ALMA Science Advisory Committee Teleconference, 5 February 2003 Draft Minutes Participants: R. Bachiller, G. Blake, L. Bronfman, P. Cox, R. Crutcher, S. Guilloteau, T. Hasegawa, M. Ishiguro, K. Menten, L. Mundy, J. Richer, S. Sakamoto, P. Schilke, P. Shaver, K. Tatematsu, P. Vanden Bout, M. Walmsley, D. Wilner, C. Wilson, A. Wootten, S. Yamamoto The proposed agenda was adopted, and the minutes of the December and January teleconferences were accepted (following one revision by C. Wilson for the latter). 1) Status Report P. Vanden Bout gave an overview of the project status. The AMAC meeting scheduled in January was postponed to 24/5 March because many/most participants could not attend. P. Vanden Bout reported very positive progress in the project, with much activity on many fronts. He referred ASAC members to the Quarterly Report for details. R. Crutcher asked how important the funding delay is. P. Vanden Bout replied that it is OK at present, but could possibly have an effect in a month or so. In Chile there is progress, but it is slow, owing to other matters distracting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal is to secure access to the site by 1 April (so that work can start on the road from the OSF to the site), but there are fall-back plans in case of further delay. The ceremony for the signing of the International Agreement will take place on 25 February; at that time the ALMA Board will officially come into existence. The recruitment of key personnel is proceeding (starting with the position of Project Director). A. Wootten gave an update on progress with the Vertex antenna. Tests are proceeding, and preliminary acceptance is scheduled for 14 February. Vertex should finish its work by the 28th. Parts of the European antenna are due to arrive shortly. P. Vanden Bout reported good progress with this antenna. The Japanese personnel involved with the Japanese prototype will also arrive shortly. A. Wootten made reference to the recent press release on the Vertex antenna. C. Wilson asked about the implications of slippages for the evaluation schedule. P. Vanden Bout replied that this was being assessed, and that a plan would be prepared for the ALMA Board. P. Cox asked about the Japanese antenna. M. Ishiguro said that most pre-assembly was on schedule, and that everything would be shipped to Socorro at the end of March; he mentioned the pictures of the antenna which had been sent to the ASAC earlier in the day. C. Wilson encouraged ASAC members to read the Quarterly Report. J. Richer asked about the distribution policy of this document. P. Vanden Bout replied that it was not yet clear, and that a policy on this was expected from the Board. (2) Science Examples for Calibration S. Guilloteau said that no report could be made because he was snowed in at home, with no internet access. He said that a document (to be finalized by the end of the month) would be circulated to the ASAC within a week or so. C. Wilson and J. Richer will coordinate the ASAC response. (3) Draft Interim Report for ACC/Board Meeting C. Wilson said that she would attend the Board meeting, and would present an interim report, either written or oral. She asked for input on the items that were listed on the web along with the agenda for the present meeting. P. Cox suggested that the items on the agenda for the ASAC face-to-face meeting be mentioned. J. Richer asked whether the items of concern to the ASAC should be listed. C. Wilson replied that there was probably not enough time to agree on these, and this was generally agreed. P. Cox suggested that the current European efforts on the EU FP6, structuring the European community around the ALMA project, could be mentioned (also the meeting that had been held on 8 November on this topic). P. Cox offered to send a short e-mail on this. J. Richer said he would be hesitant to include the FP6 initiative in the report to the Board. However the 8 November meeting will be mentioned, and P. Cox will communicate the relevant information to C. Wilson. (4) Draft Face-to-Face Agenda C. Wilson asked whether there are additional items to be added to the agenda. S. Yamamoto proposed adding the 2G correlator (with a report from the Japanese-European meeting in the 4th week of March), and said that the Japanese representatives would like to make a presentation on ACA ideas. A. Wootten suggested that these could be included in the Report from Japan, and C. Wilson said that she will decide where these items will go. K. Menten suggested that the revised baseline correlator be included also, and this was agreed. C. Wilson said that she will work with P. Cox and the Project Scientists to decide on the presenters and the final agenda. J. Richer suggested that the new ASAC should discuss the revised terms of reference and liaisons for the IPTs, and this was agreed. A. Wootten said that the agenda of the Board meeting should include the charge to the ASAC, and this was also agreed. C. Wilson asked that other suggestions/revisions be sent to her by e-mail. (5) Report from Science IPT A. Wootten summarized the activities of the IPT on behalf of E. van Dishoeck, who could not participate in this telecon. J. Conway’s revisions to the configuration (version D) will be submitted shortly. M. Holdaway has been working on the Y+ configuration. It provides 12 mas resolution at 1 mm, and, although it is intended to be used with earth rotation synthesis, the inner sidelobes are as low as 5% even for snapshot observations. The specs and scientific justification documents are being prepared by M. Holdaway. A. Wootten listed the milestones of the calibration group. Concerning the proposed correlator upgrade, the Weber report from January will be discussed. C. Wilson suggested that the Science IPT look at the data rates from the revised correlator. The next Science IPT telecon is scheduled for next week. (6) Software Items C. Wilson gave a brief summary of the software meeting held in Garching last week. Two main items were AIPS++ and the pipeline design work. Concerning the former, phase 1 is now being completed. C. Wilson said she was very impressed by what has been achieved, with huge progress since December. Phase 1 is to be completed this Friday, following which R. Lucas will write a report. Phase 2 has been started, using AIPS++ and IRAM tools to reduce data from other data sets. A report on this is due at the end of the month. For phase 3 (benchmarking), some progress has been made. Concerning the pipeline design work, a potentially usable concept has been proposed and will be pursued. (7) Next teleconference The next ASAC teleconference will take place on Wednesday 5 March at 14:30 UT.