ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee
ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee
F2F 2010
Seven ALMA antennas in operation at the AOS, seen in this photo of unknown provenance 2010 August 10.
Contents
Duration
Location
NRAO - Stone Hall Building, 520 Edgemont Road, Room 230, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
- People dialing in can use either of Room 230 Hub numbers: 434-972-7268 or 877-803-9367.
- Video Hub: CV-ER230 192.33.117.16
- Leader: Al Wootten; Carol Lonsdale
For additional information contact: Jennifer Neighbours
Agenda
- ANASAC_charges_cjl_Sept03.pdf: ANASAC Charges and Agenda September 2010
- Items pertaining to ANASAC Charges are in Blue; items pertaining to ASAC charges in Green; items of relevance to both are in Black.
Monday
08.30 – 09.00 Light breakfast buffet
09.00 – 09.30 Welcome & charges; time allocation process – Fred Lo
- RELEVANT CHARGES:
- ASAC Charge 3: The document Principles of ALMA Proposal Review Process has been approved by the Board. ASAC should review progress on the implementation of these principles and provide comments to the Board.
- ANASAC Charge 4. “ALMA Users Grant Program”: As the NSF will likely only support ALMA research under its PI grants program, what further recommendations can be made to suggest to improve the efficiency and effectiveness (e.g. minimizing double jeopardy hazards of independent reviews of ALMA observing time and NSF funding proposals) of the NSF PI grants program to support ALMA preparatory research currently (see recent NSF announcement on pre-ALMA research proposals) and research activities during ALMA full science operations?
- REQUIRED READING:
- RELEVANT CHARGES:
- ASAC Activity 6: ASAC will continue to look for ways in which ALMA construction and operations might be more environmentally friendly, especially in terms of energy use (without compromising science). (Issues of energy use are discussed in the Marshall et al. Decadal Survey white paper.)
10.30 – 10.45 Break
- RELEVANT CHARGES:
- ASAC Charge 1. The principal item for this meeting is the readiness of the Project to start Early Science and the content and timing of the Call for Proposals. Key issues include:
- the status and reliability of the infrastructure, hardware and software (including both the real-time aspects and the suite of software for supporting observations) and of the calibration systems and methods;
- the completeness of AIV, CSV and System Verification tasks;
- and the preparedness of the user support system, as well as the expectations and needs of the user community.
- The ASAC will have reports from the CSV Status Review and the Science Operations Readiness Review. (Note that these reviews will be happening immediately before the ASAC meeting so final reports will not be available but members of the ASAC will have participated in those reviews and summaries of the conclusions will be presented.) In addition, reports on the status of construction and of the observatory infrastructure will be presented, along with details of current limitations and developments which relate to the question of which capabilities should be offered at which stage. Further considerations are whether or not the burden of supporting Early Science will delay the completion of the full construction program and, conversely, whether exposure, at this stage, to the problems of providing a service to users will help or hinder the project in achieving its final goals. The ASAC should provide commentary on these topics and make recommendations on how to proceed with the Call for Proposals.
REQUIRED READING:
11.45 – 13.00 Lunch. 12.45: Meet the NAASC
13.00 - 13.30 Panel open discussion session
- ALMA: Extending the Limits of Astrophysical Spectroscopy in Victoria, British Columbia, 15-17 January 2011
- Registration is open!
- ALMA Observing tutorials 18 January 2011 added in response to community interest.
- Occurring just after the 217th AAS meeting, which includes several sessions of interest.
- Observing with ALMA - Special Session- 217th AAS Meeting Jan 12, 2011 | 2:00 PM Seattle, WA
- NRAO Town Hall - 217th AAS Meeting Jan 11, 2011 | 6:30 PM Seattle, WA
- Early Science with the EVLA - Special Session - 217th AAS Meeting Jan 12, 2011 | 10:00 AM Seattle, WA
- RELEVANT CHARGES:
- ANASAC Charge 1: Please review the key recommendations that were made to the NAASC by the panel which reviewed the FY2012-2016 NA ALMA Operations proposal to the NSF, and provide guidance on behalf of the community on the importance and priority of these recommendations. Specifically:
- a. What balance should NAASC seek between “managing the expectations of the user community” for Early Science (ES) and raising interest in ALMA amongst non-expert users?
- b. How should NAASC define the scope of data re-processing capabilities, which the panel has put at a high priority? What services can NAASC cut to accommodate increased data processing services and advanced algorithm development?
- ASAC Activity 5. Community sounding on expectations for early science, and ALMA information resources for the general community.
REQUIRED READING:
15.00 – 15.15 Break
- RELEVANT CHARGES:
- ANASAC Charge 2. Continue to monitor the readiness of the ALMA software systems and the NAASC user support services. ANASAC should examine the capabilities of the latest release of CASA and the Observing Tool, and the NAASC web-based outreach/education services, and comment on their readiness for the start of Early Science.
- ASAC Charge 2. Issuing the Call for Suggestions for Science Verifications targets has been postponed several times. It is now proposed to do this as soon as possible after the reviews and the ASAC meeting, in order to take advantage of the improved perspective that will have been gained. The ASAC should advise on the content of that call.
- REQUIRED READING:
16.15 – 17.00 Questions; discussion
18.30 Dinner at local restaurant
Tuesday
- RELEVANT CHARGES:
- ANASAC Charge 4. Comment on the process and status on the definition of the ALMA Development activities within the NA community (US, Canada and Taiwan) and on how to promote a strong NA development program within the international context.
- ASAC Charge 4. Although the immediate question of readiness for Early Science will be dominant at this meeting, the ASAC should nonetheless also pay attention to the broader picture of the progress of the Project towards Full Operation and for its further development, and bring any concerns to the notice of the Board, particularly in the areas of scientific commissioning, software development and implementation and user support.
- REQUIRED READING:
10.00 – 10.30 Discussion of Decadal Panel results – Neal Evans
11.00 – 11.15 Break
- RELEVANT CHARGES:
- ANASAC Charge 1b and 2, above.
- ASAC Charge 4. Although the immediate question of readiness for Early Science will be dominant at this meeting, the ASAC should nonetheless also pay attention to the broader picture of the progress of the Project towards Full Operation and for its further development, and bring any concerns to the notice of the Board, particularly in the areas of scientific commissioning, software development and implementation and user support.
- REQUIRED READING: * rawlings_2010.pdf: SPIE Paper: ALMA Science Operations and User Support (Software): Rawlings, Nyman, Vila-Vilar; NAASC Computing plan
12.15 – 13.30 Lunch
13.30 – 17.00 ANASAC executive session / question session; preliminary report
Attendees
ANASAC Members
- Andrew Baker
- Andrew Blain
- Alberto Bolatto
- John Carpenter
- Richard Crutcher
- Neal Evans
- Mike Fall
- Alyssa Goodman
- Tim Heckman
- Shardha Jogee (Video)
- Kelsey Johnson
- Doug Johnstone
- Leslie Looney
- Mike Mumma (Video)
- David Neufeld
- Rachel Osten
- Deborah Padgett
- J. Xavier Prochaska (Video)
- Hsien Shang (Video)
- Gordon Stacey
- Alycia Weinberger
- Johnathon Williams
- David Wilner
NRAO
- Darrell Emerson
- John Hibbard
- Phil Jewell
- Mark Lacy
- Fred Lo
- Carol Lonsdale
- Mark McKinnon
- Kartik Sheth
- Al Wootten
NSF
- Rich Barvainis
- Phil Puxley
Topics
- Old Business The enhanced Agenda from last meeting is available. minutes from the 27Aug2010 telecon are not yet available.
--
AlWootten - 2010-08-27
- rawlings_2010.pdf: SPIE Paper: ALMA Science Operations and User Support (Software): Rawlings, Nyman, Vila-Vilaro
- 7733-38_SPIE_ALMA.pdf: SPIE Paper: ALMA: Status Report on Construction and Early Results from Commissioning: Hills, Kurz, Peck
Lodging
The majority of you will be staying at the Courtyard Marriott-North. Please check the website for check-in and check-out procedures, directions, etc.
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/choch-courtyard-charlottesville-north/
Full breakfast buffet is included with your stay at the Courtyard Marriott-North and is served from 6:30AM-10:00AM. This breakfast buffet includes freshly prepared waffles, made to order omelets, fresh fruit, juice, coffee, etc.
Please refer to the attached rooming list for your check-in and check-out details and please use the corresponding Confirmation # to check-in. If any corrections or adjustments need to be made to these details, please contact Holly Foster immediately.
- Rooming_List.pdf: Courtyard Marriott - North Rooming List w/Confirmation Numbers
For those staying at the following, please check the website for check-in and check-out procedures, breakfast options, directions, etc.
* Residence Inn
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chori-residence-inn-charlottesville/
- D Emerson - Conf# 86344548
- J Williams - Conf# 86344526
* Omni
http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/Charlottesville.aspx
- A Goodman - Conf# 15325751189
Ground Transportation
The Courtyard Marriott-North provides shuttle service which is available from 8:00AM-22:00PM daily to and from the airport, if the hotel has been given 24 hour notice. It is best if you call the hotel at least 24 hours in advance if you need a ride from the airport or to the airport.
Several of you will be using rental cars, personal vehicles, and others will take cabs. If you would like to ride share with someone to and from the meeting, please coordinate this option directly with other committee members.
- 8:30-11:30 Signature Sunrise Starters; Coffee; Hot Tea; Water
- 11:45-13:00 Country Bistro Sandwiches; Side Salad; Chips; Cookies; Assorted Cold Beverages; Coffee
- 8:30-11:30 Brix Cafe Beginnings; Coffee; Hot Tea; Juice; Water