ALMA ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee Telecon Phone Meeting 2007, April 27

This page available at https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/ALMA/27Apr07Minutes.

Contact Information

  • Call date: 2007-04-27 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: Chris Carilli, Jon Williams


Attendance

ANASAC Members (Attendees in RED):

* Andrew Baker (Rutgers) (2008) * John Bally (U. Colorado) (2008)
  • Andrew Blain (Caltech) (2007)
  • Todd Clancy (SSI) (2009)
* Xiaohui Fan (U. Az.) (2007)
  • Terry Herter (Cornell) (2009)
* Paul Ho (CfA, Harvard) (2008) * Kelsey Johnson (UVa) (2009)
  • Doug Johnstone (HIA/DAO, Victoria) (2007)
* Lee Mundy (U. Md) (2007) * Gorden Stacey (Cornell) (2009)
  • Jaqueline van Gorkom (Columbia) (2009)
  • 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 (Carilli)

Minutes of 26 Jan 2007 meeting. Approved
Action items from March 2007 telecon:

  • ACTION: Future science meetings
    • WHO: All
    • Due: June 07
    • Done: continuing

It was decide to solicit ideas prior to next face to face, and then decide at face to face

  • ACTION: Doug should contact Mark Adams about Canadian Brochure
    • WHO: Doug Johnstone
    • Due: June 07
    • Done: Doug
Note from doug: As for the ALMA Primer that we are working on and which is listed as an action item today, we (rene plume, james difrancesco, and i) are still putting it together but will forward it to folks when it is a little more complete.

  • ACTION: Send DRSP II to ANASAC for NA input
    • WHO: ASAC members
    • Due: May 07
    • Done: April 27

The DRSP II can be found following the links at: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/ALMA/ASAC7May07Agenda Does the ANASAC want to have coordinated input into this, or just individual? See ASAC Report below

  • ACTION: Does ASAC/ANASAC want Splatalog presentation
    • WHO: Blain
    • Due: May 07
    • Done: May 07

It was decided to have a spectral line catalog presentation at next face to face

  • ACTION: Review membership
    • WHO: Carilli
    • Due: April 07
    • Done:

A number of members are due to rotate off in 2007. Can we have some suggestions as to new members, and perhaps rotating the difficult job of the Chair?

It was decided that the ANASAC should propose the next chair to NRAO, and hence this will be decided in closed session at next face to face.

New members should be suggested, and the rotation will occur after next face to face

  • ACTION: Get further input on NSF reaction to Grants
    • WHO: Carilli
    • Due: April 07
    • Done: see item 4 below

  • ACTION: Set up wiki for face to face dates
    • WHO: Wootten
    • Due: June 1
    • Done:

2) ALMA Science IPT Science IPT concerns. (Wootten)

Al Wootten discussed the arrival of the first antenna elements at the OSF and other project news, including the recent advertisment of AIV scientist positions in Chile. Testing continues at ATF, although there have been some software challenges. Also discussed were recent software testing (CASA, pipeline, user interface), A longer S/W discussion can be held at face to face.

3) Update on ASAC (Mundy)

ASAC Web Pagehttps://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaSac

ASAC Face-to-face agenda: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/ALMA/ASAC7May07Agenda

Please read the ASAC charges. The ANASAC is invited to provide comment to the NA ASAC members. The ESAC and EASAC have had face-to-face meetings this past month to provide their members with advice.

The ASAC meets in tokyo may 7,8. the action items are give above. the issue was raised as to how to get ANASAC input to the ASAC. after the telecon, the following email was circulated by Jon Williams:

Here are some issues that came up from last Friday's telecon. Its very short notice but if we are to give the "community" input to the ASAC before their next face-to-face meeting in Tokyo next week, we should email them by Friday before they leave. The NA members of ASAC are Andrew Blain, Doug Johnstone, John Bally, Lee Mundy, and Jacqueline van Gorkom. You can find their email addresses at http:// www.alma.nrao.edu/committees/ASAC/

1. The ALMA Design Reference Science Plan 2.0 should be publically available by the end of the week at http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/ ~alma/drsp.shtml Let the ASAC know if you think there are important high priority projects missing or whether there is an imbalance in the division of time for different areas.

2. Comments welcome on the ALMA EPO Development Plan at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/asac/AEDM2007-027- OEPODevelopmentPlan.pdf particularly in regard to the percentage of operations funds.

The general issue of how to get ANASAC input to ASAC was discussed. This should also be formalized at the face to face, as well as a more formal relationship between the ANASAC and the NAASC/NRAO -- last year we moved toward a formal charge and response format. We should continue the move, until we operate more like the ASAC and the ALMA board.

4) ALMA Ops, NAASC proposal reviews (Carilli/Hibbard)

The NAASC is currently responding to the panel report. Carilli will summarize the main questions and response.

Does the ANASAC want to see the final Global Ops plan?

Discussion -- current standing of the potential for a grants program, and how to make progress. The latest word from the NSF is that implementing such a program remains programmatically impossible. NRAO will continue to pursue the discussion with NSF. A further recommendation from the ANASAC as to the need for the program, and a suggestion as to how to promote such a grants program in the user comminity (AAS townhall, email questionaire, other?) would be helpful.

The grants program was discussed at length. The question arose as to whether the ANASAC should take a very overt approach, eg. an open letter to AAS to support a grants program for large ground-based facilities, along the lines suggested by decade survey, or through AAS townhall. the concensus was that it was better to continue to keep discussions limited to smaller group for now.

A.Russell was at NSF last week and discussed the grants program. There seems to be some movement on the viability of such a program, probably under the auspices of a revised PI grants program, although the discussions were not concrete.

The grants program, and the role of the anasac, will be major agenda item at face to face.

Action item: ask NSF for more details as to why option 2 of anasac recommendations, ie. letting the nsf decide on the funding after the ALMA prc has made its time recommendations, is not allowed?

5) ALMA Workshops (Brogan)

http://www.cv.nrao.edu/naasc/disk07/

see also upcoming meeting of the ESO community: http://www.eso.org/projects/alma/science/meetings/gar-sep07/

there are 70+ registrants, which is full capacity. all goes well.

6) Date of face-to-face and next telecon

  • Date of next phone meeting will be on: June 1, 2007
  • We need to plan the next face-to-face. Options are: After June NAASC workshop, or end of August or other.

June looks too difficult. Possibly one day end aug or sept. Wootten will set up wiki for dates.

Free-streaming web access to the presentations is being planned and some hardware is being purchased to make this happen for the disk workshop and NRAO 50th.

Supplemental Material

-- ChrisCarilli - 02 May 2007
Topic revision: r1 - 2007-05-02, ChrisCarilli
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