Teleconference, 5 June 2002
Draft Minutes
Participants: R. Bachiller, J. Conway, P. Cox, N. Evans, S. Guilloteau, M. Gurwell, M. Ishiguro, R. Kurz, D. Mardones, H. Matsuo, N. Nakai, S. Radford, M. Rafal, J. Richer, P. Shaver, K. Tatematsu, E. van Dishoeck, M. Walmsley, C. Wilson, A. Wootten, S. Yamamoto
The proposed agenda was adopted, and the minutes of the May teleconference were accepted.
It was agreed that the next face-to-face meeting will be held on 7-8 September, in Socorro.
Status Report
R. Kurz reported on recent developments. The two main actions by the ACC at its recent meetings were (1) preparation of advertisements for the positions of Project Director, Project Manager, Project Scientist, and Project Engineer, (2) making interim appointments as follows: Project Director (P. vanden Bout), Project Manager (M. Tarenghi), Project Scientist (S. Guilloteau). These persons will work full-time on the project; meanwhile, M. Goss has been appointed interim director of NRAO. The ACC also decided that the ASAC should be reduced to five members from each partner, plus the following ex-officio positions: Project Scientist, North American Project Scientist, and European Project Scientist. The ASAC composition will be finalized by the ALMA Board, which will be established once the international agreement has been signed in late October. The board itself will be comprised of four members per partner.
Recent progress in Chile was also reported by R. Kurz. This issue has top priority. P. vanden Bout and M. Tarenghi are in Chile this week, and an ACC meeting took place in Chile on 20 May. On the Chilean side there is now a full coordination committee, and the deputy Foreign Minister has responsibility for ALMA. The Chilean government wants a full environmental impact study, which will take 6-12 months. This has to be completed before the legal right to the site is approved. The impact on the indigenous population has to be assessed. M. Rafal commented that the intention is to avoid problems by including all such parties in the process.
S. Yamamoto asked about the status of the Japanese participants in the ASAC. S. Guilloteau and R. Kurz replied that this question is under consideration. The present ASAC will function through the next face-to-face meeting, and on 17-18 September there will be an E-ACC meeting with Japan. Also the Chilean participation in the ASAC is to be decided. R. Kurz said that supplementary agreements will be added to the basic bilateral agreement. D. Mardones said that he hoped that any new agreement with Japan will not also require a new project agreement with Chile.
Charges from the ACC to the ASAC
P. Cox introduced this subject, referring to the e-mail from S. Guilloteau attached to the draft agenda. The ACC has requested that the ASAC study the following topics before its next meeting:
evaluation of all site data
assessment of ALMA early science
summary of the scientific and technical issues associated with the long baseline geometries
reassessment of the list of prioritized enhancements to be provided by Japanese participation
As several of these requests are very broad, P. Cox asked S. Guilloteau to get more clear directions from the ACC.
On item 1, S. Guilloteau commented that this may be related to the stringency issues. J. Richer asked whether it should include meteorological conditions, and conditions for the long baselines (related to point 3). S. Guilloteau also felt that there would be a need to prioritize in relation to the receiver bands (related to point 4). N. Evans said that S. Radford is doing a study now, supported by a summer student. Guidelines for this study should be established, and N. Evans suggested that a small group do this. S. Yamamoto said that if information on the Pampa La Bola region were required, S. Sakamoto should be part of the group.
On item 2, S. Guilloteau explained that the issue concerned the commissioning and operating needs for early ALMA science. Also the use of a partial array for early science. While these issues are not urgent, they are important for the project. The group should work in close collaboration with the Project Scientist.
On item 3, S. Guilloteau said that there will be issues to negotiate between the project and Chile, and alternative positions will be required. According to current thinking, the Y+ may be better than the ring configuration, in which case one could give up the ring positions around Chascon. Input on this should be provided within the next few weeks, and A. Wootten said that a new memo on the subject will be available shortly. He also said that one of the questions from the ACC is how well one can operate at high frequencies on long baselines.
On item 4, P. Cox commented that the priorities from September 2001 would clearly be the starting point. S. Guilloteau added that the boundary conditions have changed, because now the Japanese contributions are additions, and he said that this re-evaluation of priorities is relatively urgent. For clarification, C. Wilson asked whether this meant that Japan would not now be contributing to the baseline project itself, including the 64 12-m antennas. M. Ishiguro replied that Japan could contribute some 12-m antennas as part of the ACA, in which case all 64 antennas of the baseline project could be used fully for synthesis. He said that Japan is seeking a budget as close as possible to that of Europe and North America, and that it very important for Japan to contribute to the 12-m antennas, in view of its current production of a prototype.
P. Cox called for volunteers for each of these four topics. N. Evans will lead on item 1, working with S. Radford, S. Sakamoto and others. For item 2, 3-4 people will be needed, to start with draft questions to be circulated to the whole ASAC. P. Cox will represent Europe, and representatives are needed to represent North America and Japan. For item 4 a group is also needed; E. van Dishoeck commented that it is an issue for the whole ASAC, but volunteered to help in the group. She also suggested the participation of the ALMA Liaison Group. S. Yamamoto volunteered to poll Japanese opinions on item 4, and will provide a report in a few weeks.
P. Cox asked for other volunteers to send e-mails both to himself and the relevant group leaders.
New Organization of the Calibration Group
A. Wootten announced a new organization for the Calibration Group. It is being set up under the leadership of Brian Butler. A mailing list has been set up.
AOB
P. Cox said that software and AIPS++ will be on the agenda of the next telecon. A. Wootten reported that the acceptance of the Vertex antenna is expected on about September 9 (give or take two weeks); pictures of the test site are on the web. M. Rafal added that the antenna assembly will take place at the end of July, and integration tests will begin in August.
Next teleconference
The next ASAC teleconference will take place on Wednesday 3 July at 14:30 UT.