ASAC f2f meeting in Santiago, January 31-February 1, 2014
Logistics:
Site visit: Jan 28-30
Meeting: Jan 31-Feb 1
Hotel: El Director, Vitacura
Meeting room: Licancabur
Participants
Confirmed: Rob Ivison, Lars-Ake Nyman, Stuartt Corder, Alberto Bolatto, John Carpenter, Daisuke Iono, Jesus Martin-Pintado, Raphael Moreno, Kentaro Motohara, Roberto Neri, Huib van Langevelde, Tomoharu Oka, Al Wootten, Simon Casassus, Phil Jewell, Dick Plambeck, Douglas Scott, Nagayoshi Ohashi
Travel Plans:
Alberto Bolatto:
Arrival: January 30, 19:40, LA0905 from Montevideo
Departure: February 2, 09:00, LA0900 to Montevideo
John Carpenter:
Arrival: Jan 30, 06:05, AA7263 from Los Angeles
Departure: Feb 1, 23:55, AA7261 to Los Angeles
Daisuke Iono:
Arrival: Jan 30, 09:25, Delta147 from Atlanta
Departure: Feb 1, 22:10, Delta146 to Atlanta
Rob Ivison:
Arrival: Jan 30, 09:55, AF406 from Paris
Departure: Feb 2, 17:15, AF401 to Paris
Jesus Martin-Pintado:
Arrival: Jan 30, 09:55, AF406 from Paris
Departure: Feb 2, 17:15, AF401 to Paris
Kentaro Motohara
Arrival: Jan 30, 09:50, AA945 from Dallas
Departure: Feb 1, 23:10, AA940 to Dallas
Roberto Neri:
Arrival: Jan 30, 09:55, AF406 from Paris
Departure: Feb 2, 17:15, AF401 to Paris
Tomoharu Oka
Arrival: Jan 30, 09:50, AA945 from Dallas
Departure: Feb 1, 23:10, AA940 to Dallas
Al Wootten:
Arrival: Jan 28, 09:25, Delta147 from Atlanta
Departure: Feb 5, 22:10, Delta146 to Atlanta
Dick Plambeck:
Arrival: Jan 30 9:55 arrive SCL on AA flight 945 from Dallas
Departure: Feb 1 21:55 depart SCL on AA flight 912 to Miami
Douglas Scott:
Arrival: Jan 29 12:05 on AC0092 from Toronto
Departure: Feb 3 21:40 on AC0093 to Toronto
Nagayoshi Ohashi:
Arrival: Jan 30 06:05 on AA7263 from Los Angeles
Departure: Feb 1 23:10 on AA940 to Dallas
Including OSF visit:
Raphael Moreno:
Arrival: Jan 27, 09:55, AF406 from Paris (staying at the ESO Guesthouse)
To the OSF: Jan 28, 15:15, LA346 from Santiago
Return from the OSF: Jan 30, 16:20, LA147 to Santiago
Departure: Feb 2, 17:15, AF401 to Paris
Huib van Langevelde:
Arrival: Jan 27, 23:40, TAM JJ8020 from Sao Paulo (staying at the ESO Guesthouse)
To the OSF: Jan 28, 15:15, LA346 from Santiago
Return from the OSF: Jan 30, 16:20, LA147 to Santiago
Departure: Feb 2, 17:15, AF401 (KL2259) to Paris
Agenda
Friday, January 31, 2014
09:00 - 09:05 Welcome (Rob Ivison)
09:05 - 09:15 Welcome & charges (Lars-Ake Nyman)
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
18:00 Meeting close
20:00 Dinner
Saturday, February 1, 2014
09:00 Meeting start
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
16:00 Meeting close
Documents and supporting material
ASAC Terms of Reference and Operating Arrangements
ASAC charges
ASAC response to CSV Priorities
Feedback
Draft of Charges for ASAC Meeting Jan/Feb 2014 12.12.2013 version 1.1
1) Following on from the interim Charge from December 2013, the ASAC should continue its scientific prioritization of the new capabilities lists that have been provided by the JAO. Comment on the balance of time given to implementing these new capabilities against time designated for Early Science from Cycle 2 and beyond.
2) Pursuant to standing Charge 2, continue to assess the status of Cycle 1 observations. For Cycle 1, are the data meeting user expectations, modulo the best efforts approach to early science? Are the data being released to the PIs in a timely fashion? Are adequate progress updates being communicated to the PIs and the community at large?
3) With the Cycle 2 deadline still fresh in everyones mind, and the proposal evaluation underway, the ASAC should comment and make an initial assessment of the Cycle 2 proposal process. Were the OT, archive and server performances robust? Is the necessary information on duplications and Cycle 1 completion outlook being provided to the ARPs and APRC? With the increase in proposal volume and perhaps also complexity (due to the new bands and observing modes) is the workload on the ARPs reasonable? The ASAC is very welcome to suggest ways to improve the submission process for Cycle 3 and beyond. In particular, since many of the terms of many of the current ARP and APRC members will end with the Cycle 2 PRP, ASAC should make an assessment of the scientific expertise and diversity of the membership for future cycles. They should suggest names for potential panel members, including those who may have theoretical/numerical backgrounds, as well as those from other observational wavelengths.
4) ALMA Development Plan Standing Charge 4: The regional project scientists and the JAO will provide ASAC with materials, such as summaries, status updates, and other information of the completed and ongoing Development studies and projects. ASAC should a ssess the scientific merit of these studies (e.g. discuss the uniqueness for ALMA, the advantages and drawbacks of each capability, etc.). ASAC input will serve as a basis for further dialogue regarding the ALMA Development Plan. ASAC should also comment on the scientific priority of the approved development projects relative to CSV and science activities.
5) The ASAC should suggest ways to improve and optimize general communication from the Observatory to the community. Are additional mechanisms needed to provide science and status updates to the users?
Suggested agenda items:
we would like the traditional JAO updates, as well as these specific items:
An item each for the Charges, as per usual.
Presentation of Band 1 Science Case (James Di Francesco, 30min + 5)
Contraints on proposal cycle timing from partner regions (15min)
Discussion of "Change Request Policy" (20min)
Release of raw or pipeline-reduced data prior to QA2 - discussion of position papers from partners
Review data-rate limitations. What sets the 12 MB/sec max data rate that was allowed by the Cycle 2 OT? Are there plans to improve it? Will the number of spectral channels be even more limited in the extended arrays where even shorter integration times may be required? (There must be a long history behind this item, but not all of us are familiar with it).
Calibration: does the system performance meet the original specifications? Does the OT compute unreasonable overheads for observations that may not need extremely accurate amplitude or passband calibration?
Progress in stabilising power system and in speeding recovery from power outages or snowstorms.
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AlWootten - 2014-01-13