesewhich could be
produced in vast
numbers.
C. Warden noted that the success of new ICN proposals in FP6
would be judged via earlier progress ‑ in particular Annual
Reports and
Final Reports would be important sources of information. It was therefore
important that these be well written and presented. A. Zensus
suggested
that we pool some of the information provided via the web; there had
been many interesting topics raised at this meeting for which the
information was
distributed across the Internet. R. Schilizzi responded that the creation of a
web page for the ICN was already in hand and would be made available
shortly.
Date
and Place of next meeting –
R. Schilizzi suggested the second
annual meeting of the ICN meet 1 year from now; he asked C.Warden whether a
meeting in Shanghai was possible
(location of the EVN Board meeting in Autumn 2001). be one year from now at a location to be
identified. One possibility is Shanghai, China at the time of the next EVN
Board meeting. C. Warden suggesteed
that the ICN write a letter to the commission justifying the request
to
meet outside the EU. Personally it was a mission he would look forward to but he will be returning to the ENO in La Palma before the next meeting is held. (Subsequent to the meeting, it was decided to hold the next Annual Meeting in November 2001 at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK.)
Annex 2: Minutes of first full meeting of the European SKA Consortium
9 May 2000, Helsinki, Finland.
This meeting was held in fulfillment of a provision of EU ICN contract HPRI-CT-1999-40003, in force from 1 March 2000, under which the coordinator of the SKA activity, H. Butcher, should call a meeting at the start of the contract period to set the agenda for the studies to follow and to agree on the steps leading to consensus.
The meeting was opened at 13.30. In attendance from EU ICN contract institutes were:
P. Diamond, Director, MERLIN National Facility, UK
R. Booth, Director, Onsala Space Obs. Sweden
H. Butcher, Director, ASTRON/Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy Netherlands, and coordinator for ICN SKA project sub-contract
J. Gomez-Gonzales, Director, National Astronomical Obs. Spain
A. Kus, Associate Director, Torun Centre for Astronomy Poland
R. Schilizzi, Director, Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe Netherlands
and overall coordinator for EU ICN contract
F. Mantovani, VLBI Director, Institute of Radio Astronomy Italy
A.Zensus, VLBI Director, Max Planck Institute for Radioastronmy, Bonn, Germnay
Additional attendees by invitation were:
W. Baan, Director, Westerbork Radio Obs.,
Netherlands
A. Baudry, Director, Radio Astronomy Lab, Obs. de Bordeaux , France
F.Colomer, National Astronomical Obs. Spain
S. Urpo, Director, Metsahovi Radio Research Station, Finland
J.H. Zhao, Director, Shanghai Radio Obs., China
X.Y.Hong, representing Urumqi Radio Obs., China
H. Butcher summarized events leading to this meeting. Now that the project has been incorporated in the long term plans of several major countries and strawman design specifications are available, it is highly desirable for the European radio astronomy institutes to form a consortium that can speak with a single coordinated voice to the EU and to member governments regarding the SKA project. Development of a consensus on the technical and organizational requirements is an essential first step and there are a number of important issues to be addressed, including but not limited to:
1. Should the array configuration be optimized for the very high angular resolution possible on continuum sources, or for the high surface brightness sensitivity required for studies of neutral hydrogen in galaxies in the early Universe? Can an acceptable intermediate solution be identified?
2. Can a hybrid antenna system be conceived that will permit the full three decades of frequency desired for scientific reasons to be attained in a single facility?
3. What operational model is appropriate when one may have 100 independent measuring beams available? Our whole way of doing astronomy can be expected to change with this new capability. Several beams for a few major centers and an individual beam for each research group active in radio astronomy in the whole world?
4. There is no large international organization with a mission to promote radio astronomy. What will be the best organizational structure for this global project, during development and construction and during subsequent operation? We will be breaking new ground here and must plan our approach carefully.
The
meeting decided that a European SKA Consortium should be based in broad terms
on the current EU contract, although not necessarily be limited to those
institutes formally named in the contract. A Memorandum of Understanding will
be drawn up among the institutes to formalize the structure and procedures.
ACTION. P. Diamond will draw up the MoU, which will be modeled after the International SKA Consortium MoU. It will be circulated with a view to signing at the next meeting.
Given the difficulty of scheduling meetings when all directors can attend it was decided to identify second persons at each institute who will be kept up-to-date on current business and who can replace their director when needed. A preliminary list of members and seconds:
ASTRON/NFRA: Butcher and Baan
JBO: Lyne and Wilkinson, with
Diamond representing the rest of UK radio astronomy through the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility
MPIfR: Zensus and Reich
IRA: Mantovani and TBD
TCA: Kus and TBD
Obs de Paris: TBD
OSO: Booth and TBD
JIVE: Schilizzi and Garrett
OAN: Gomez-Gonzalez and Paco Colomer
ACTION. TBD persons will be identified by the appropriate director.
The meeting considered the matter of its chairman, who might be expected to negotiate with international groups, sign agreements in the name of the consortium and to ensure that meetings and other activities were properly organized. It was considered appropriate that the chairman should be the EU contract coordinator for the activity, H. Butcher, at least for an initial period and it was so decided.
P. Diamond was designated vice chair.
Given the limited funds for a secretary it was decided to postpone for the rest of this year a decision on who this might be, where he/she might be located and what his/her specific tasks will be.
ACTION. Members will consider the most important tasks for the secretary. Candidates will be identified and communicated to the chairman.
A number
of workshops are planned. The meeting considered the most urgent matters to be
considered and agreed that at least the following will be required:
1. A general technical workshop. Plans for this first meeting have already been made. It will be held at Jodrell Bank UK on 3-5 August 2000 and will be entitled “Technical Pathways to SKA”. It will address all major technical issues and help define the most important R&D that remains to be carried out. It will not be limited to European attendees but will invite important scientists and technologists worldwide. Its attendance will be limited, however, to about 50 people.
2. A second general technical workshop. A second general workshop will be hosted by the US community in Berkeley, California, in the summer of 2001. This could be of considerable interest to the European Consortium because additional concepts for how best to implement the telescope are being studied in the USA.
ACTION. Butcher will coordinate European involvement with the American colleagues.
3. A focused joint science workshop. SKA with ALMA probe quite different physical conditions in the cosmos. Even so, the ultimate science goals of the projects have much in common, particularly as regards opening the early Universe to study. An important exercise could therefore be a careful and systematic comparison of what SKA and ALMA each can contribute to such studies separately, and then what they can achieve by way of added value when taken together. Comparison in a focused workshop in which the separate and joint capabilities are taken into account might be expected to influence the design of each.
It was decided to aim for a joint SKA-ALMA workshop in October 2001, to discuss the requirements for observations at high redshift with both instruments. The workshop should focus on observations at radio and mm wavelengths but presentations from the Next Generation Space Telescope science team should be included as well.
ACTION. Baudry, Booth, Butcher and Zensus will start making plans for this joint workshop.
4. A small, European-only workshop on the array configuration. A major issue is the differing requirements for continuum and HI line studies. For the former maximum baselines of thousands of kilometers are desirable, for the latter no more than about a hundred kilometers. A workshop seems necessary to develop a European standpoint on which kind of science is more important to us, and to consider whether a compromise configuration can be devised that can fulfill all requirements.
Given the importance and urgency of this issue, the meeting decided to organize a small workshop in the spring of 2001, probably in the Germany and organized locally by the MPIfR.
ACTION. Zensus, aided by Garrett, will organize this workshop, possibly at Ringberg Castle conference center in spring 2001.
5. A European workshop on radio interference in the SKA era. A crucial issue concerns sharing the radio spectrum with other users. To make the exceedingly sensitive observations desired with SKA current regulatory arrangements, in particular as related to satellites, are inadequate. Actions are planned on several fronts, including an OECD sponsored Task Force on Radio Astronomy and the Radio Spectrum, but a missing element is a careful definition by radio astronomers of acceptable levels of interference from other users of the spectrum. It was decided to organize a small (15 attendee) workshop to address the specifications of the radio spectrum environment required for SKA. This work will be closely coordinated with working groups of the URSI and IAU, the OECD Task Force and with the International Telecommunication Union’s Study Group 7D.
ACTION. Baan will take the lead in organizing this workshop and in coordinating its activity with other relevant groups.
The various workshops should focus on a set of work packages, this will be discussed in more depth at the Jodrell Bank workshop but some suggestions were: science requirements; operational requirements; organizational approach (needed by 2002?); spectrum access, including technical requirements for the Radio Quiet Zone.
The global radio astronomy community is planning formally to set up an International SKA Steering Committee (ISSC). This body’s charge is to promote the SKA project around the world, develop a management plan for the project and formulate a framework for global cooperation that is acceptable to governments.
A draft of the MoU setting up the ISSC was circulated to the meeting for discussion, with a view to agreeing the wording during a global teleconference on 23 May next (12.00 UT).
The membership of the ISSC is to consist of 6 Europeans, 6 US representatives, 6 from the rest of the world, and two at-large members. Members are to be selected both as representatives of their respective communities and as able to commit resources to the joint effort. An annual contribution of US$2000 per participant is to be charged to offset organizational costs and to support an international SKA secretariat.
ACTION. Butcher will inform Consortium members of the details of the teleconference.
ACTION. Members will comment to Butcher as desired on the ISSC MoU. He will feed comments back to the ISSC secretary for discussion during the teleconference.
Initial members from the US, Canada, Australia, China and India were mentioned, to the extent they are currently known.
Regarding European membership on the ISSC, it was decided that the six positions will initially be filled by Butcher, van Ardenne (ASTRON/NFRA), Diamond, Mantovani, Wilkinson, and Zensus. It was considered desirable to move gradually to a rotating membership. and to the extent possible to one person from each institute as all institutes become able to provide financing for the joint program. Schilizzi will initially be at-large member from Europe. The view was expressed that a high-profile theoretician would make a good second at-large member.
ACTION. Members will consider candidate at-large members and communicate possibilities to Butcher.
ACTION. Butcher will communicate the European membership to the ISSC secretary.
ACTION. Butcher will propose a procedure for collecting and paying the ISSC membership contributions from European members.
It was agreed further that the MoU setting up the ISSC be signed by the chairman on behalf of the European SKA Consortium.
The meeting was informed that a brochure describing the project has been prepared in draft form and circulated to initial ISSC members.
ACTION. Butcher will have the draft brochure circulated to Consortium members and will ensure that adequate copies of the final product are made available to Consortium institutes.
Finally, the notional timeline for the global project was presented. The main events are foreseen to be:
2000 Formal establishment of ISSC.
2002 Coordinated presentation of
the project to governments globally, to include a management plan and framework
for international cooperation.
2005 Choice of technical concept for implementation and for siting.
2007 Coordinated
submission of proposals for funding to governments of all participating
countries.
2010 Begin construction.