Work Status

21 Sep 2009

projectSorted descending text
VAO
Pipelines  
Management  
Interactive Services A new version of the PST was released on 14 September 2009 on schedule. Major changes include the EVLA WIDAR correlator. Thus far only two proposals have been submitted.
Guppi In final integration testing with GBT M&C; expect to have full user release any day now.
GoogleSky (discontinued)
GBT Dynamic Scheduling: Start scheduling GBT with new system October 2.
GBT Met with Walter Brisken last week to discuss VLBA backend upgrades and how to meld into GBT system.
EVLA New hire, Daniel Lyons, starts today
EVLA Released EVLA Exposure Calculator
EVLA All users in database now represented by XML that conforms to schema and can login to OPT.
EVLA Updated OPT to version 0.9.3 to conform to most recent user schema version.
CIS  
CASA  
Archives  
ALMA  
Algorithms  

07 Sep 2009

project text
Algorithms  
ALMA Central LO testing basically successful. Some additional work with Array time (i.e., synchronizing with GPS etc) still needed.
Archives  
CASA N. Elias spent most of the week in Socorro (not on the payroll yet, official start 21 September).
Multiscale clean improvements to improve convergence (remove divergent scales) and flanking fields implemented.
CIS  
EVLA Interviewed two candidates for SO0121.
Meeting on Wed 9th with two operators to discuss new dynamic scheduler.
Developing exposure calculator for EVLA.
GBT KFPA: Joe Masters starts on 9/14 working with Bob Garwood on the KFPA pipeline.
Dynamic Scheduling: Release of Observer's Interface on September 8; visit https://dss.gb.nrao.edu to try it out!
GoogleSky  
Guppi  
Interactive Services  
Management  
Pipelines  
VAO Bob H. is back and we are starting to hear more about VAO funding; will provide an update later this month.
Standards work continues with a focus on TAP (tables), SIAV2 (images,cubes), and others such as VOSpace (network data storage and transfer).
The fall IVOA interop is two months from now.
Within NRAO, some progress on greater VO compliance for the archive.
Web Participation in User Portal discussions with ESO/ALMA/NAOJ started
Use of (Posix) ACLs on Web Servers for fine-grained permissions tested, verified
Standard /opt/services/ extended to accomodate the Django framework for Web Developers (GB, CV)
Security incident on safe.nrao.edu (public wiki) mitigated

17 Aug 2009

project text
Algorithms The slide presentation for the recent review is now available.
FrazerOwen and GarethHunt have updated the technical target list. One more iteration after FrazerOwen returns from vacation and then all participants will be asked to review it, and finally on to project management.
ALMA Central LO patch testing starts end of this week.
CASA Shannon Jaeger's last week (moving to a SKA position). Kumar visited CV last week, mostly to help Dave/Gareth climb the API learning curve more expeditiously.
CIS The BOS software update to allow users to log in using their PST identity is ready to be deployed, pending testing of some other BOS features. After the update is deployed, existing BOS accounts will need to be linked to PST accounts.
EVLA  
GBT Open position GB00130 (data analysis & reduction support) posted externally.
Open position GB00132 (GBT dynamic scheduling) posted externally.
GoogleSky  
Guppi  
KAT We had a good review with the folks responsible for MeerKAT commissioning software to discuss the requirements for commissioning software and operations. Several NRAO commissioning experts (ALMA and EVLA) participated.
Interactive Services  
Management  
Pipelines  
VAO  
Web Plone CMS investigation continues

03 Aug 2009

project text
Algorithms Project review went "as well as could be expected." FrazerOwen and GarethHunt are in the process of updating the technical target list.
ALMA Phase jump issue sorted out (weather station related). New Central LO software deployment for late August. New Optical Telescope software deployment delayed (hardware acceptance delayed).
Archives  
CASA L. Glendenning last week. B. Waters replacement position being advertised. Faster data dump than pointing update SD imaging implemented and tested in Chile.
CIS  
EVLA  
GBT Open position GB00130 (data analysis & reduction support) posted internally and ready to be posted externally.
Open position GB00132 (GBT dynamic scheduling) posted internally.
Dynamic Scheduling: Continued discussions on CAS and NRAO-wide user database to ensure the GBT dynamic scheduling system is good to go for trimester 09C.
GoogleSky  
Guppi  
KAT  
Interactive Services Major efforts include: modifying/fixing queries and XML dumps for EVLA OPT and GBT DSS; work on the EVLA resources; and remove dupplicates from the user database.
Management  
Pipelines  
VAO No news re VAO funding and project initiation. Met with the OPTICON folks in Milan in mid-July to discuss progress on the applications framework; there has been good progress on on the OPTICON side of the collaboration on prototyping elements of the system framework in Python. In the area VO standards, the main table access protocol (TAP) spec and the simple line access protocol (SLAP) spec have entered their RFC period. TAP/PQL is still under revision. A first draft of the SIAV2 spec (with cube support) is in preparation.
Web MediaWiki test install with a view to possible use for CASA documentation (huge paradigm shift from TWiki)

20 Jul 2009

project text
Algorithms SanjayBhatnagar has prepared a proposal to approach the big synthesis problem: wide-band, wide-field imaging.
Review of Algorithm development on 28 July.
ALMA  
Archives  
CASA  
CIS  
EVLA Open position S00121 now exposed externally.
  Giving demonstration of WIDAR test program tomorrow.
GBT Open position GB00130 (data analysis & reduction support) will be posted internally soon.
MikeMcCarty will be leaving the NRAO at the end of August. The posting, GB00132, to replace his position (dynamic scheduling project) will be posted internally soon.
If anyone is interested, you can take a peek at my TeraGrid 2009 notes
Dynamic Scheduling: We are having a series of discussions to ensure that the requirements outlined in https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/Software/IntxSvcsMR8C109 are implemented for the impending release of the Dynamic Scheduling System.
GoogleSky  
Guppi  
KAT  
Interactive Services  
Management  
Pipelines  
VAO  
Web CAS (Common Authentication Service)
OSO Help Desk (Kayako)
Drupal: Wiki:Ccs.CMSWorkflowDefinition
Plone and ALMA User Portal (UP); Waiting on Andreas
GB Wiki migrating to safe.nrao.edu (Jul 13; delayed, filer update)

06 Jul 2009

project text
Algorithms SanjayBhatnagar is preparing a proposal to approach the big synthesis problem: wide-band, wide-field imaging.
OSO Review of Algorithm development on 28 July.
ALMA Release 6.1 deployed in Chile. Proper interferometry (delays) with the production equipment, several irritating bugs removed.
Archives  
CASA Version 2.4 released and announced. CASA taught at multi-wavelength summer school in Paris, seems to have gone reasonably well.
CIS  
EVLA Started process of finding replacement for user interface programmer.
  Released program for testing allocation of WIDAR baseline board pairs to subbands.
GBT Dynamic Scheduling: Working busily toward 09C release (WBS).
KFPA: Job offer for pipeline position accepted by Joe Masters. Starting September 14.
GoogleSky  
Guppi ALS: Integration into GBT system going well. More sponsor testing required for final sign-off.
KAT  
Interactive Services The plan of record for the next cycle should be finalized early this week. The main items are to incorporate EVLA WIDAR into the PST and to implement phase I of referee users into the PST.
Management  
Pipelines  
VAO We are still awaiting a contract and funding from the NSF for VAO, although the NASA centers have already received their funding.
An outline of a plan for NRAO VAO has been done as part of the OSO planning; this will be developed further over the coming months as VAO and OSO go forward.
A first meeting of the VAO senior staff took place a week or so ago, to begin to plan the VAO work.
Intensive work is underway on various IVOA standards, e.g., second generation table and image access, data models, and spectral line list.
Web Drupal/Plone and ALMA User Portal (UP)
GB Wiki migrating to this here wiki on safe.nrao.edu (Jul 13)
SSL "wildcard" certificates available for the following: *.nrao.edu, *.aoc.nrao.edu, *.cv.nrao.edu, *.gb.nrao.edu, *.vla.nrao.edu, *.vlba.nrao.edu

-- GarethHunt - 2009-11-16
Topic revision: r1 - 2009-11-16, GarethHunt
This site is powered by FoswikiCopyright © by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
Ideas, requests, problems regarding NRAO Public Wiki? Send feedback