MMA Imaging and Calibration Group

Date: 22 Jan 2002

Time: 3:30 pm EST (1:30 pm Socorro, 1:30 pm Tucson)

Phone: (434)972-7268 (CV SoundStation Premier Conference phone 2nd floor).

Past minutes, etc on MMA Imaging and Calibration Division Page
 

Agenda

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News. -Wootten

ALMA “Metaschedule” of Milestones and Deliverables

Meetings This Week-Wootten

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ALMA Offline Data Processing Requirements --Myers

Please looks this over and comment directly to Steve  when you get a chance (we will select "targeted" reviewers also).  Deadline is 22  Jan.

TODAY
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ALMA Observing Tool: Concept and Prototype - Glendenning

"ALMA Observing Tool: Concept and Prototype" by Scott and Bridger has been posted for comment at:

http://www.alma.aoc.nrao.edu/development/computing/docs/memos/computdrafts.html

All comments on this document are welcome - and all comments will receive a written response. Since this document will be revised before final review,
it is OK if you only have time to make "big picture" comments for this revision.

Note that the observing tool will be the major software point of contact between observers and ALMA, so it is particularly important that we get
comments from potential users of ALMA.

Please send your comments directly to Steve Scott (scott@ovro.caltech.edu) by February 8. It is a convenience if your comments are in the form:

p.16 An interesting comment about something on page 16.

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Project Book Revision -- Wootten

Table of Contents

3 Calibration

1. General Calibration Issues (Guilloteau, Holdaway & Wootten) (alternative as HTML ) 2001-02-06

This chapter will be revised in the light of the June PDR last year. Mark has proposed a plan of action.

2. Calibration Hardware (Payne, Vaccari et al.) (alternative HTML ) 2001-02-02

This needs input from IRAM on the semi-transparent vane, in my opinion. It should have something about the optical pointing telescopes also. It should also include WLM material from Cambridge, IMHO. However, I think it is inevitable that some items mentioned in 3.1 won't be addressed yet in 3.2--FTS for instance.

13 Data Analysis: Imaging Requirements (Holdaway 2000-04-24 & Wootten)

This chapter should make use of the Science Software Requirements Documents. Steve has looked this over.

14 Site Characterization (PDF) also available as 2001-08-01 HTML format (Radford)

I think Simon has revised this.

Array Configuration (Min Yun)

15 NB: Significant revision expected after Feb 2001 PDR and Jan 2002 CDR.  Text is available.

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Configuration Meeting

Notes of the 18 Dec  telecon may be found here.

New paper from Boone (referred to in his Memo No. 400).

Announcement
and Bryan's  Agenda

Woody requested reviewers be issued a scorecard.  Maybe like this:
Bryan's suggestion:

Configuration Design Review
Array Operations Center
24-25 January 2002
PDR Review

• - location of the pads
• - the length of roads, using a maximum 15 % grade to the road layout
• - a tentative layout of the conduits, which should limit the number of road crossings
• - the location of the ACA (the design of the ACA configuration is a separate package)
• - a suggested location of the buildings
• - considering the current ALMA planning, the deadline is September 1st, 2001.

• All: How to optimize beam circularity, hybridize for extreme decs.
• Extended:
•     hybrid configurations between the 3 km "ring" and the extended configuration yield reasonable beam
•     avoid crossing the Jama road, and to use the 5 degree slope
• Intermediate:
•     should attempt to produce Gaussian UV coverage, with 7 to 10 dB edge taper, in a single configuration
• Compact
•     optimized for maximum surface brightness
•     "channels" of 20-m wide must be provided to allow removal of the innermost antennas
•     a few (< 4) antennas can only be accessible after removing one additional antenna

Science: Metrics

• Simulations--how does the array perform?
• Beam metrics
• uv metrics
• Short spacings--how many are ‘enough’ and are they present?

• "Chajnantor South" should be used as the place for the most compact configurations, i.e. the ALMA array
• operation buildings will be located about 200-m away from the location of the most compact configuration, at a site to be determined later
• single configurations for most observations
• flexible reconfiguration scheme is preferred
• total number of pads should not exceed about 250
• designed for 60 antennas; best locations for remaining four indicated, as well as location of possible ACA.
• investigate the robustness of the configuration layout against random failures by assessing the imaging quality when only 56 antennas out of 60 are assumed to be operational

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Meetings upcoming -- ALMA Week? -- Radford

• SSR Face-toface meeting
• Configuration mini-review
• ATF plan review
• Calibration -- including what site characterization group can do, water vapor monitoring, and IRMA (deployment perhaps in May).

Upcoming Meetings - Wootten

ASAC--19-21 March in Japan?

ALMA Week--23-27 April Granada Spain,

ACC--18-20 April Venice Italy

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Travel

 Oh, always

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