ASAC telecon 04 Feb 2004 ------------------------ Participants: ASAC: Testi, Richer, Schilke, Carilli, C. Wilson, Pierre Chair: Mundy Executive's Reps: Wootten, T. Wilson JAO: Massimo Japan Reps: Momose, Hawegasa (1) Minutes of the January Telecon - still to be supplied. Action item for Chair (2) ALMA Calendar -- given in totality in agenda. * 18-20 February -- Selected IPT Leads attend meeting in Japan * 26 February -- ALMA Board telecon 2004 Board Meeting Dates * 1-5 March-- ALMA System Review/mini-ALMA Week, near Munich Mini-ALMA week top include System Design Review: No ASAC representative invited. Review Board members: Wootten (Chair) Stephane Guilloteau, Masato Ishiguro, Richard Hills, Michel Guelin, Bryan Butler, David Woody Lee: not much Science representation Al: balanced between technical and science people Areas: - System Design by Larry D'Addario - Reliability - Frontend - Backend - LO - Correlator - Software - anything else? Al: intermediate review, to bring systems together. Will make list of documents available to ASAC. Massimo look favorably on ASAC representation just for the sake of keeping informed. List of critical documents linked to March agenda. * 11-12 March -- AMAC Meeting, Charlottesville NTC * 30 March -- 1 April ALMA Board meets, Socorro, N. M. * 10-11 May -- ASAC Face-to-face meeting, Cambridge, England John will send out email concerning logistics. * 14-15 May -- ALMA/NA Science Meeting, U. of Maryland Al: Similar to November-meeting in Garching, go over DRSP, flesh out modes, which modes for early science. Europeans and other foreigners can attend. Tom: EU meeting for ALMA, September Garching * 25-26 May -- ALMA Backend Review, Arcachon, France * 22-23 June -- ALMA Board Meeting, Europe New Business- 1)Project Update (Tarenghi) Call for tender for production Antenna is out. Meeting with bidders in Chile and Socorro. Great interest, optimistic to receive competetive tenders end of April. Set up structure for analysis and selection of offers to be completed by mid-september. Office in Chile will be opened, rented office space, second half of year. Camp is coming along, design of OSF is going on. In a few months call for tenders for leveling of site, end of this year contract for OSF. Activity also at AOS. Europe/NA: cartridges and other items moving along JAO will expand: candidate selected for Project Engineer, NRAO is negotiating, step toward Project Scientist, potential good candidate, inteviews are taking place. Project manager: limited number of candidates, arm twisting is going on. JAO based in Chile starting second half of this year. Mini-ALMA week: 1-5 March. Systems design review. Interactions of IPTs/Problems inside ALMA. Operations plan (prepared by Silva and Emerson) will be discussed. Will be presented to IPT teams, then to executive, end of March presented to Board, later to ASAC. * Japan status * ALMA Week and System Review * Stability--gain and phase--new System Design document. * Operations plan 2) Board meeting (Mundy) *Board telecon 29 January items -- Charges charges from the Board Lee: Directors report, state of project. Document for scheme of interaction between JAO and executives. Quarterly report only distributed to Board. We could ask the board for a copy if we wished. Antenna evaluations going forward, modest delays. Holography completed on both antennas. Antenna Procurement on track. Operations Plan, schedule of delivery to Board. ASAC will get it mid-April. Negotiations with Japanese, contributions, interfaces with European/NA contributions. Massimo: three day mini-mini japanese ALMA-week 17-20 Feb, 25/26 meeting in Tokyo to discuss agreement. End of March date of entry will be known, discussion of transition phase. AMAC: new members, charges ASAC Charges: The ASAC is requested to consider the following topics, and make appropriate recommendations to the Board: 1. Critically evaluate the specifications for total power and phase stability for ALMA and assess the implications for ALMA science goals. (Explanation to the Board: this has been modified from the original to reflect the changes noted in the Q4 Quarterly Report). (Design document: link on agenda page). 2. The ALMA Calibration Plan, including: a. the science loss as a function of the relative and absolute amplitude calibration accuracy of ALMA; and b. astronomical source calibration activities that should be started before or during early science operations, whether on other facilities or (when available) ALMA. (Calibration Plan Version C, to be issued shortly.) 3. Comment upon the modes being proposed for Early Science Operations in comparison to contemporary ground and space facilities planned for those years. (Explanation to the Board: the Project is now addressing the need for, and possible content of, an Early Science DRSP, which in turn will depend upon the phasing of Early Science modes of operation. ASAC advice on those modes would materially assist the ES-DSRP effort.) (List prepared by Tom Wilson & Michiel Hogerheijde, will be put on web site. Issue also for software plans, modes for early operations with few antennas.) There will also be a proposal of mode staging from Science and Software leaders. 4. The ALMA Operations Plan (if it becomes available in sufficient time), commenting particularly on issues that impact the Early Science. 5. Review the prioritization of the Science Software Requirements in response to the PDR committee's recommendation to: a. prioritize the requirements in light of schedule and cost drivers, and b. science priorities, and the importance of achieving early-science operations. This should be done in the context of the science operations plan, not independent of it. (PDR recommendations on SSR web site.) Chris W.: does the SSR need to produced an updated priority list? If so, will that be possible in time for us to review? People should send wishes for presentations to Lee. 3) Science IPT Items (Wootten/Wilson) Al: DRSP open to the public now at www.alma.nrao.edu/science Next task: early science modes. Gain and Phase stability issues: alternative Proposal, best 5% of time in transparency/phase stability time. Memo from Holdaway/D'Addario: during these 5% of the time the electronics should not dominate the phase stability. Simulation of fast switching. Fast jitter can partly been taken out with WVR. Some disagreement with WVR group, has been resolved. Some unknowns: amplitude of jitter from dry air. * Calibration Plan -- Phase and amplitude calibration status. * Early Science DRSP -- definition of modes available. * Operations plan face-to-face meeting with Software IPT occurred 22-23 Jan. 4) Regional SAC Reports * ESAC (Cox) International Meeting -- early 2006? Follow-up of Washington Meeting 1999, in Europe. Originally Spring 2005, but Dusty and Molecular Universe conference too close. Decided to shift to end 2005/early 2006. Either Spain or France. Community meeting in Garching, September 04, to discuss early science. * ANASAC (Carilli) Telecon, main issue meeting in may. Communication within NRAO/with NA community. Newsletter. New Chairman: Dick Crutcher cannot come to meeting and suggested that he is replaced. 1.5 days in May, project overview, early science and operations plan, science topics, breakout sessions into various topical issues, summary of discussions of each group, general discussion. ANASAC is forming subgroup to form SOC of this meeting. Strong NSF presence was requested. ALMA Workshop 14-15 May 2004. First half day project overview, including DRSP and Ops Plan. Then considerations of the four major areas, including focus on the DRSP and additional talks on science interests. Then breakout sessions, with science talks. Groups will consider larger issues--Early Science, modes, etc. Final half day will have the chairs report, recommendations, general discussion. CC says we need announcements and also send invites to speakers. LGM: Venue is the U. Md. conference center. 120 person room reserved; also breakout room, dinner, lunch etc. CC will be on SOC. Japan: number of meetings. 3 day in Sept, 2 day in Dec. Late March Astronomical Society of Japan meeting with special ALMA sessions. 5) Next meeting -- Wednesday, 3 March 15:30 UT with reports from mini-Alma week.