This agenda is available at https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/ALMA/NaascMinutes2009Feb04

NAASC Organizational Meeting: Wednesday Feb 04, 2009 1-2:30pm ET (1800-1930UT), CV-ER209/TUC-N525/Soc280(SO-conf2):

Meeting Information

  • Call date: 2009-02-04 (Wednesday)
  • Call time 13:00 ET or 18:00 UT
  • Duration: 1.5 hr
  • Non toll-free number: 434-244-6834
  • USA toll-free Number: 866-675-5385
  • Outside USA Number: +1 517-444-6916
  • Passcode: 8445333#
  • Leader: Hibbard

Attendees

  • CV: AW, TH, JS, CB, JH, AR, CL, HL, BK
  • Soc: SM
  • GB:
  • Canada: GS, JdF
  • Tuc:
  • JAO: SC

Action Items from past meetings (RED=OPEN)

  • ACTION: provide revised ALMA EPO plan/staff ramp-up for NAASC EPO effort consistent with planned funding level
    • WHO: M.Adams/J. Stoke
    • DUE: Dec 15 -> early 2009
    • DONE:
    • NOTES: reassigned to J. Stoke
  • ACTION: Write revised NAASC proposal: budget methodology; changes from Washington review
    • WHO: Hibbard
    • DUE: Jan09
    • DONE: New budget done 11/13. Need text. Will this be NAASC document, or NRAO Integrated Science Operations document?
  • ACTION: Remove http://www.alma.nrao.edu/ when relevant material identified by AWootten is posted elsewhere.
    • WHO: JStoke
    • DUE:
    • DONE:
  • ACTION: Collate NAASC-relevant items from VC, UC, ANASAC, ASAC, Milkey reports & post
    • WHO: JHibbard
    • DUE: 12/05/08
    • DONE:
  • ACTION: Follow up with UMd on SOW for Casa Carma filler/pathway
    • WHO: JHibbard
    • DUE: 1/07/09
    • DONE:
    • NOTES: Visit by P.Teuben tomorrow (Feb 5).
  • ACTION: Call meeting to discuss wording for ALMA development in NRAO Decadal white paper
    • WHO: AWootten
    • DUE: 1/07/09
    • DONE: superseded by LOI
  • ACTION: Arrange for interviews at Jan AAS
    • WHO: CL
    • DUE: 1/06/09
    • DONE: 1/06/09
  • ACTION: Send job announcements to almanews
    • WHO: CL
    • DUE: 12/5
    • DONE: Not done
    • NOTES: Now deadlines listed for CSV or CASA jobs!!! Done automatically as part of NRAO eNewsCareer Opportunitiessection, but feeling was that we should send to almanews anyway.
  • ACTION: canned almasimmos demo for Jan AAS
    • WHO: Remy
    • DUE: 12/15/08
    • DONE: 1/03/09
  • ACTION: canned splatalogue demo for Jan AAS
    • WHO: Tony
    • DUE: 12/15/08
    • DONE: 1/03/09
  • ACTION: Test out new almasimmos wiki instructions/cookbook
    • WHO: BKent
    • DUE: 1/07/09
    • DONE: All examples successfully tested from a new user perspective. A few links added to documentation for picking an Antenna config.
    • NOTES: A public image library available?
  • ACTION: Send ASAC report on ALMA Development to Carilli for inclusion in NRAO Decadal white paper
    • WHO: AWootten
    • DUE: 12/07/09
    • DONE: Yes
  • ACTION: Send NRAO Decadal white-paper to Wootten
    • WHO: CCarilli
    • DUE: 12/07/09
    • DONE: Yes
  • ACTION: Generate streamlined description of Richer ALMA PRC document for ANASAC
    • WHO: AWotten
    • DUE: 12/08/09
    • DONE: No
    • NOTES: Decided that updated ppt presentation was sufficient summary
  • ACTION: Assign ANASAC charge to review Richer ALMA PRC document and provide written comment by Jan 9.
    • WHO: CLonsdale
    • DUE: 12/08/09
    • DONE: 12/30/08
  • ACTION: Set ANASAC meeting dates, update wiki & web if necessary.
    • WHO: CLonsdale/AWootten/Hibbard/Brogan
    • DUE: 12/05/08
    • DONE: web updated: 12/31/08; meeting set: 1/9/09
    • NOTES: ANASAC telecon Jan23 09

Action Items from this meeting:
  • ACTION: Announce NAASC workshop; get website up and poster out
    • WHO: A. Evans
    • DUE: ASAP
    • DONE:
  • ACTION: have Tuesday meeting to decide if we should use google calendars for work schedules
    • WHO: CLonsdale/JHibbard
    • DUE: ASAP
    • DONE:
  • ACTION: post AAS demos someplace (simulator, obstool, splatalogue).
    • WHO: JStoke
    • DUE: ASAP
    • DONE:
  • ACTION: Work with project to make sure time for training, tutorials, documentation is worked into s/w delivery schedules
    • WHO: JHibbard
    • DUE: By May s/w review
    • DONE:
  • ACTION: Check w/GC if we can go ahead w/planned EPO hires.
    • WHO: CLonsdale
    • DUE: ASAP
    • DONE:
    • NOTES:
  • ACTION: Have telecon to discuss possible Canadian support for science user webpages.
    • WHO: CLonsdale/JHibbard/GScheiven/HMatthews
    • DUE: 3/4/2009
    • DONE:
    • NOTES:
  • ACTION: update top level NAASC webpage to highlight NAASC supported user tools.
    • WHO: JHibbard
    • DUE: ASAP
    • DONE:

Agenda

  • NAASC News (Hibbard/Lonsdale)
    • Hiring status:
      • Interviews for CASA Developer job and two postdocs are over and job offers are being worked up.
      • Shortlist for CSV2 job has been made, and interviews will happen shortly
      • Some of the TT candidates look promising for the NAASC.
      • CSV postdoc interviews have occurred, offer to be made.
      • A Hubble Fellow will come to the NAASC next year to work with Carol
    • Report from activities at AAS from Carol, John S., any others. Town hall was great. Booth looked good. Shorter demos are better than longish ones
    • SciOpsIPT f2f meeting happened Jan 11-14. JEH will report (see also main event)
    • Crystal went to Chile to give CASA tutorials to JAO staff, and to attend ASAC meeting. Report? tutorial webpage. About 20 participants. All very eager and worked with CASA until they were kicked out of the room. Went very well.
    • Anything to report on ALMA Development process/white papers for decadal review?
    • Should I post Nyman's ASAC presentation on the ARCs? Sure

  • Project News (Wootten)
    • Status Report
      • First light--moon detected at 100, 240 and 310 GHz on 22 Jan.
      • Vertex No 1 acceptance likely to be today or tomorrow.
      • Front Ends: Third from EU FEIC in Feb '09.
      • Correlator: Discussion of fate of ATF correlator--wanted at three places (with the antenna were so needed)
      • ASAC Matters.
        • Face-to-face meeting in Chile 28-29 Jan.
        • Next meeting Garching proposed 19-20 Sep---someone needs to send announcements of the Workshop out before the dates get trounced! Dates: 21-25 September at Omni. AI: AE - announce NAASC workshop; get website up and poster out
        • Panel to prepare ALMA Development Proposal has had several further telecons.
    • Commissioning and Science Verification (new versions received for December).
    • ALMA Biweekly Calendar

  • NRC News (Schieven)
    • Band 3 available 6mo earlier

  • Main Event:
    • JEH is experimenting with using google calendars for NAASC events. Have listed them on NAASC wiki, and also off of the NAASC webpage (navigationally: NAASC->Meetings/Events). I have also collected a bunch of relevant ALMA & NRAO google calendars. If you have a google account, you can add these all with one click on the "+" button at the bottom of this really big calendar. Lets discuss if we should use these, which should be public, who should be given permission to add/edit events. AI: CL - have Tuesday meeting to decide if we should use google calendars for work schedules
    • NAASC Science user webpages: not being kept up. Does this fall under EPO/John S., or CIS, or who? We need to make progress on this, and understand this effort in the context of the larger "one observatory" approach. Post AAS demos somewhere? Update "presentations" page? Can we expedite planned EPO hires to make progress on this? AW says: ALMA Memo Series pages really need to be kept up!! AI: JH/CL - Check w/GC if we can go ahead w/planned EPO hires. Canada may be able to provide some help here AI: GS/CL/JH/HM - have telecon to discuss possible Canadian support for science user webpages. AI: JH - update top level NAASC webpage to highlight NAASC supported user tools. AI: JS - post AAS demos someplace (simulator, obstool, splatalogue).
    • ALMA proposal review process: result of SciOpsIPT discussion:
      • Suggest that ARPs travel to local ARC to discuss proposals via videocon
      • Main change from Richer proposal was to make APRC final ranking only dependent on Science ranking, dublication & observing conditions (distribution across RA, observing band, weather req'ts), and not considering balance between executives. The latter will be done wholly by Observing Council
      • Richer panel proposed the following four broad scientific categories for the proposal panels: Cosmology, Extragalactic, galactic, stellar. We believed they were too broad and not well balanced (one would prefer a similar number of proposals in each category). We came up with the following four categories. Are they are reasonably well balanced and make sense? Look reasonable to us. AI: JH - run these by other observatories, including Neil Reid @ STScI, Lisa S-L at Spitzer.
        1. Cosmology & high-z
        2. Galaxies and galactic nuclei
        3. ISM/Astrochemistry and star formation including protoplanetary disks
        4. stellar evolution and planetary systems

  • Reports from Working Groups
    • Pipeline (Harvey)
      • UT5 (regression test, single dish heuristics) is expected to happen before Christmas. Only C. Wilson is participating in this
      • UT6 tentatively scheduled early 2009. Scope includes calibration and imaging improvements.
    • CASA (Crystal)
      • Crystal gave tutorial in Chile to AIV/CSV staff. See above.
    • ObsPrep (incl. ObsTool=OT) (Harvey)
      • Andy Biggs (EU ARC) replaces L. Testi as subsystem test scientist for OT.
      • Internal test occurred at ATF before shut down on Dec20. Andy, Deb, Leonardo, Alan Bridger
      • From ASAC meeting: "Full formal testing" Fall 2009. beta-testing Jan 2010. Ready to for use mid 2010. Does this give enough time for ARCs to be fully trained, generate advanced documentation, and run tutorials? We think it is calling it close. AI: JH - in working with project, make sure time for training, tutorials, documentation is worked into s/w delivery schedules.
    • Casapy simulator (Remy)
    • ALMA Archive (Carol)
      • New attempt at "one-stop" wiki at NaascArchive
      • UT2 planned for Feb09.
      • Established at Nov12 eSSR meeting that archive does use splatalog. Built to import, but are working on direct query.
    • Splatalogue (Tony)
      • Tony to report on recent efforts
    • Webpages (Aaron)
      • Are links to alma.nrao.edu replace with almaobservatory.org? Add links that AL cares about (site, memos, historic stuff) off of alma.nrao.edu to naasc web? (see also main event)
    • EPO (John S.)
      • Any news from ALMA EPO IPT?
      • NAASC at January AAS in Long Beach (see NAASC news)
      • Move ahead with planned hires? (see AI above)
    • NAASC Workshops (Aaron)
      • Has narrower scope been defined by SOC? Who is on SOC? Wiki setup? (see AI above)
      • N~150 at Omni, Sept 21-25 2009.
    • Upcoming Science Meetings: (Al)
    • Upcoming NAASC Science Visitors (see google calendar "NAASC Visitors")
      • Thijs de Graauw Feb 19
      • Paulo Cortes March 3-9
      • Jason Glenn March 5
      • Darek Lis April 2
      • Tim Heckman April 9
      • Yancy Shirley May 7
      • Michelle Thornley & Jack Gallimore July 2009
Topic revision: r1 - 2009-03-03, JohnHibbard
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