ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee Telecon
Phone Meeting 2007, July 13
- Call date: 2007-07-13 14:00 EDT or 18:00 UT (Friday)
- Duration: 1 hr
- USA Number: 1-866-675-5385
- Outside USA Number: +1 517 444 6916
- Passcode: 8445333#
- Leaders: Jon Williams, J. Hibbard
The OSF Technical Facility warehouse is approaching completion. See
other images and animations.
See
other images.
Attendance
ANASAC Members (
Attendees in RED):
- Andrew Baker (Rutgers) (2008)
- John Bally (U. Colorado) (2008)
- Andrew Blain (Caltech) (2007)
- Xiaohui Fan (U. Az.) (2007)
- Paul Ho (CfA, Harvard) (2008)
- Kelsey Johnson (UVa) (2009)
- Doug Johnstone (HIA/DAO, Victoria) (2007)
- Lee Mundy (U. Md) (2007)
- Jaqueline van Gorkom (Columbia) (2009)
- Gordon Stacey (Cornell) (200?)
- Alycia Weinberger (DTM) (2009)
- Jonathan Williams, Chair (U. Hawaii) (2008)
- Christine Wilson (McMaster U.) (2007)
- Mel Wright (UC Berkeley) (2008)
(
Bold = Member of ASAC)
NRAO:
- J. Hibbard
- A. Wootten
- C. Carilli
- Brogan
Agenda
1) Action Items (Hibbard)
Minutes of 27 April 2007 meeting. Approved
Open action items:
- ACTION: Future science meetings
- WHO: All
- Due: June 07
- Done: Charge for F-F
- ACTION: Doug should contact Mark Adams about Canadian Brochure
- WHO: Doug Johnstone
- Due: June 07
- Done: Done
- ACTION: Review membership and chair
- WHO: Carilli, ANASAC
- Due: face-to-face
- Done: Done
- ACTION: Get further input on NSF reaction to Grants
- WHO: Carilli, Baker, Russell
- Due: need for F-F
- Done: Carilli will get what he can, perhaps via A. Russell
Bally -- several prongs:
ANASAC report ++ ?
AUI Futures -- NSF letter
AURA letter to ?
Bally -- optical/IR community for AAS newsletter
3) Update on NAASC activities (Carilli)
Mainly workshop, plus preparation for a few new hires toward end of 2007 (EPO, CSV, other),
plus standard reporting (UC, VC, AUI, NSF...). Continued S/W testing and starting involvement
in ATF testing.
4) Update on ASAC (Mundy)
- ASAC Web Page See 11 Jul 2007 Agenda
- JAO Response to ASAC Report
- New Charges from Board, to be reported upon at 30-31 October 2007 meeting in Santiago.
- Software status for early science. review recommendations of recent software review and schedule.
- Revisit charge from Apr2007 on correlator requirements. Focus on Early science, which modes enable majority of science? What other capabilities are important?
- Review calibration plan in conjunction with AIV and CSV activities.
Johnstone -- AOP needs response finalized. one stop shopping for ALMA jobs.
OSF cranking along. 3 japanese antennas in OSF july. band 7,9 production contracts done.
band 3 has some mechanical issues for integration. Computing IPT takes over ATF until end May 08.
ASAC role during project scientist?
5) Charges (Williams)
See supplementary material.
Subcommittees should be established.
The ANASAC should finalize material and presentations required from NRAO.
6) ALMA Workshops (Brogan)
7) ALMA Science IPT Science IPT concerns. (Wootten)
- Project Scientist Report to ALMA Board
- Sept 10-12, Santiago. Major review of ALMA operations and Construction by external funding agencies.
- North American URSI meeting July 22-26, Ottawa; Emerson, Reid, Mangum, others attending. See special ALMA session topics.
- ALMA Community Meeting and the Workshop on Surveys for ALMA 3-6 Sept, Garching. Testi, Laing, Hibbard attending, perhaps others.
- Astrophysics in the Next Decade: JWST and Concurrent Facilities September 24-27, 2007, Tucson Arizona Wootten, Testi, Brogan attending.
- ALMA Biweekly Calendar
- ALMA Construction Photogallery
- Other ALMA-related meetings.
8) Date of face-to-face
- Date of face to face is August 17, 2007 in Charlottesville (see supplemental material for agenda)
Supplemental Material
Charges to the ANASAC from NRAO and the
NAASC
CHARGE I. User Grants program: This charge continues from previous
meetings. We repeat the original charge, but revise the specific
issues to be addressed at the meeting, based on the subsequent
ANASAC discussions.
Previous charge: the grants program is a recommended priority by the
decadal committee. NRAO can act as an advocate for the community in
this regard, but the real impetus must come from the community. The
Grants should not be considered funding for NRAO, but should be
considered funding for support for community use of ALMA. Does the
community want a grants-with-observing time program associated with
ALMA? What is a reasonable starting amount for such a program?
Result from previous ANASAC deliberations: The ANASAC has endorsed a
User grants program with ALMA time, and has written a detailed report
recommending: (i) a funding request level ($6M/year 2006 dollars),
(ii) funding guidelines, and (iii) two potential funding models for
the NSF. See the ANASAC report:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/naasc/admin.shtml#2006f2f
NRAO thanks the ANASAC for their previous efforts. The ANASAC has made
this issue a priority, and this new charge reflects their desire to
continue discussion of the issue. In particular, the ANASAC
will address the following two issues:
1. Clarification of NSF policy and potential models that are acceptable
to the NSF, subsequent to the NSF ALMA operations review?
2. User community advocacy of a grants program: Coordination with
astronomers who use other NSF facilities (e.g. EVLA, current and
future large OIR projects)? Use of the AAS as a means of
communication?
CHARGE II: Terms of Reference for ANASAC. The primary roles of the ANASAC,
according to the current terms of reference
(
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/anasac/ANASACTermsofReference.pdf),
are:
1. A conduit of communication for ALMA project status to a broad User
base.
2. Input to the
NAASC on User support and science issues in North
America.
An issue that has arisen in the latest ANASAC meetings is the question
of the interaction between the ASAC and the ANASAC -- should the
ANASAC provide more input to the North American members of the ASAC on
charges to the ASAC from the ALMA Board? This duty is not currently
in the ANASAC terms of reference. Does the ANASAC want to expand its
role to include a closer connection to the ASAC and the ASAC charges?
Note that this would be in addition to the existing NRAO terms
requesting that the ANASAC provide detailed input into North American
ALMA User-related and science issues.
CHARGE III. Science workshop 2008 -- The
NAASC would like to continue the
successful series of science workshops relating to ALMA in 2008. The
ANASAC is asked to suggest a timely science topic for such a meeting
in 2008, and to suggest members of the Scientific Organizing Committee.
CHARGE IV. Membership -- The ANASAC is asked to recommend new members to
replace those rotating off the committee and to elect a new chair to
start after the face to face meeting in August, 2007. Andrew Baker and
Andrew Blain have each been nominated and a vote will be taken.
Preliminary schedule for the August 17, 2007 meeting:
* 08:00 - 08:15 Closed Session
* 08:15 - 08:30 Welcome from Fred Lo
* 08:30 - 09:30 Project Status (Russell, Glendenning?)
o Construction (30min)
o Software status (30min)
* 09:30 - 10:00 ALMA operations and the
NAASC (Carilli)
* 10:00 - 10:15 ASAC report (Mundy [TBC])
* 10:15 - 10:30 Break
* 10:30 - 12:00 Charge I: Grants (Williams/subcommittee)
* 12:00 - 13:00 Lunch
* 13:00 - 13:30 Charge II: Terms of Reference and ASAC
input (Williams/Subcommittee)
* 13:30 - 14:00 Charge III: Science workshop 2008 (Williams/subcomittee)
* 14:00 - 14:15 Charge IV: Select new ANASAC Chair (Williams/subcommittee)
* 14:15 - 14:30 Break
* 14:30 - 16:00 Closed session, draft report
* 16:00 - 16:30 Summary of draft report to NRAO Director (Williams)
* 16:30 - close.
--
ChrisCarilli - 05 Jul 2007