NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

PROGRAM OPERATING PLAN FY 20 12

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The NRAO

Program Operating Plan

FY 2012

Revised: March 2012

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary ...... 1 1. Overview ...... 3 1.1 Introduction to the Plan ...... 3 1.2 Structure of the POP ...... 4 1.3 Financial and Budget Considerations ...... 4 2. Science Programs FY 2012 ...... 6 3. Optimizing Science Impact: Observatory Science Operations ...... 9 3.1 Shared Services ...... 9 3.2 Facility-based Activities ...... 13 3.3 Training the Next Generation ...... 15 4. Engines of Exploration: Observatory Telescope/Array Operations ...... 19 4.1 Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Construction Project ...... 19 4.2 Expanded Very Large Array ...... 22 4.3 Very Long Baseline Array ...... 26 4.4 Green Bank Telescope ...... 30 5. Toward Future Discoveries: Observatory Development and Programs ...... 35 5.1 Coordinated Development Laboratory ...... 35 5.2 Key Partnerships: New Initiatives Office ...... 38 6. Broader Impacts: Radio Astronomy and Society ...... 43 6.1 Education and Public Outreach ...... 43 6.2 Diversity ...... 49 7. Efficient Operations: Administration and Services ...... 51 7.1 Director’s Office ...... 51 7.2 Observatory Administrative Services ...... 54 Appendix A: Major Milestones and Functional Tasks ...... 64 Appendix B: Preliminary Financial Plan & Work Breakdown Structure ...... 70 Appendix C: FY 2011 Annual Progress Summary ...... 73 Appendix D: FY 2012 NRAO Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal...... 88 Appendix E: Senior Management Staff ...... 92 Appendix F: Science Staff ...... 93 Appendix G: Committees ...... 99 Appendix H: Acronyms ...... 102

Executive Summary

In FY 2012, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) will deliver transformational scientific capabilities and operate a suite of four world-class telescopes that will enable the astronomy community to make significant progress on the fundamental astrophysical questions and themes described in the Astro2010 Decadal Survey report, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (NWNH). Each of the research facilities in the NRAO telescope suite is the world leader in its observing domain: the international Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA), the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).

Observatory Science Operations (OSO) will coordinate the collective efforts of the three NRAO science centers: the Array Science Center (ASC) in Socorro, New Mexico; the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) in Charlottesville, Virginia; and Green Bank Science Operations (GBSO) in Green Bank, West Virginia (WV). Throughout FY 2012, OSO will create and implement an increasingly unified and integrated suite of services that enable the NRAO user community to access and employ tools more effectively to prepare observing proposals and observations, interface with NRAO staff, and access and process their data. In addition to on-going scientific user support for all NRAO facilities, OSO will provide a large number of enhancements to services and programs in FY 2012, including cross-training all Observatory data analysts in helpdesk support, incorporating access to ALMA services into the NRAO user portal, mirroring ALMA Early Science data to the NAASC, and mirroring EVLA Early Science data to the Charlottesville archive, among many other specific deliverables.

North American ALMA personnel will be heavily engaged in assembly, integration, verification, and commissioning activities as the NA ALMA construction project completes its delivery of components by the end of FY 2012. The steady production and delivery to Chile of antennas and Front Ends will continue throughout the year, as will construction and installation of electrical power infrastructure. The final quadrant of the correlator will be installed in Chile. FY 2012 will also see the initiation of ALMA Early Science, a highly anticipated event across the international community. The NAASC will strongly support the user community in their exploration of the exciting FY 2012 Early Science opportunities, offering expert assistance with proposal and observing preparation, data acquisition, reduction, and analysis. NAASC scientists will develop and test simulations and software tools, and organize user tutorials and community workshops. NAASC staff rotations to Chile will support collaboration with the Joint ALMA Observatory in commissioning, and will provide NAASC staff with extensive ALMA science data experience.

The EVLA will also balance Early Science with the completion of construction and ongoing commissioning. By the end of 2012, EVLA construction and the transition to full science operations as the world’s most capable and versatile centimeter-wave imaging array will be complete. The EVLA Open Shared Risk Observing (OSRO) Early Science program will continue in FY 2012 to provide the general user community with telescope access; the Resident Shared Risk Observing (RSRO) program will continue to offer more advanced capabilities to those who can help with the EVLA commissioning effort in Socorro. The capabilities supported by these programs will increase during FY 2012 as the EVLA data rates and dataset sizes dramatically increase. Specific capabilities that users will see during FY 2012 include correlator sub-array and phased array modes, and the full 8 GHz bandwidth mode observing mode.

VLBA operations will emphasize Key Science Projects, especially those making use of its unique astrometric capabilities. The final components of the long-term Sensitivity Upgrade project will be NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 1

installed at all VLBA stations in FY 2012, and new wideband 4-8 GHz receivers will provide improved sensitivity and access to the scientifically important 6.7 GHz methanol spectral line. The NRAO operations partnership with the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) will begin in FY 2012, providing the USNO with daily VLBA access and mission support. The NRAO will actively manage and expand the partnerships required to sustain the scientific operation and unique technical capabilities of the VLBA.

The GBT will offer the community robust single dish operation in FY 2012 from meter to millimeter wavelengths. By the end of the year, the GBT instrument suite will include single/dual-pixel receivers for single dish observing from 300 MHz to 96 GHz, a 7-pixel prototype traditional focal plane array for 18- 26 GHz data acquisition, and a 64-pixel bolometer array at 81-98 GHz. New receivers will be available for 12-18 GHz (targeting Galactic Center pulsar research) and spectroscopic projects at 4 mm. ‘First light’ will occur in FY 2012 for the new GBT spectrometer, which features up to 10 GHz of total bandwidth.

Observatory Development and Programs (ODP) will drive a forward-looking research and development (R&D) program across the NRAO that is aligned with the Astro2010 Decadal Survey science themes and recommendations. The Coordinated Development Laboratory (CDL) will focus this R&D program on improving the scientific impact of our operational telescopes, which will include in FY 2012 first tests of a fully-cryogenic phased-array feed on the GBT. The ODP’s New Initiatives Office (NIO) will work with the U.S. and international communities to shape and realize the next generation of research facilities, such as the Frequency Agile Solar Radio telescope (FASR), the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The NIO will convene two community workshops in FY 2012 to develop science and technology cases for a new instrument that would build upon existing and emerging world-class centimeter-wave telescopes for the decade of the 2020s.

To broaden our impact on society, the NRAO will engage the American public in the adventure of radio astronomy and the wonders of the universe through our Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program. The education components of this program connect a diverse range of learners and teachers to role models who are passionate about science and engineering, give them privileged access to the resources and milieu of professional science, and enable them to accomplish things of true significance, such as discover a pulsar. Astronomy is an appealing gateway by which learners of all ages can be drawn to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Our STEM education programs build the skills and confidence of young men and women, attract them to STEM careers, enhance their appreciation of STEM fields, and thus contribute to our national competitiveness. Specific goals of NRAO’s outreach program in FY 2012 will emphasize public awareness of the extraordinary advances made possible by the EVLA and ALMA. Internally, NRAO will continue to foster a multi-faceted culture and environment via initiatives designed to attract, nurture, and retain a diverse workforce that will serve as a role model to other research facilities.

To carry out the myriads of tasks required to fulfill its primary mission of enabling forefront research under the NSF budget profile, the NRAO will continue to refine the most cost effective operating model, the ‘One Observatory’ approach, based on Observatory-wide planning, prioritization, and coordination that maximally utilizes the collective expertise and resources across the many components of NRAO.

After more than five decades of continual improvement, NRAO comprises the nation’s core competency in radio astronomy, an invaluable resource for the astronomy community in the U.S., and indeed the world.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 2

1. Overview

With early science now underway on the EVLA, early science with ALMA starting this year, 2011, and with the GBT and VLBA delivering world-leading capabilities, the NRAO is fulfilling its commitment to deliver transformational facilities to the United States (U.S.) as well as the international astronomy community. The EVLA has already begun demonstrating its order-of-magnitude improvement in capability beyond the VLA with numerous new scientific results, including gas excitation studies at redshift z=6, characterization of the Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of nearby Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs), and studies of trans-Neptunian objects. The community's anticipation of ALMA is demonstrated by the 9:1 oversubscription of observing time during its first early science observing period. Impressive ALMA demonstration science is already materializing as the first dishes in the array are commissioned. With comparable collecting area and sensitivity to ALMA and EVLA, the GBT is the preeminent filled-aperture radio telescope. Recent GBT observations include unique, high resolution measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZE) to probe the cluster merging process, detection of 21 cm HI emission at z~1 via the novel Intensity Mapping approach, and sub-100 ns timing accuracy of milli-second pulsars that is required for a successful detection of nano-Hertz gravitational waves. The VLBA is the most accurate astrometric facility in existence, capable of sub-10 µarcsec precision. Its exquisite astrometric capability is being used to delineate the spiral structure of the Milky Way, to determine the precise expansion of the Universe, and to search for exoplanets.

1.1 Introduction to the Plan

The Program Operating Plan (POP) serves as NRAO’s primary document for communicating the specific activities, that will best serve the user community and result in the best science results achievable, expected to be performed in the next fiscal year. This one-year plan is updated every year to incorporate the latest scientific, technical and budgetary developments.

This POP covers the period Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, October 2011 through September 2012. The financial basis of the projected budget and staffing levels is the established President’s level budget projection. NRAO has developed this plan to represent a budget-balanced program. NRAO has multiple sources of funding incorporated into this plan: National Science Foundation’s Division of Astronomical Sciences (NSF-AST) Cooperative Support Agreement (CSA) funds, NSF-AST-Scientific Program Order (SPO) funding for construction, grants, contributions from other organization, and in-kind contributions. NRAO is also targeting external sources of funds to overcome some major challenges in the NSF funding allocation during the next five year period, but only sources of funding that are established, or committed through a formal Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement (MOU/MOA) are included in this plan. Any additional funds obtained will be used in order of scientific priority, and could include offsets to reductions in critical staff, support services, development, or to meet various opportunities that arise in the Long Term Plan.

The NRAO POP FY 2012 describes the tasks and resources that will be used to accomplish the following high-level goals:

 Completion of North American (NA) deliverables to the ALMA Construction Project.  Enhance User Support to maximize scientific impact.  R&D to evolve the NRAO facilities and to help realize mid-scale facilities recommended by NWNH.

Although this POP is fiscally constrained, it is formulated to ensure the continued successful operation of the telescope facilities, make provisions for improving the community’s optimum scientific utilization

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 3

of them, and continue developments required to keep the U.S. at the forefront of radio astronomy and astrophysics. Fitting in the planned activities within the given budget profile for FY 2012 has been accomplished by a well established Observatory-wide science-driven prioritization review.

1.2 Structure of the Program Operating Plan

Operating as ‘One Observatory’ spanning multiple sites, NRAO fulfills its vision and mission by organizing around four Observatory-wide functions: Science Operations, Telescope Operations, Development & Programs, and Administrative Services. The POP is structured to describe how these functions are performed in detail in different sections.

Section 2 describes the key community-driven science goals that will be facilitated in FY2012, along the four science themes in NWNH.

Section 3 describes Science Operations (OSO) whose goal is to facilitate the users in obtaining the most scientific return from the NRAO telescopes. Through OSO, NRAO provides access to all its facilities, expands access to new users, enhances user services to facilitate their scientific objectives, and aims to optimize operational efficiencies across the Observatory.

Section 4 describes the telescope operations (OTO). This section describes activities that will be taken in FY 2012 to ensure their operational performance.

Section 5 describes the NRAO R&D activities that will be carried out under ODP in FY 2012: (1) developing critical capabilities for upgrading NRAO facilities and next generation facilities; (2) helping the community to realize mid-scale projects recommended by NWNH; (3) identifying and pursuing collaborations that lead to new scientific initiative, advancements in the state-of-the art technology, as well as possible additional funding opportunities.

Section 6 describes the Broader Impact plans for FY 2012. The EPO efforts promote public awareness and understanding of important science results achieved by NRAO users, promote and stimulate STEM learning and careers among students, and contribute to sustaining public support for continued U.S. participation and leadership in radio astronomy, with particular emphasis on communities where we operate telescopes. NRAO endeavors to broaden and engage diverse participants in many of these activities in society as well as within the Observatory.

Finally, Section 7 and appendices explain the activities of NRAO management and administration, provides a list of major milestones and functional tasks (Appendix A), describes the resource and budget projections for all funding used by NRAO (Appendix B), lists Senior Management Staff, Science Staff, and Committees (Appendices C-E), and provides an overview of NRAO’s Progress to Date on FY 2011 POP (Appendix F).

1.3 Financial and Budget Considerations

This POP is based on the following funding elements:  SPO-2 ALMA Construction  SPO-3 Research Experience-Teachers and Undergraduates  SPO-4 Green Bank Solar Burst Radio Spectrometer  SPO-7 ALMA Japan  SPO-9 ARRA Stimulus Funds  CSA-1 Management and Operations of the NRAO  CSA-2 Operations and Maintenance of the ALMA NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 4

 CSA-3 Interagency Agreements Associated with Base Operations  Various non-Programmatic Funding (grants and projects1)

This POP is written to a balanced budget based on current projections and information. NRAO works with the user community to set priorities from a diverse set of proposed projects and service models to achieve best science impact within the confines of the budget allocations. It then carefully controls performance to budgets. Carryover is typically used as reserve to address expected deficits in future years, unexpected U.S. dollar to Chilean Peso exchange rate fluctuations, variations in assumed inflation or benefit rates, or sudden cash needs for unpredictable events such as infrastructure or other emergencies. The Preliminary Financial Plan & Work Breakdown Structure is provided in Appendix A.

During FY 2012, the construction projects (ALMA and EVLA) will be nearing completion, and the staff roll-offs and other reductions will be in full effect. Funding for ALMA North American Operations continues to ramp up. NRAO North American (non-ALMA) operations funding is essentially flat over this period, while operating costs continue to rise.

To explore alternate funding opportunities to cover outyear (FY 2013-2017) expenses, the NRAO NIO will pursue new scientific and technical opportunities and collaborations that are consistent with the broad Observatory mission. The influx of these additional funds may begin to be realized in FY 2012. This effort will help reduce the magnitude and impact of outyear budget deficits and preserve the critical capabilities that NRAO provides to the community.

1 Projects can be for services or products, such as receivers built for other organizations. NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 5

2. Science Programs FY 2012

The year 2012 will be a banner year for the NRAO, in which the NRAO will operate a revolutionary suite of telescopes that work synergistically with the next generation optical, infrared, and X-ray telescopes to enable astrophysical discovery over a remarkably broad range of key problems in modern astrophysics, as identified in the recent NWNH. Details of these contributions can be found in the NRAO LRP FY 2013-2017.

Through the new NRAO time allocation process (see OSO section), a suite of ground-breaking research programs will be implemented in 2012, in which, using the Observatory facilities, the community will carry out precision cosmological measurements, test fundamental physics, and probe astrophysics and chemistry from our Galaxy to the first galaxies in the Universe. These programs will probe deep into the earliest, most intense, and optically obscured phases of planet, star, galaxy, and black hole formation; reveal the cool dense gas from which stars form; and provide essential tools for studying magnetic fields and energetic particles.

Key activities over the next year involve the final commissioning of, and performance of early science with, both ALMA and the EVLA, with full science operations starting in 2013. In this time period, ALMA will deliver unprecedented improvements in resolution, sensitivity, and frequency coverage at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The first call for early science proposals with ALMA showed the remarkable interest of the community, with 900 proposals submitted constituting an oversubscription rate of 9:1, rivaling the oversubscription rate of the HST, which has been historically the most oversubscribed astronomical telescope.

The next year will also see the final testing and commissioning of the EVLA. The EVLA is leveraging existing infrastructure with dramatically improve electronics that increase continuum sensitivity at centimeter wavelengths by up to an order of magnitude, and provide frequency coverage from 1-50 GHz with state-of-the-art spectral line capabilities. Early science with the EVLA has commenced, and the first exciting results will be presented in an ApJ Letters special issue in the fall of 2011.

The GBT in 2012 will explore greater use of its wide-field focal plane for rapid and sensitive imaging of the Cosmos, with increased science usage of the new 7 element focal plane array at 22 GHz. This is just the first step in the long-range plan to develop truly wide-field imaging with the GBT from 1 GHz to 90 GHz. The VLBA also plans to continue the sensitivity improvements in 2012, which should provide the first science returns with sub-milliarcsecond resolution.

The NRAO facilities in 2012 will pursue a community-driven, broad-ranging scientific program in all of these areas as part of early science with ALMA, the EVLA, and improved capabilities of the GBT and VLBA. Following are some of the examples of programs being pursued over the coming year:

 Centimeter through submillimeter wavelength observations play crucial roles in the studies of the molecular lines that probe the fuel for star formation in galaxies; the atomic fine structure lines that are the principal coolants for the interstellar medium gas in distant galaxies; the thermal dust continuum emission that is a key star formation rate estimator; and the radio synchrotron emission that measures star formation and signals the presence of relativistic jets. First detection of these lines with the EVLA, GBT, and ALMA have been obtained, and the coming year will see extensive science programs at these telescopes with fundamental implications for galaxy formation.  High-resolution spectroscopic imaging that can only be done with the EVLA and ALMA for normal galaxies at high redshift reveal galaxy dynamics and star formation on sub-kiloparsec scales. Early NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 6

science with these facilities involves multiple, international programs to perform ground- breaking studies of this kind in 2012. These observations will be an essential complement to the near-IR observations that will probe the stars and ionized gas, and the X-ray observations that will reveal the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Together, next generation observatories operating from centimeter to X-ray wavelengths in the coming decade will provide the requisite panchromatic view of the processes involved in the formation of the first generation of galaxies and super-massive black holes (SMBHs), and cosmic reionization.  The field of extrasolar planets is entering a new age with the discovery of hundreds of planets and proto-planetary disks at optical, near-IR, and radio wavelengths. Radio observations are scheduled over the next year at the EVLA and ALMA which will play a crucial role in the study of the early phases of planet formation, imaging the dust and gas in protoplanetary disks down to AU-scales. The EVLA and ALMA provide the high resolution required to image dust gaps cleared by forming planets in protoplanetary disks. ALMA may detect directly the warm dust associated with forming Jupiter-like planets. EVLA is crucial for probing the most optically thick inner regions of protoplanetary disks and will be sensitive to large dust grains. The GBT in 2012 will perform large-scale surveys for dark, protoplanetary disks, and study the composition of debris disks. A higher sensitivity VLBA will detect planets by their astrometric signatures on nearby radio-emitting stars. The radio observations complement the studies of proplyds, or the dusty shadows of protoplanetary disks, as imaged in the optical, and the IR studies of dust spectra.  The science enabled by the NRAO includes an innovative search for nano-Hertz gravitational waves from individual SMBH binaries and/or a stochastic background of such waves from the ensemble of SMBH binaries throughout the Universe. Detection requires 100 ns timing residuals at two observing frequencies, over 5 - 10 years, from at least 10 millisecond pulsars spread across the sky. These pulsars act as the far ends of the arms of a Galactic-scale gravitational wave detector. The North American effort, known as NANOGrav, in 2012 will be developing, in collaboration with the NRAO, dramatic capability improvements from new pulsar timing back ends and timing techniques. NANOGrav’s objectives and technology will complement the higher frequency laser interferometer searches such as Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), and LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna).  A precise determination of the Hubble Constant, H0, will enable a new, robust and independent constraint on the Equation of State of dark energy and other cosmological parameters, complementing other precision cosmology programs, such as Planck and the Joint Dark Energy Mission. Such a measurement is possible using H2O maser disks around SMBHs in galactic nuclei at distances where the Hubble flow dominates the peculiar motions. Reaching the 1% goal 4 entails a search for H2O masers in >10 galaxies out to z ~ 0.06 using large single-dish centimeter-wavelength telescopes, such as the GBT. A resulting sample of order 100 sources is expected with properties adequate for follow-up with very long baseline interferometry and time-series spectroscopy to measure centripetal accelerations, from which the angular diameter distances to the host galaxy can be derived to obtain an accurate determination of H0. This study requires intercontinental 22 GHz VLBI arrays with sensitive telescopes (VLBA, GBT, EVLA, Effelsberg, Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT), Deep Space Network (DSN)), and will benefit from a space VLBI antenna (VSOP-2) yielding baselines up to 30,000 km. The coming year will see a continuation of this key large project using the HSA and GBT.

The NRAO has demonstrated its dedication to helping scientists explore the Universe and answer fundamental questions about astronomy and astrophysics for the past 50 years. As a cornerstone of the current and future multi-wavelength suite of ground- and space-based observatories, the major NRAO facilities will continue to enable and serve the scientific vision of its community, as captured in NWNH.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 7

NRAO has developed an operations model for its major facilities that optimizes scientific productivity with maximum efficiency. In 2012 this operation model will be fully implemented at the NRAO.

Beyond our major facilities, over the next year the NRAO will be involved in a number of key experiments in radio astronomy to probe fundamental problems in astrophysics, as highlighted in NWNH. Such projects include the search for gravitational waves using pulsars, discussed above, as well as: (i) probing the evolution of large scale structure from the present back to the cosmic Dark Ages via the HI 21cm line, (ii) large scale synoptic surveys to study the transient radio sky, and (iii) the next generation solar radio telescope, FASR. NRAO is working with the community to realize these exciting goals, providing leadership in areas ranging from world-recognized scientific and technical expertise, to well established management skills, operating in partnership with the University community.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 8

3. Optimizing Science Impact: Observatory Science Operations

OSO coordinates and aligns the collective efforts of the three NRAO science centers: the ASC in Socorro, New Mexico; the NAASC in Charlottesville, Virginia; and GBSO in Green Bank, WV. (During the course of FY11, OSO and the Office of Science and Academic Affairs (OSAA) were restructured to provide a distribution of responsibilities consistent with the mission and roles of these groups.) In particular, user-facing support, programs, and functions that were formerly administered by OSAA were transferred to OSO. This transfer included community support programs and the newly implemented proposal evaluation and time allocation process.

This section describes OSO deliverables for FY12. It is organized according to specific OSO Shared Services (Section 3.1), OSO facility-based activities (Section 3.2), and OSO community development programs, titled ‘Training the Next Generation’ (Section 3.3) that will be ongoing or implemented in FY12. While all services and activities are to some extent shared – in that staff and resources across the science centers are deployed to deliver the services in support of NRAO users as efficiently as possible – we distinguish between those services that are largely common to all science centers and which lend themselves to a unified and integrated approach, and those services that are more closely tied to specific instruments.

OSO Shared Services manages the user portal, proposal process, observation preparation and analysis tools, archives and data access, the helpdesk and user forums, the science web, the Virtual Astronomy Observatory (VAO), high performance computing and networks, and metrics/statistics. OSO facility- based activities include telescope-specific observation support, user education and training, science user outreach, face-to-face visitor support, pipeline development, post-processing software development, and telescope-specific algorithm development. When common areas of support or development arise within facility-based activities, OSO provides a natural framework to expand the activity across sites.

3.1 Shared Services

The NRAO supports its users with an increasingly unified and integrated suite of services that enable them to more effectively access and employ tools for preparing and submitting proposals, for preparing observations, and for accessing and processing their data. In this section we describe those services that the NRAO has unified, or soon will, across its science centers.

User Portal: The NRAO User Portal (https://my.nrao.edu) provides the user community access to various tools and services through single sign-on authentication verification via connection to the NRAO user database. The User Portal provides personalized access for users to the proposal process, observation preparation and analysis tools, and archived and proprietary data access. Over the past several years, the User Portal has been maintained through a contract with Open Sky Software (http://www.openskysoftware.com/ ). The contract with Open Sky Software will come to an end in Q3, at which point the maintenance and development of the user portal and associated databases will return to NRAO.

The re-insourcing of the user database and user portal will allow for a much more seamless user experience as astronomers access our various tools. Moreover, it will allow NRAO to implement more substantive changes to the user portal with the flexibility that is required for modern software development. There is currently a lengthy process of requirements development and delivery to Open Sky, followed by implementation and testing, for any changes. This is an outdated mode of software development, which has been replaced by a much more rapid requirements, development, and testing cycle, with direct feedback from users to programmers. We must also funnel all desired development

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through a single point-of-contact with Open Sky that is again inefficient. An example of a significant change that would be difficult with the current arrangement is reworking our portal to be better aligned with the ALMA model.

The plan for the re-insourcing the development and maintenance of the user database and the user portal will be developed in Q1, including advertising for a full-time developer to take over the continued support and development of this software. The infrastructure needed for a smooth hand-off of the Open Sky software and databases will be developed in Q2. It is anticipated that a net cost savings will be realized by re-insourcing this development.

The ALMA Science Portal (https://almascience.nrao.edu/) was deployed in Q2 2011 before the ALMA call for proposals on March 30, 2011. This portal provides the user community with similar services as the NRAO User Portal but specific to ALMA. Currently, access to the ALMA Science Portal and the NRAO User Portal require separate authentication and the only link in the NRAO User Portal to ALMA services is to the ALMA helpdesk. During Q1 2012, links to specific ALMA services for proposals, observing preparation and data processing will be added to the NRAO User Portal. In addition, by Q3 all services will become accessible through the NRAO User Portal via single sign-on.

Proposal Process: With the February 1, 2011 proposal submission deadline, NRAO moved from a trimester-based proposal cycle to a semester-based cycle for its North American facilities, the GBT, EVLA, and VLBA. Proposal submission deadlines will be on February 1 and August 1 henceforth.

NRAO has also revised its proposal review system, changing from the referee-based evaluation system that handled GBT and EVLA/VLBA proposals separately, to a panel-based evaluation system common to all three telescopes. A Science Review Panel (SRP) evaluates proposals within a given science category based on their scientific merit. The SRP evaluations are forwarded to the Time Allocation Committee (TAC), which makes recommendations for time allocation and scheduling priority. Q1 of FY12 will see the conclusion of the second semester under the new, unified proposal evaluation process and Q2 will see the call for proposals and the proposal submission deadline for the third such semester (semester 12B); the call for proposals for semester 13A will be early in Q4, and the proposal submission deadline will also occur in Q4. OSO efforts during Q1 and Q2 will also complete the development of software tools that will replace site-based legacy tools in support of the time allocation process.

NRAO renewed its contract with Open Sky Software to ensure continued support of the Proposal Submission Tool (PST) and, in particular, the continuing deployment of new requirements in support of proposal management functions, as well as improved support of SRP and TAC functions. After three complete semesters under the new proposal evaluation process, the PST and associated databases and software will be re-insourced at the end of Q3 as described earlier. This will enable the Observatory to better integrate proposal management with observing preparation and scheduling.

While the new proposal evaluation system attempts to be more closely aligned with the ALMA proposal evaluation process, ALMA proposals are managed separately by the international project. NRAO is evaluating methods by which scientists can propose to use ALMA jointly with NRAO’s North American facilities.

Observation preparation tools: Over the past fiscal year, several additions and updates were deployed to the users that were necessary to set up and prepare for observations and to reduce data. In FY11 a new GBT sensitivity calculator was deployed in Q3 for use in the Q4 proposal submission. Updates to the EVLA sensitivity calculator allowed for time determination for configurations in upcoming RSRO and OSRO observing cycles. For ALMA, version R8.0.3 of the ALMA Observing Tool (OT) was deployed in

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 10

anticipation for the proposal deadline on June 30, 2011. These tools will continue to evolve in FY12 in order to optimize the scientific output from these facilities. Finally, NRAO supports the development and maintenance of Splatalogue: Database for Astronomical Spectroscopy for the use of all NRAO facilities as spectral-line instruments. While the initial development of Splatalogue started at the NAASC, plans will be made to incorporate elements of the Splatalogue database into the EVLA and GBT observation preparation software in FY12.

Helpdesk and user forums: The NRAO operates and maintains two Helpdesks (based on common software) – one supporting NRAO’s North American facilities, and another supporting the international ALMA project. Each helpdesk provides a mechanism for keeping track of user queries, thus ensuring that user queries are answered in a timely and professional manner. The helpdesk also provides a “Frequently Asked Questions” repository known as the Knowledgebase, which can be used to find answers to common queries without the need to send in a helpdesk ticket or without the user actually logging into the helpdesk system.

Both helpdesks support observing preparation, proposal submission, proposal review, archive access, data processing, and observer support. The NRAO helpdesk was also extensively used in the new proposal process by members of the science and technical review panels to submit questions and report problems with the services provided to them during the refereeing process. Currently, to submit helpdesk tickets, users of the North American NRAO facilities must login to the NRAO User Portal while users of ALMA must login to the ALMA Science Portal. The single sign-on capability being developed for the User Portals will enable single sign-on access to both helpdesks by Q3.

During FY12 Q1, work will be completed to integrate the Green Bank operations into the helpdesk. This will allow users to learn only one system within the NRAO for help needed with ALMA, GBT, EVLA, and the VLBA. During the year, we will investigate the feasibility of integrating the helpdesks from all NRAO facilities into single Kayako instance. The Knowledgebase of the helpdesk systems will continue to evolve with use and will considerably improve the efficiency of user support throughout the fiscal year.

Finally, over the course of the next fiscal year, the four existing data analysts (DAs); one in GBSC, two NAASC, one ASC, will be cross-trained in user support services including face-to-face support in observation preparation and data reduction and in helpdesk triage duties. Each DA will specialize in one site’s activity but will spend time across the NRAO science centers working with the other DAs being trained on specific user support responsibilities. Also in FY12, an additional three DAs will be hired (one each based at the ASC, NAASC and GBSO). Each site will therefore have a pool of 7 DAs available to handle user requests given this cross training.

In addition to adding helpdesk support, it is apparent that there are other ways that the user support scientists at NRAO interact with our user base. In Q4 FY11, we studied the requirements for, and impacts of, a deployment of a user-to-user discussion forum, moderated by staff. Following the evaluation of a number of software platforms, an OSO working group selected phpBB for detailed internal testing. In Q1 of FY12, the user discussion forum will be released for public use with the main forum topic being CASA. Over the course of FY12 more forum topics will be deployed in response to user feedback and needs.

Science Community Outreach: To better serve and grow our user community, the Communications Office will allocate key resources to the operation, maintenance, and continual improvement of the NRAO science internet site (http://science.nrao.edu). The NRAO science web transitioned to the Plone content management service in mid-FY11. All web pages at the top “science.nrao.edu” level have been converted

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 11

to the new system. The conversion, update, and expansion of site-specific content for the EVLA, VLBA, GBT, and NAASC will be ongoing through Q1 of FY12. Next steps will be to conduct usability testing, and experiment with new internet technologies to improve our ability to communicate with our users.

Full advantage will be taken of the rich face-to-face communication opportunities offered by major scientific meetings. Communications will organize the NRAO presence at major FY12 astronomy community science conferences, including: (a) the January 2012 American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Austin; (b) the June 2012 AAS meeting in Anchorage; and (c) the August 2012 International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Beijing.

We will organize multiple events at each AAS meeting to communicate with our users. An NRAO Town Hall at the winter AAS meeting will broadly inform the membership about the status of our science, operations, and projects, and allow us to field and answer user questions. One or more topical Special Sessions at each AAS meeting will be organized to convey the latest science results and our evolving research capabilities. Community tutorials and training sessions will be offered as AAS Splinter Sessions. The NRAO exhibit at each AAS meeting will provide a welcoming space for the community to informally visit and interact with our scientific staff. The IAU General Assembly only occurs once every three years, and the Beijing IAU will be an excellent opportunity to engage a large, diverse sample of the international astronomy community regarding the world-class research opportunities at NRAO.

Communications will also organize the NRAO presence at two major FY12 conferences for the broader science community: one focused on science, the other on high performance computing. We will propose and lead one or more science symposia at the February 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest science meeting in North America. Communications will collaborate with EPO to take maximum advantage of the excellent AAAS media opportunities. We will also be an exhibitor and technical program participants at the November 2011 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis in Seattle, which will be attended by ~ 11,000 scientists, engineers, software developers, Chief Information Officers, and Information Technology administrators from universities, industry, and government agencies.

Archive and data access: A key goal for FY12 is to start supporting GBT data in the NRAO archives, and provide access to those data for users through the Archive Access Tool (AAT). We will spend Q1 investigating how to incorporate GBT data and metadata into the AAT, and aim to start including GBT data in the AAT in Q3.

In Q2 we also aim to have in place a mechanism for ingesting data products (either from users or from the NRAO pipelines) into the archive, and for these pipeline products to be made generally available through the AAT by Q4. Batch re-processing of data through a prototype web interface in the AAT is scheduled for internal testing in Q4.

The ALMA and EVLA archives both use the same software architecture, and have very similar data models. ALMA data are mirrored from Chile to archives located at each of the ALMA Regional Centers (ARCs), with the NA instance hosted at the NAASC. The first early science data products will be mirrored to the NAASC in Q1.

The goal of mirroring the EVLA archive in Charlottesville during FY11 was delayed due to technical difficulties associated with achieving the necessary network bandwidth, although the archive is mirrored locally in Socorro. The full mirroring to Charlottesville is now scheduled for FY12 Q1.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 12

Extensive planning will also begin in FY12 on incorporating ALMA archive data access via the existing NRAO tools after users have logged into the NRAO user portal. As described in the user portal section above, this will require the single-sign on capabilities of an integrated user portal so users can access their data from all NRAO facilities through a single interface.

Virtual Astronomical Observatory: During FY11 the effort in the VAO focused on implementing the mirroring of the index database from NRAO’s archives to the VAO servers to support VAO registry and tool searches of metadata produced by NRAO’s instruments and to support VAO queries issued against associated metadata of raw bulk data in NRAO’s archives. In FY12, OSO effort in this area will begin prototyping VAO access to ALMA data, as well as that from NRAO’s North American telescopes. VAO is already working with ALMA and EVLA to get metadata into their respective archives to support VAO data queries and data access. Once this is completed we will build upon one of the key FY11 VAO activities - the "ObsTAP-powered data discovery" study initiative, part of the VAO Portal project - to prototype data query and access capabilities. The servers required to support this activity will be in place in Q1.

Computing infrastructure and high performance computing: During FY12 the Computing Infrastructure Division and High Performance Computing (HPC) group at the ASC will focus primarily on parallelization and improved performance of CASA, EVLA commissioning and operations support, assisting ALMA commissioning and ALMA pipeline performance and advisory assistance for GBT spectrometer data capture. An initial scheduler for CASA use on clusters should be implemented by end of Q1.

At the NAASC, the fast user filestore (Lustre) will be expanded by 60 Tbytes and the processing capability will be expanded by 40 nodes during FY12, giving the NAASC similar processing capabilities to the ASC. A careful benchmarking of system requirements for processing of ALMA data at users’ home institutions will be completed by Q2. The archive storage capabilities will be expanded in three increments (64-96 Tbytes each) during FY12. Additional archive storage for the EVLA will be installed in Q2.

Metrics and statistics: A metrics database containing proposal information and telescope usage is now available. In FY12, this facility needs to be reviewed for content, consistency, and capability (Q1). Additional extensions of the database will probably be required as a result (Q2). Historical data available in older forms will be considered for addition to the database (Q3). During FY12, we will also explore the possibility of synergy with other databases - those containing publications resulting from NRAO telescopes, PhD theses that used NRAO telescopes, and student support (Q4).

3.2 Facility-based Activities

The NRAO enables science on a powerful and diverse suite of instrumentation – GBT, VLBA, EVLA, and ALMA – each with its unique and complementary attributes. They can be used singly or jointly, or in coordination with non-NRAO instrumentation. The NRAO, through OSO, ensures that users are provided the necessary education and training, observation support, and post-processing tools to enable the best science on each instrument.

Telescope-specific observation support: At the ASC, the VLBA observation preparation and scheduling software, SCHED, will be updated to support the increased bandwidth available with the new C-band receivers, Q3. The EVLA Observation Preparation Tool (OPT) will be updated during FY12 to support the expected release of 8 GHz bandwidth observing on the EVLA for RSRO residents, Q3. A version of

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 13

the OPT incorporating the correlator set-ups to be made available at the beginning of EVLA full operations will be released in Q4 for testing.

User education and training: There will be a CASA tutorial at the NRAO in Charlottesville during Q1, primarily for users with ALMA Cycle 0 and EVLA observing time, but open to all users. NRAO also plans to hold the 13th Synthesis Imaging Workshop in Socorro, New Mexico, June 2012 (Q3). Talks on the status and scientific developments of NRAO telescopes will be made throughout the year: at the 2012 AAS meetings, the AAAS, the Beijing IAU, and at U.S. and international institutions.

Building on the highly successful Community Day Events (CDEs) developed by the NAASC during FY11 the NRAO will build on and expand CDEs in FY12. The NRAO will hold another series of CDE events in preparation for the ALMA Cycle 1 observing season. These events will be scheduled across North America as well as locally. The NAASC will provide ALMA expertise through presentations and tutorials, including new observing capabilities, observing techniques, hands-on support for the Observing Tool, CASA, simdata and Splatalogue. Staff from the GBSO and the ASC will participate in these training events and provide similar introductions to observing with the GBT, VLBA, and EVLA.

Finally, documentation will be updated for ALMA Cycle 1 and then for Cycle 2 in FY12, including the Proposers Guide, Technical Handbook, “Observing with ALMA: A Primer (Early Science Edition)”, Science Portal pages and documents, and the casaguides and simguides; a series of web-based “recipes” for using CASA, and the CASA observing simulator simdata. Similarly, Documentation associated with each call for proposals (e.g., EVLA Observational Status Summary, PST documentation, etc) will be updated for each call for proposals.

Development of the ALMA simulator and simdata will continue in FY12, as will the development of additional scripts for CASA and for simdata at casaguides (http://casaguides.nrao.edu).

Science user outreach: The NRAO GBSO will host a conference on H1 in the galaxy in Green Bank in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Tully-Fisher relation. The NRAO NAASC will host the sixth scientific conference in Charlottesville, entitled “Outflows, Winds and Jets: from Young Stars to Super- massive Black Holes,” March 2012 (Q2). Special sessions will be organized at the Winter AAS meeting in Austin, Texas (Q2).

Face to face visitor support: NRAO has always provided in-depth expert support to visiting scientists, from assistance with telescope observing at the GBT, to data reduction support at the ASC. The NAASC will continue this tradition when we host the first visitor from investigators with ALMA Early Science observations in Q1. For every successful proposal team, financial support will be available and a “friend” will be assigned from the NAASC staff.

Post-processing software development: With both EVLA and ALMA construction projects delivering Early Science and preparing for full operations during FY12, CASA development remains focused on optimizing the science output of these facilities. The fourth and fifth public release of CASA (Q1 and Q3 of FY12, respectively) is planned to support the growing user base of NRAO’s two newest interferometers. These releases will include improvements in performance (including extending parallelization), calibration strategies, and advanced imaging algorithms.

The NAASC will hire a software engineer on a two-year contract to significantly enhance CASA performance, which is severely I/O limited, by implementing asynchronous I/O between serial tasks.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 14

GBTIDL, a software data reduction package for the GBT, will focus on data processing for the 4 mm receiver and the new GBT spectrometer (VEGAS), with completion of all 4 mm data reduction components complete by Q4. VEGAS work will continue into FY13 as new observing modes are released.

Pipeline development: Recognizing the inherent efficiencies in combining the ALMA and EVLA pipeline efforts with the ongoing post-processing software development, a unified pipeline development team has been formed. Prototype pipelines will be modified for EVLA D-configuration and ALMA Cycle-0 data, Q1. Pipeline data quality analysis metrics will be defined in Q2. "Standard" observations will be processed through the pipeline as they are observed during Cycle-1 for ALMA and Q4 for EVLA. As noted in the section on archives and data analysis, NRAO plans to have a mechanism in place for ingesting pipeline data products in Q2 and for these pipeline products to be made generally available through the AAT by Q4.

In response to direction from the review panel of the FY12-15 NA ALMA Operation proposal to increase support for the data reduction capabilities of the NA community, a software developer will be hired to enhance the Observatory’s capability to execute modified pipeline scripts for re-processing and re-imaging on NRAO computing resources via a queue based web request. This will be especially valuable for users without access to high end computing resources.

GBSO will focus on the continued integration of GBT instruments into a data reduction pipeline that will allow users to readily reduce all types of GBT data. The pipeline will also take advantage of improved calibration algorithms and information to provide higher quality data products to all GBT users. In FY12 the focus of the pipeline team will be the new 4mm receiver and new spectrometer.

Telescope Specific Algorithm development: In FY12 Q1 algorithm development will focus on the completion of the software framework needed for wide-band, wide-field, full-polarization imaging capabilities with heterogeneous array support (required for imaging with ALMA). The combined wide-band, wide-field imaging algorithm will be tested in Q2, initially with EVLA data. The memory requirements of the combined algorithm increase rapidly at low frequencies and the run-time memory footprint has emerged as the primary bottle-neck. It is expected that this will require multi-threaded implementation of the computing intensive parts, and will investigate replacing the multi-scale deconvolution algorithm with the Asp-Clean algorithm in Q3. Initial investigations for new algorithms with lower memory footprint but higher computing requirements will be done using GPU computing to determine if this is a practical way forward in Q4.

3.3 Training the Next Generation

Fostering a strong scientific community of researchers and helping to train the next generation of scientists and engineers are important parts of the NRAO mission. The NRAO supports a broad range of student opportunities including undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate programs; instrument and visitor programs to enhance university-NRAO collaborations; and workshops, schools, and conferences.

Undergraduate Programs: The long-running (since 1959) NRAO summer student program continues to be very successful. This 10–12 week program allows approximately 25 students to work under the supervision of NRAO staff members at sites in New Mexico, WV, and Virginia, to carry out original research in astronomy, computing, and engineering. Most of these students are funded by the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), a program that was renewed in FY11. Outstanding students that are otherwise ineligible for support by the REU program (graduating seniors, foreign students, and early-career graduate students) are supported by NRAO operating funds. In addition, as a

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 15

means of diversity outreach, the Observatory has established a partnership with Howard University wherein talented Howard students participate in the Observatory’s summer student program. This is expected to continue in FY12.

The NRAO runs a co-op program that enables undergraduate engineering students to gain practical, career-based experience as part of their formal academic education. Students from participating institutions work at NRAO sites for two non-consecutive semesters. Under the supervision of NRAO technical staff, co-op students are engaged in problems on the technological frontier. On average, three students per semester have been funded through the NSF Cooperative Agreement.

Graduate Programs: The NRAO is committed to training the next generation of scientists in radio astronomical science, techniques, and technology. Several NRAO programs exist for this purpose. Graduating seniors and first- and second-year graduate students are able to participate in the NRAO summer student program described above. This gives students experience in radio astronomy research early in their graduate careers, allowing them to incorporate these skills into their thesis research. The NRAO also awards Reber Doctoral Fellowships to students who have completed institutional requirements for doctoral candidacy so that only their thesis research remains for them to complete their PhDs. Such fellows take up residence at one of the NRAO sites, typically for two years, while they complete their research and thesis under the supervision of an NRAO staff member. The NRAO expects to be able to support at least three new Reber Doctoral Fellow in the coming year in addition to existing commitments.

The NRAO also supports many of the 100+ PhD students making use of NRAO telescopes each year. Travel reimbursement, low-cost accommodations, and computing facilities are provided on-site to assist these students. The Observatory also supports stays lasting several weeks to several months by students who wish to collaborate with NRAO staff scientists as part of their PhD research. These student internships help forge valuable long-term links between the NRAO and the university community. Financial support is also available on a competitive basis for students performing thesis observations on the GBT, the VLBA, and large, legacy-type VLA projects. Students at U.S. universities are eligible for the Student Observing Support (SOS) program, which is designed to cover salary and miscellaneous expenses such as computers and travel to conferences to a maximum of $35,000. This very popular program will continue in FY12, and it will be augmented by offering the same support for students associated with ALMA Early Science observations. Integration of the ALMA elements into an integrated SOS program will be happen in two phases during FY12. For ALMA Cycle 0 (Q1) NAASC will be responsible for the processing and review of SOS proposals associated with ALMA proposals. During Q4 FY12 the ALMA SOS program will be functionally integrated into the existing NRAO SOS program.

NRAO Community Interaction and Support: In addition to its commitment to educating and training future generations of undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students, the NRAO is working to assist and support an active U.S. radio astronomy community. This is accomplished in a variety of ways including staff community service, a visitor program, organizing and hosting scientific meetings, and providing funding assistance to university-led hardware and software projects. These interactions enable NRAO scientists and engineers to engage with the wider astronomical community, and they serve as important links through which the community can maintain a fruitful relationship with the Observatory. A key benefit of these programs is that they allow for community-wide input into Observatory priorities for science, instrumentation, and algorithm development

The NRAO has supported a number of university-based instrumentation development programs, such as those currently taking place on the GBT and at the CDL. These programs create training opportunities for students and postdocs, as well as the opportunity to develop science and technology

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 16

pathfinder instruments. The NRAO facilities sections of this Plan include examples of university-led software and hardware projects. These programs will continue to be fostered in FY12 using available operations funds and through collaborative efforts funded by external means.

NRAO Library and Historical Archives: With over one-third of the astronomy libraries in the world either closing or downsizing in just the last year, the NRAO Library collections and library support functions are increasingly key assets for the astronomical community as well as the NRAO scientific, computing, and engineering staff. The NRAO Library completed its own consolidation program in FY 2011, but continues to maintain the most extensive collection of radio astronomy materials in the world while now being one of fewer than eight astronomy libraries world-wide with extensive historical collections and one of the few that not only lends to external institutions, but lends more than it borrows.

For FY12, the NRAO Library will manage the historical collection while ensuring present needs are met. This will require a balance of needs to desires and finding opportunities for synergies within NRAO, such as supporting data curation efforts for large data sets as mandated by NSF, building on the metadata within NRAOPapers and NRAOTheses, and ensuring the electronic availability of all NRAO reports, memos, and conferences. Outside NRAO, the Library will continue to build on existing relationships with ADS, publishers, and other librarians and data managers.

We anticipate that the level of Library usage (almost 50,000 articles or book chapters downloaded, over 4,000 NRAO staff requests filled, and over 1500 non-NRAO inquiries filled in 2010) will continue to increase, especially with ALMA and the EVLA going online. This will challenge the NRAO Library and staff to continue to fill requests while also adhering to our allocated budget.

To date, the NRAO has provided, and the Library has administered, page charge support to its users as detailed at http://www.nrao.edu/library/pagecharges.shtml. It is the only major ground based observatory to do so. However, given budgetary pressures, the Observatory plans to roll back this element of community support during FY12. In particular, NRAO will continue page charge support through Q1 of FY12, after which page charge support will be limited to papers reporting ALMA early science results, and to reporting results from Key Science Projects (https://science.nrao.edu/science/key-science-projects).

The Archives actively seek out, collect, organize, and preserve institutional records, personal papers, and oral histories of enduring value that document NRAO development, institutional history, and instrument construction. As the national facility for radio astronomy, the Archives also include materials on the history and development of radio astronomy in the U.S.. The Archives has been successful in securing external funds in partial support for its activities. In FY12, the Archives will continue an ongoing long-term project of processing NRAO records as well as extensive materials on radio astronomy history. The Archives will strive to make key materials from all collections available digitally via the archives web pages and other web resources. The Archives plan to collaborate with EPO in developing an indexing and access system for images.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 17

Table 3.1: Financial & FTE Projection, OSO

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 18

4. Engines of Exploration: Observatory Telescope/Array Operations

The one-year period covered by this POP, FY 2012, will be a time of great scientific opportunity for the NRAO user community, founded on the operations of its forefront facilities. In FY 2012, NRAO will be completing construction on two new major research facilities—ALMA and EVLA—that will be the centimeter to submillimeter wavelength, complements to next-generation facilities at other wavelengths. Taken together, ALMA, EVLA, the GBT with focal plane arrays, and the upgraded VLBA represent an order of magnitude or more improvement in all areas of observational capabilities, including resolution, sensitivity, and spectral capabilities, from 1 GHz to 1 THz. These engines of exploration provide unprecedented advances for the astronomical community.

At the same time, ensuring all telescope facilities are operated at their optimum performance level is a major effort and responsibility, constituting more than half of the Observatory budget and personnel. The suite of NRAO telescope facilities involves the daily operation of 38 antennas, located in 9 states and one U.S. territory, and 60 antennas in Chile. A few more antennas are used periodically for special projects and for education purposes.

As ALMA is an international joint facility, operations of ALMA within NRAO are more complex and are described in more detail below. Operational priorities for each facility are set within the context of Observatory-wide operations. 4.1 Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Construction Project

FY 2012 will be a year of major achievements for the ALMA construction as North America will complete its deliverables to the project during this time. The most significant FY 2012 events will be the start of Early Science, where aperture synthesis and imaging observations with 16 or more antennas will be made. The steady production and delivery of antennas and Front Ends (FEs) to Chile will continue, and the Backend End (BE) IPT will be decommissioning its production facilities in North America as all deliverables are ready. Road construction and the installation of electrical power infrastructure will continue in FY 2012. The fourth quadrant of the correlator will be installed in the technical building at the Array Operation Site (AOS). NA ALMA personnel will continue to be heavily engaged in assembly, integration, verification, and commissioning activities, while construction activities wind down.

The major FY 2012 activities for each Integrated Product Team (IPT) of the ALMA construction project are described below.

Management: A regular schedule of project-wide schedule, budget, and configuration control board meetings was inaugurated in 2009 and will continue throughout FY 2012. The control board process will maintain tight control of ALMA resources and provide for their optimal allocation across the project. The Annual ALMA External Review (AAER) will be conducted in October 2011.

Site: In FY 2012, the NA Site IPT will continue to complete the contracts for the AOS electrical power and fiber optic networks. The installation of power and fiber optics for the antenna stations in the extended array will be complete in Q2 FY 2012 and delivered to the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) thereafter. This will finalize the NA Site IPT deliverables.

Antenna: To date, the JAO has conditionally accepted 11 Vertex antennas and has fully accepted three, making a total of 14 Vertex antennas that have now been turned over to the JAO. Pointing tests are in process for Vertex antenna 15 and it should be accepted shortly. The current ALMA schedule calls for the 17th Vertex antenna to be accepted just after the end of the 2011 fiscal year.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 19

Issues with the reflector rigidity and servo control of the nutator have delayed its delivery. While the NA Antenna IPT is making good progress towards resolving these issues, servo control has continued to be a stubborn problem. However, final resolution of the servo control is within sight and it is expected that the first nutator should be delivered to the Operations Support Facility (OSF) in Q1 FY 2012. In Q2, the second nutator will be delivered to the OSF, and the remaining units (3-5) will be assembled thereafter.

The optical pointing telescope (OPT) has been plagued by a temperature-dependent drift of the image it produces. However, the first two units have been found to be suitable for antenna pointing acceptance testing. The NA Antenna IPT has made progress towards resolving this problem, and a complete redesign of the OPT, aimed at removing the thermal drift, is underway for the third unit. Redesigned unit three should be delivered to the OSF in Q1 FY 2012 after a delta-CDR. Delivery of the remaining units, based on the re-designed unit three, should be accomplished in Q2 and Q3 FY 2012.

Front End: The NA Front End Integration Center (NA FEIC) is scheduled to deliver its last (22nd) FE by the end of Q3 FY 2012. All Local Oscillator Warm Cartridge Assemblies (WCAs), including spares, for ALMA Bands 3, 6, 7, and 9 will be delivered by the end of Q1 FY 2012. WCAs for Bands 4 and 8 will be delivered by the end of Q2 FY 2012. The Band 10 WCAs will be delivered by the end of Q1 FY 2013. All Cold Cartridges Assemblies for Bands 3 and 6, including spares, will be delivered to the three ALMA FEICs by the end of Q2 FY 2012.

The delivery of the second FE Service Vehicles (FESV) is scheduled for Q1 FY2012. The delivery of the first two FE Handling Vehicles (FEHV) is scheduled for Q1 FY2012 and the third unit for Q2 FY2012.

Back End: With the completion of construction deliverables for Antenna Articles (AA), Data Receiver Articles, Local Oscillator (LO) Photonic Receiver Articles, and the Central LO Article, the NA BE IPT will ramp-down staffing while focusing on finalizing any outstanding handover action items and supporting the construction warranty period during FY 2012. A key milestone will be the decommissioning of an Antenna Article Test Stand in Q2 FY 2012 and delivering it to the OSF. All documentation required by the Configuration Item Documentation Lists (CIDL) will be delivered by Q4 FY 2012.

Correlator: The installation and testing of the first three correlator quadrants at the AOS is complete. The correlator’s fourth quadrant is in operation at the NRAO Technology Center (NTC) in Charlottesville. It is not needed at the AOS until 33 antennas are available. It is playing a vital role as a development test bed for the Computing IPT. Disassembly is now planned for Q1 FY 2012, with reassembly at the AOS beginning in Q2 FY 2012.

Computing: In FY 2012, the NA Computing IPT will have a split focus between Commissioning and Science Verification (CSV) needs and the Division of Science Operations (DSO) (in particular during Early Science operations). Important support will also be needed for AIV and System Engineering, but this is not expected to dominate. With the start of Early Science, considerable CASA support for the external user community will also be required. With the expected rapid ramp-up in data rate, CASA performance will receive significant attention. Hardware device support is largely complete at this point, with the nutator being the major exception. Release R9.0 of the ALMA software will be made in Q1 FY 2012, and release R9.1 will be made in Q3 FY 2012.

Systems Engineering & Integration: The Product Assurance (PA) Group of the Systems Engineering and Integration (SEI) IPT will continue to resolve Corrective Action Requests (CARs), which is a process for resolving issues with project deliverables found after their acceptance. The SEI IPT will continue to

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 20

streamline existing acceptance and handover processes in an effort to manage production quantities of deliverables. SEI will also continue its program of monitoring the quality of electrical power provided to the OSF and AOS.

Science: The ALMA NA Science IPT will continue executing its commissioning plans in FY 2012. Activities at the OSF, to include support of the Antenna IPT in preparing production antennas for handover to AIV and support of the AIV team in evaluating the antennas and their components, will continue. The Science IPT will be engaged in a number of activities involved in executing selected projects from the 954 Early Science proposals received in June 2011 and preparing for Early Science Cycle 0. Table 4.1: NA ALMA Major Milestones FY 2012 Program Project Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Management AAER 1

Site Complete antenna stations 2

Antenna Accept antennas 3 4 5 6 Deliver nutators 7 8 9

Deliver OPTs 10 11

Front End Deliver front ends 12 13 14 Deliver Band WCAs 15,16,18 17, 19 20 21

Deliver band 3 & 6 cartridges 22 23

Deliver FESV 24

Deliver FEHV 25 26

Back End BE decommissioning 27 28

Correlator Correlator quadrants 29 30 Computing ALMA software releases 31 32

Science Start early science Cycle 0 33

Early Science Cycle 1 34 35

Milestones: 17. Deliver Band 4 & 8 WCA units 56-73 1. Complete AAER 18. Deliver Band 10 WCA units 01-04 2. Complete AOS power and fiber 19. Deliver Band 10 WCA units 05-22 optic connections to antenna 20. Deliver Band 10 WCA units 23-40 stations 21. Deliver Band 10 WCA units 41-57 3. Acceptance of NA antennas 17-18 22. Deliver Band 3 & 6 cartridges units 58-70 4. Acceptance of NA antenna 19-20 23. Deliver Band 3 & 6 cartridges units 71-73 5. Acceptance of NA antenna 21-22 24. Deliver FESV unit 2 to OSF 6. Acceptance of NA antenna 23-25 25. Deliver FEHV units 1-2 to OSF 7. Deliver nutator unit 1 26. Deliver FEHV unit 3 to OSF 8. Deliver nutator unit 2 27. Decommissioning of Antenna Test Article 9. Deliver nutator unit 3-5 Stand 10. Deliver OPT unit 3 28. Deliver FE documentation 11. Deliver remaining OPT units 29. Disassemble correlator quadrant 4 at 12. Deliver NA FEs 14-16 to OSF NTC 13. Deliver NA FEs 17-18 to OSF 30. Install correlator quadrant 4 at AOS 14. Deliver NA FEs 19-22 to OSF 31. Release ALMA software version 9.0 15. Deliver Band 3, 6, 7 & 9 WCA 32. Release ALMA software version 9.1 units 62-73 33. Start observations Cycle 0 16. Deliver Band 4 & 8 WCA units 34. Issue call for proposals for Early Science 47-55 Cycle 1 35. Start observations Cycle 1

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 21

Table 4.2: Financial & FTE Projection, ALMA Construction

*ALMA other category includes items that do not fit into standard WBS construction functions, such as office space/lease costs, overhead, high altitude physical exams, etc.

4.2 Expanded Very Large Array

In FY 2012 the primary challenge for EVLA operations will continue to be the adaptive balance between ongoing Early Science support, construction work, and the commissioning and debugging work necessary to deliver the full capabilities of the EVLA. At the beginning of the fiscal year the EVLA will be offering 2 GHz of bandwidth to all users, and this will require some changes to science operations in order to accommodate the larger data rates, dataset sizes, and challenges associated with the imaging of large fractional bandwidth data, as described in the OSO section of this document. In addition, NRAO is offering a data shipment option to enable users to obtain their data on disk, rather than retrieving it via FTP. The EVLA Construction Project will be close to completion by the end of FY 2012, with a full suite of receivers covering 1 to 50 GHz, and up to 8 GHz instantaneous bandwidth. A significant milestone for the construction project will be the formal acceptance of the $20M WIDAR correlator, the Canadian contribution to the EVLA built by DRAO. The science that has already been delivered by this correlator in FY 2011 is quite spectacular, and forms the basis of a special issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters in Q4, FY 2011.

Proposals to use the EVLA continue to exploit the instrument’s enhanced spectral line capabilities and the greatly increased continuum sensitivity, particularly at the highest EVLA frequencies. Working in tandem with space missions such as Herschel, the EVLA is revolutionizing studies of the molecular gas in both distant and nearby galaxies, revealing the last major piece of the puzzle – the gaseous evolution of galaxies – in unprecedented detail. The increased available bandwidth has stimulated numerous innovative continuum projects, from observations of trans-Neptunian objects in our Solar System, to the afterglows of gamma-ray bursts – the most distant explosions in the Universe. Another major growth area for the EVLA is the study of the magnetic Universe. The increased capabilities of the EVLA now make it possible to make sensitive measurements of the small changes in the polarization orientation of background sources passing through a foreground object containing ionized gas and magnetic field (i.e., Faraday rotation). Studies to exploit this technique will be made in FY 2012 aiming to characterize the structure and strength of magnetic fields in galaxies and to measure the evolution of magnetic fields over cosmic time.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 22

Early Science, Commissioning, and Transition to Full Science Operations

The Early Science programs established in FY 2010 will continue into FY 2012, providing the general user community with telescope access through the OSRO program, and offering more advanced capabilities to those who are able to spend time helping with the EVLA commissioning effort in Socorro through the RSRO program. The capabilities supported under both these programs will increase during FY 2012, with a dramatic increase in data rate and dataset size taking place by the beginning of the year. In September 2011 the EVLA is moving from the A configuration back to the D configuration. For the D configuration and the following C—B—A configuration cycle, observers granted time through the OSRO program will have access to up to 2 GHz bandwidth covered by 16 sub-bands, each with 128 MHz, full polarization. This will deliver data at a rate eight times higher than those obtained during FY 2011 (and eighty times that of the VLA).

Expanded observing modes will be enabled throughout FY 2012. In particular, the use of sub-arrays will be commissioned through Q2, with the goal of offering this capability to RSRO projects during 2012 and to the general community at the start of EVLA full operations, January 2013. Phased array observing modes, including Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) support, will be made available to the community on a similar timeframe. Enhanced data rates exploiting more of the WIDAR correlator will be staged throughout 2012 for RSRO projects, culminating at 75 Mbps at the end of construction (end of calendar year 2012). Increased flexibility in correlator set-ups will be commissioned and deployed for RSRO use during 2012, and will be offered to the community in January 2013. Finally, the 3-bit samplers will be deployed and commissioned in the first half of FY 2012 for RSRO use by Q4. The 3-bit samplers provide the full 8 GHz bandwidth promised for the EVLA at its highest frequencies, and will have a dramatic impact on continuum studies and spectral line work, including surveys for redshifted CO and other molecules. The 3-bit samplers will be available to the general community at the start of full operations.

EVLA Construction Project

Project Management: The EVLA project management office will continue to monitor the progress of Construction by updating WBS cost data sheets, conducting risk analyses, arranging for the last remaining production orders of components, and organizing appropriate design reviews. Contingency funds will be used to address the remaining project risk items and areas where adherence to schedule is in jeopardy. The project is currently on schedule for completion at the end of calendar year 2012, comprising both contributed effort from New Mexico Operations and effort on the EVLA Construction budget, as it has throughout the project. By the end of construction all EVLA project staff, including management, will have been taken off the contributed effort and project WBS elements.

Civil Construction: The Civil Construction WBS is complete.

Systems Integration: The System Integration WBS is complete, apart from minor support tasks. Remaining tasks include completing the project book compliant Data Transmission modules (including full 3-bit digitizer capability). Performance of the array will continue to be studied, with an update of hardware where needed.

Antennas: Antenna retrofits are complete. Remaining antenna work includes the upgrade of the cryogenic system necessary for implanting the X-band receivers, i.e., adding a compressor to each antenna and modifying the helium manifold plumbing to support the operation of 4 compressors on each antenna. The compressor upgrades will be completed by the end of FY 2012. The Ku-band (12-18 GHz)

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 23

feed horns are being fabricated at the Green Bank machine shop, and the last 5 feeds will be delivered and tested by the end of Q3.

Front End Systems: The production and installation of the fully EVLA-compliant L-Band (1-2 GHz) and S- Band (2-4 GHz) receivers will be completed on schedule by the end of FY2012. The production and installation of the last X-band (8-12 GHz) and Ku-Band (12-15 GHz) receivers will be completed Q1 FY2013.

Local Oscillator and Intermediate Frequency Systems: To coincide with 3-bit digitizer production and implementation, a second set of L302 frequency synthesizer modules will be installed in each antenna.

Fiber Optic System: Data Transmitter modules will be retrofitted to include the 4 Gsps, 3-bit digitizer assemblies and their supporting circuitry. Production of these assemblies is ongoing. 3-bit samplers will be installed throughout the array prior to the end of construction.

Correlator: The WIDAR correlator from NRC Canada will be formally accepted during FY 2012. Acceptance will occur in two stages: Basic hardware testing will verify the successful integration and quality of all correlator components, while software and firmware acceptance will follow afterwards.

Monitor and Control Systems: The executor and correlator will be updated to support the testing and implementation of the 3-bit samplers in Q1 and will be updated to support the phasing of the EVLA in Q1 through Q2. Complete support of multiple subarrays will be implemented in Q2, which will require updates to the executor, TelCal, MCAF, and the correlator. The executor and correlator software will be updated to enable the testing of special modes such as 7-bit correlation, auto-correlations, pulsar binning and gating, burst mode, and radar mode, in Q4.

Science Support Systems: The Science Support System software development goals for the EVLA construction project are covered in detail by OSO. The key milestones will be to update the Observation Preparation Tool with the capabilities to be offered for the start of EVLA full operations in Q4 for testing, and to deliver pipeline-processed EVLA OSRO data to users in Q4.

Table 4.3: EVLA Construction Major Milestones FY 2012 Program Project Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 4th cryogenic system installation 1 Antennas Ku-band feeds 2 L-Band receiver 3 S-Band receiver 4 Front End Systems X-Band receiver 5 Ku-Band receiver 6 LO/IF Modules 7 Fiber Optic System 3-bit, 4Gsps digitizers 8 9 Correlator WIDAR 10 3-bit support 11 Monitor & Control Phased EVLA 12 Sub-arrays 13 Science Support OPT 14 Syst. Pipeline 15

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Milestones: 9. 3-bit compliant DTS modules fully 1. Complete integration deployed 2. Last 5 Ku-band feeds delivered and 10. WIDAR formally accepted tested 11. 3-bit testing and commissioning 3. Complete installation supported in executor and correlator 4. Complete installation 12. Phased EVLA supported in executor 5. Complete installation of 26th X- and correlator Band receiver 13. Sub-arrays supported in executor, 6. Complete installation of 26th Ku- TelCal, MCAF, and correlator Band receiver 14. Test version of the OPT available with 7. 3-bit mode compliant capabilities to be advertised for full downconverter modules fully operations deployed 15. Pipeline-processed EVLA/OSRO data 8. 3-bit compliant DTS modules delivered to users installed in 8 antennas (or equivalent) for C configuration

Table 4.4: Financial & FTE Projection, EVLA Construction Project

Note: unallocated funds in the EVLA Construction Project represent the project contingency reserve that will be used, as required, to address items in the project risk register. The FTE projection comprises only effort on the EVLA Construction budget. The original EVLA Construction plan included distribution of all funding for the project from NSF by FY2011; earlier than the project end date. Therefore, all funds in FY 2012 are carryover. A full description of all activity under Education and Public Outreach on behalf of the EVLA is shown in Section 6.1.

Other Performance and Capability Enhancements

New “Low-Band” Receivers: The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is paying for a new low-frequency receiver system to replace the old 74 MHz and 327 MHz VLA receivers, which do not work well with the EVLA electronics. The new system will also take advantage of the much wider bandwidths available with EVLA and the improved interference environment below 85 MHz, created by the elimination of the low frequency analog TV channels. Twenty-one receivers are funded to be built with NRL money, and 7 from the NRAO FY 2011 Operations budget. The critical 230470 MHz part of the package is being constructed with a CDL custom-designed, room temperature amplifier. NRL is providing the circuit board design. Testing is expected to start on the first receivers on EVLA antennas Q1 FY 2012, with the goal of first RSRO observations Q4 FY 2012.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 25

Table 4.5: EVLA Low-Band Receivers Major Milestones FY 2012 Program Project Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Notes First receivers 1 Documentation 2 Low-Band Receivers LNA construction 3 First RSRO observations 4 Milestones: 3. Complete LNA construction (56 units delivered from CDL to NM 1. First functional receivers in the array (4 units) Ops) 2. Deliver low-band receiver performance 4. First observations using the low-band system under the Resident documentation to NRL (CDR) Shared Risk Observing program

Table 4.6: Financial & FTE Projections, EVLA Low-Band Receivers Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Funding (non-programmatic)

The FTE projection comprises only the effort on non-programmatic budgets.

Operations

Table 4.8: Financial & FTE Projection, EVLA Operations

4.3 Very Long Baseline Array

During FY 2011 the upgraded VLBA started producing first scientific results at a record rate of 2 Gbps on all 10 VLBA antennas, with successful tests at the GBT and Arecibo as well. FY 2012 will see the full capabilities of the 2 Gbps Sensitivity Upgrade made available for use by all astronomers once the Digital Downconverter (DDC) has been fully deployed and the final components of the Sensitivity Upgrade equipment are installed. New, wide-band 4–8 GHz receivers will make accessible the 6.7 GHz methanol line, along with sensitivity improvements. The partnership with the USNO for $1M per year for NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 26

operating expenses will begin in FY 2012, in exchange for which NRAO will provide 1.5 hours of observing per day using Pie Town and Mauna Kea to the USNO for rapid determination of UT1UTC. One other Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) has been signed, and several other MOAs are currently being negotiated, with the goal of obtaining a further $500k in external operating funds by FY 2013.

In FY 2012, VLBA operations will continue to emphasize key science projects, especially those making use of the unique astrometric capabilities of the instrument. FY 2010 saw the beginning of two very large astrometric VLBA key science projects that will extend through FY 2012 and beyond. One of these aims to perform astrometry on masers associated with star forming regions; the other performs astrometry on young stars themselves. Predecessors to these experiments have already yielded many important results with direct impact on the understanding of star formation and on the size and shape of the Milky Way Galaxy. These large projects and many others will exploit the unmatched astrometric performance (10 as, in some cases) of the array. VLBA astrometry of stars in the Pleiades will resolve a long standing debate over the distance to this cluster, which is important in calibrating the stellar distance ladder. Astrometric distances to galaxies within the Hubble flow that host water megamasers, based on Keplerian disk dynamics, will lead to an improved value of the Hubble constant while also yielding measurements of the central black hole masses.

The DiFX software correlator has been upgraded to allow simultaneous correlation at hundreds of phase centers at the expense of only a few-fold increase in correlator run time. For the first time, this will allow true “survey science” to be carried out at VLBI resolution. Hundreds or thousands of detected galaxies in various multi-wavelength deep fields (e.g., the Chandra Deep Field South and the Lockman Hole) will be examined for VLBI-scale counterparts. While this capability will be introduced this year at other VLBI centers that use software correlators, the identical antenna elements of VLBA make it the most compelling instrument for such surveys.

The use of the VLBA as a collection of single dishes for receiving radar echoes from near-earth asteroids has increased in potency. The ability for the DiFX correlator to form spectra with very high resolution (2 Hz) has allowed the spin axis of these asteroids to be determined. Because of the coupling of an asteroid’s spin to its trajectory via the YORP and Yarkovsky effects the spin state is important to know for assessment if impact hazard in future flybys.

The VLBA correlator has been augmented with a transient detection system (V-FASTR) that looks for simultaneous events at multiple widely separated antennas. Early in FY 2012 the pipeline associated with this project will be fully active. All data processed in Socorro will be examined for interesting astrophysical events. The pipeline also offers to provide useful diagnostic information about the state of health of the VLBA antennas that can be fed back to operations.

Performance and Capability Enhancements

VLBA Sensitivity Upgrade (Media Upgrade and Bandwidth Expansion) Project: The VLBA originally began operating at a sustained bandwidth of 32 MHz (128 Mbps). During FY 2010 the default sustainable rate was increased to 512 Mbps, exhausting the bandwidth headroom of our current back-end equipment. Over the last 3 years non-NSF (Lockheed-Martin GBT track settlement) funds have been used to develop the ROACH Digital Backend (RDBE) and Mark5C recorder designs to replace the existing samplers, data formatter, and Mark5A recorders at the VLBA stations. This will allow an eventual recording rate of 8 Gbps. A NSF MRI-R2 grant funded the major procurement of disk media that has made the new 2 Gbps data rate a reality. FY 2012 will see full transition away from the legacy backend once the DDC capability is fully deployed and available for use by astronomers, Q3. The final components of VLBA Sensitivity Upgrade equipment (a second digital back end and Ethernet switching

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 27

capability) will be installed at all sites by the of Q4. These milestones will allow the Mark5A recorders at each VLBA station to be brought back to Socorro for expansion of playback capacity. Otherwise, only minor changes to the software and hardware of the VLBA DiFX correlator in support of this transition will likely be required.

VLBA C-band Upgrade Project: The C-band receivers on the 10 VLBA antennas are being upgraded from a tuning range of 4.6 to 5.1 GHz to a full octave 4 to 8 GHz. This importantly includes the 6.7 GHz transition of methanol, which will allow mapping of the star forming regions of the Galaxy with unprecedented precision. In addition to expanding the tuning range, this project will support a dual-IF mode for wide-spanned-bandwidth astrometry. Further, the new receivers have increased sensitivity and polarization purity and thus will see increased utility in a very large range of science applications. This project will be completed FY 2012 Q4, with first science capability with the new tuning range expected with 5 upgraded antennas in Q3.

Table 4.9: VLBA Development Major Milestones

FY 2012 Program Project Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 A Second digital backend will be installed at all 10 Sensitivity 1 sites Upgrade Digital downconverter personality 2 Early science with 5 upgraded C-band receivers 3 C-Band Upgrade Complete C-band Project 4 Milestones: 3. Full tuning range available for new C-band receivers at 5 1. Deployment and engineering verification – sites including cross-correlation complete at 10 sites 4. C-Band system deployment and engineering verification 2. First scientific observations with the DDC – including cross-correlation complete at 10 sites personality

Table 4.10: Financial & FTE Projections, VLBA Development Projects

The FTE projection comprises only the effort on non-programmatic budgets.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 28

Operations

FY 2012 will see changes to the VLBA operational model. A successful VLBA stakeholders meeting in January 2011 brought together many key users and partners. The VLBA users strongly rejected the concept of mothballing of any VLBA antennas that would have helped curb costs. Fortunately, pledges (and, at the time of writing, one signed MOA) for additional operation funding resulted. To recognize the support of these external partners and to increase the global effectiveness of VLBI, we expect to see the formation of a new consortium with scientific governance of a portion of VLBA observing time, and increased access to the VLBA for contributing members. Starting in FY 2012 some other changes to increase the cost effectiveness of the VLBA will be put in place. A RSRO program similar to that of the EVLA will be established that aims to attract cutting edge users to visit Socorro for a minimum of two months to work with VLBA staff to commission new observing capabilities. We will also begin requiring our heaviest users to send collaborators to Socorro to help with data quality assurance.

For purposes of safety and reliability, each VLBA site is staffed with two technicians even though, on average, operation of the sites requires less than 2 FTEs. Any spare time available to the site technicians is used for construction and maintenance work that would otherwise need to be done in Socorro. This capability will continue to be exploited during FY 2012. Some additional streamlining will be implemented in VLBA operations including cross-training of operators and analysts, and improvements to automation of tasks. Finally, an MOA is being developed with the Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) to assume part of the operating cost of the Mauna Kea VLBA antenna. A growing collaboration between NRAO and ASIAA will increase the scientific and technical involvement of NRAO in mm and sub-mm VLBI, to include ALMA as the biggest potential contributor to a highly sensitive VLBI array at these frequencies.

Table 4.11: Financial & FTE Projections, VLBA Operations

Note: $1.1M of the VLBA Operations budget for FY 2012 comes from contributions from the U.S. Naval Observatory and Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (see “Partnerships” below), so the net new NSF funds used to operate the VLBA in FY 2012 is ~$4M.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 29

Partnerships

The partnership with the USNO for $1M annually in operating expenses will begin in Q1, with money to help cover FY 2012 operations. Starting October 1, NRAO will be providing 1.5 hours of observing per day using PT and MK to the USNO for rapid determination of UT1UTC (Q1).

The VLBA stakeholder meeting in January 2011 yielded several other potential MOAs that would establish annual operations funding for a 5 year period. A MOA has since been signed with the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory for $100k per year to support VLBA operations. Potential agreements are in active development between NRAO and the Max Planck Institut fur Radioastronomie (MPIfR), ASIAA, and Australia’s Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Astronomy and Space Sciences (CASS), with an MOA also possible between NRAO and National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). Collectively NRAO hopes to receive contributions in excess of $500k per year from these partners to help defray VLBA operating costs.

During FY 2012 NRAO will build a working DiFX software correlator for the USNO to replace its aging Mark4 hardware correlator. The design will be based on the successful NRAO DiFX correlator currently used with the VLBA, and NRAO has already been working with USNO to develop a prototype correlator suitable for their needs. The specifications for the new USNO DiFX correlator will be completed in Q1, FY 2012, at which point the project costing and funding from USNO will also be defined and agreed upon. The correlator will be delivered to USNO in Q4.

4.4 Green Bank Telescope

Overview

The GBT is the world’s premiere single-dish radio telescope operating at meter to millimeter wavelengths. Its enormous 100-meter diameter collecting area, unblocked aperture, and excellent surface accuracy provide unprecedented sensitivity across the telescope's full 0.1 - 116 GHz operating range, a larger frequency (energy) range than any other radio telescope. The GBT is fully steerable, and 85% of the entire celestial sphere is accessible. Its operation is highly efficient, and it is used for astronomy approximately 6500 hours every year. Part of the scientific strength of the GBT is its flexibility and ease of use, allowing for rapid response to new scientific ideas. It is scheduled dynamically to match project needs to the available weather. The GBT is also readily reconfigured with new and experimental hardware, adopting the best technology for any scientific pursuit. The high sensitivity mapping capability of the GBT makes it an essential complement to ALMA, the EVLA, the VLBA, and other high angular resolution interferometers. Facilities of the Green Bank facility are also used for other scientific research, as well as for an extensive array of programs in education and public outreach, and for the training of scientific and engineering students and teachers.

The GBT is a unique and powerful telescope, used by hundreds of visiting scientists each year. The telescope’s strength is its flexibility, sensitivity, and sky coverage, allowing for rapid response to new and innovative scientific ideas over three decades of frequency. Its discoveries have a high impact. Although the most important science may come from projects not yet conceived, there are a number of key science areas in which the GBT will excel over the coming decade. The GBT over the next 10-20 years will contribute to our understanding in areas as diverse as the detection of gravity waves, the formation of stars, galaxies and galaxy clusters, the origin of life, the composition of the planets and their satellites, and the scientific principles that govern the Universe.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 30

The Green Bank facility is a large protected site with laboratories, utilities and support facilities that makes it an attractive location for staging a variety of research experiments. In addition, because of the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) and the West Virginia Radio Astronomy Zone (WVRAZ) it is uniquely protected from many forms of man-made radio frequency interference. For these reasons it is used as the Northern site for the PAPER telescope, the HERA prototype run by a partnership that includes UC Berkeley and the University of Virginia, which also operates an identical array in the Karoo desert of South Africa. The 45-ft telescope, built originally as part of the Green Bank interferometer then transformed into a ground station for the Japanese HALCA satellite, is now functioning as a Solar Radio Burst Spectrometer, providing dynamic spectra of solar radio bursts during daylight hours at Green Bank and giving the FASR team its first data. The 43m telescope is currently operated under contract to MIT Lincoln Labs for ionosphere studies. In addition a number of groups are taking advantage of the site infrastructure for other scientific experiments, such as MEASURE, an array of magnetometers used by West Virginia University and the University of California to study magnetosphere dynamics, and a GPS sensor which is part of the West Virginia Geospatial Information network.

Operations

Green Bank Radio Frequency Interference Mitigation: Cosmic radio signals are easily masked or confused by man-made interference: a cellular telephone on Mars would produce a signal on Earth stronger than most astronomical sources studied with the GBT. The NRAO Green Bank facility is located within two radio frequency interference (RFI) protection zones—the federal NRQZ and the WVRAZ. Together these provide protection against sources of terrestrial interference, a protection which is administered by staff at the Green Bank site. The NRQZ was established in 1958 to minimize possible harmful interference to NRAO's Green Bank Observatory and the radio receiving facilities at the Navy Information Operations Command in Sugar Grove, WV. The NRQZ encloses a land area of approximately 13,000 square miles near the state border between Virginia and WV and protects both sites from all FCC licensed fixed radio transmitters. The West Virginia Radio Astronomy Zone is a 10 mile radius region around the GBT within which the telescope is protected from harmful man-made radio transmissions. Together these provide the GBT and other site telescopes with an invaluable and increasingly rare view into the radio spectrum. Working with colleagues in Sugar Grove, WV, NRAO staff in Green Bank administer all FCC applications within the NRQZ. Similarly, NRAO staff monitors the West Virginia Radio Zone around the GBT, looking for potentially harmful interference and working with the community to find solutions for their needs which do not impinge upon GBT observers.

Operations Upgrades

As outlined above, the majority of the work in GBT operations in FY 2012 will be on-going support and preventative maintenance of the GBT. However there will be a small number of improvements made to ensure the telescope performance remains optimal throughout this period.

Replacement of software libraries for GBT: This work consists of two main activities. (1) NRAO is standardizing on 64-bit architecture for Linux computers and upgrading to a 64-bit Red Hat Enterprise operating system. The GBT Monitor and Control (M&C) system must also be ported to 64-bit consistent with Computing and Information Services’ (CIS) timeline for 64-bit standardization. (2) The GBT M&C system is currently using an out of date Python version. An upgraded version is required in order to leverage a number of library bug fixes, gain access to advanced language features, and facilitate integrations of third party libraries that require a more recent Python version. This work will be completed in FY2012.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 31

Monitor and Control Software upgrade: The data analysis programs for the GBT M&C system are limited to gathering data from the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) files written during an observation. This method of interprocess communication through files is not scalable to the ever increasing data volumes. An upgrade to our data system will make data available directly from the software responsible for data acquisition, allowing observers significantly improved efficiencies while paving the way for improvements to allow massive datasets (100 TBytes or more) to be processed. This work will begin in FY2012.

Installation of multi-color tipper: A multi-color tipper will provide overall improvements for GBT observers, both directly (through calibration efficiency measurements) and indirectly (through improved performance within Precision Telescope Control System (PTCS) and Dynamic Scheduling). In FY 2012 the instrument would be set up for use in expert mode only, allowing the local staff to monitor the information received and use it to better understand the overall weather at the GBT, and the performance and scheduling of the GBT in light of the measured weather conditions. Once understood, we will produce a plan to incorporate the information obtained into the existing observing infrastructure, from scheduling and telescope performance through data calibration.

GBT Receiver Room Upgrades study: There are more receivers than can be fit into the current GBT receiver room. As a result there is significantly decreased scheduling flexibility and severe limitations on projects that can be run concurrently. The GBT is also in need of space for tertiary optics and improved mounting for high frequency receivers. Finally, it is possible that improvements can be made in the overall optics at high (and low) frequencies with an upgrade. In FY 2012 we will undertake a study to determine possible upgrade plans for the receiver room, both their cost and their scientific benefit which will then be evaluated to determine the best path forward for the GBT. This may result in a number of changes and improvements to the existing receiver room.

GBT Development

The GBT was designed to allow ready upgrades and changes to all aspects of its hardware and software. A specialty (or PI-driven) instrument can be installed on the telescope with relative ease, making it feasible for an individual or group of researchers to outfit the telescope to meet their particular science goals. The GBT also has a vigorous development program in collaboration with university groups to take advantage of the latest technology and provide our user community with a constantly improving facility. Development projects will continue through the coming decade and have already led to important discoveries in a number of areas. These include:

 Constraining the Nuclear Equation of State through detection of the most massive neutron star known.  Probing Dark Energy through HI intensity mapping.  Imaging the Large Scale Structure in Galaxy Clusters by creating the highest resolution, most sensitive images of the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect.  Understanding the Solar System through radar maps of the Moon, probing the atmosphere of Titan, and bi-static radar observations of Mercury, Venus and Europa.

As outlined below, the path forward for new discoveries with the GBT is built upon the collaborative development of new instruments which will open new pathways into our understanding of the Universe. All new instrumentation and development for the Green Bank Telescope is built in collaboration with research groups at universities and colleges throughout the country. This not only leverages efforts of Observatory staff and supports University faculty, it provides a valuable training ground for students to become future instrument builders. The program has been highly successful both in training excellent

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 32

scientists and engineers and in providing the instruments necessary to provide the best possible scientific results from the site telescopes.

The GBT has achieved excellent 3 mm capabilities, with a 35% and 18% aperture efficiency at 90 and 115 GHz, respectively. GBT also has a dynamic scheduling system that will optimize the current weather conditions against each observing project’s scientific goals. By the end of FY 2012, the GBT instrument suite will consist of single/dual-pixel receivers from 300 MHz - 92 GHz, a 7-pixel prototype heterodyne focal plane array at 18 - 26 GHz, and a 64-pixel prototype bolometer array at 81 - 98 GHz. Industry- leading signal processing systems for the GBT will include very high dynamic range, state of the art hardware for high time and high frequency resolution observations as well as ability to make very wide bandwidth (≥10GHz) observations for spectral line detection experiments.

Table 4.12: GBT Major Milestones FY 2012

Program Project Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Digital Signal First light with the NSF ATI program funded CICADA Processing back-end 1 2 3 4mm two-pixel receiver for molecular line and VLBA 4 studies complete. Optimized Prototype feed for wideband NANOGrav receiver 5 Single/Dual Pixel complete (CDL). Feeds Broadband receiver covering 12-18 GHz for the detection and study of pulsars in the Galactic Center 6 7 complete. Milestones: 4) 4mm integration into GBT systems complete 1) Single spectrometer, single mode tests with 5) R&D phase completed and budget established GBTcompleted 6) Feed Design completed 2) Shared Risk science operations begin 7) Receiver with new feed 1st light. 3) Eight spectrometers completed in expert mode

Digital Signal Processing: With existing funding from the NSF ATI program the CICADA collaboration is building a new backend for the GBT to replace the existing GBT spectrometer and spectral processor, instruments based on technology more than 20 years old. The new backend will provide vastly improved dynamic range, higher time resolution (for off-line RFI excision and rapid maps), and greatly improved observations of multiple lines through the ability to create high frequency resolution subbands, modes crucial for the exciting GBT astrochemistry studies. The instrument will permit the GBT’s focal plane array instruments to reach their full science potential by providing significantly increased bandwidth for the individual feeds. The instrument will also provide an instantaneous 10 GHz bandwidth vital for both detection of highly redshifted lines such as CO and also for the search for millisecond pulsars in the center of the Milky Way. First light with the instrument will be achieved in FY 2012, however development of further scientific modes for the instrument, as well as its associated data taking and data reduction software, will continue through FY2013.

Camera development: The camera development program is a NRAO collaboration with more than 20 university, college, and industry groups, and is described fully above. The first prototype instruments in this program are already on the GBT—a 64-pixel transition edge sensor (TES) bolometer array (81-98 GHz) and a 7-pixel 18-26 GHz traditional focal plane array. Under the guidance budget, the camera development program will continue primarily through work at the university groups with some additional effort gained through NRAO’s CDL. In FY 2012 all work in this area will be on the R&D front and is fully described in section 5.1 Phased Array Feed.

Optimized Single/Dual Pixel Feeds: In addition to cameras, is it important to develop receiver systems optimized to a given science case which can be rapidly put into operation on the GBT. Currently there

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 33

are three such instruments in development—a 4mm two-pixel receiver for molecular line and VLBA studies, a wide-bandwidth receiver optimized for the NANOGrav Gravitational Wave detection pulsar experiment at 15cm, and a broadband receiver covering 12-18 GHz for the detection and study of pulsars in the Galactic Center. All but the 15cm receiver, which still requires some R&D work, will be completed within FY2012.

Software, Algorithm Development, and High Performance Computing: The NRAO will continue to work with University and other research groups around the world to develop and test new concepts in data intensive computing. The first of these initiatives will be to work with the HDF community to explore and develop new high density data files formats. NRAO will also be working with a number of university and national laboratories to test new visualization software developed for large datasets. In FY 2012 NRAO will continue working with the community to ensure that within five years the GBT will readily be able to store, visualize, and analyze datasets of 50-100 TByte in size. Research and funding efforts for this will be led from outside the NRAO.

Table 4.13: Financial & FTE Projections, GBT Operations

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 34

5. Toward Future Discoveries: Observatory Development and Programs

The ODP drives a forward-looking Observatory-wide R&D program that is aligned with the recommendations of the Astro2010 Decadal Survey and provides the interface to our national and international communities for key partnerships. The ODP contains the CDL and the New Intiatives Office (NIO), which spearhead and coordinate the NRAO development efforts internally and in partnership with US and international community efforts, respectively.

Through the ODP, NRAO will have the intellectual and technical resources with which to nurture and develop new capabilities that will transform the way we do astronomy in the future. The realization of these capabilities will advance astronomical knowledge in areas of intense current interest that can best be studied at radio wavelengths, including gravitational wave detection, cosmic origins (the epoch of reionization), the cosmic distance scale, the history of early galaxy formation, the formation of stars and planets, and fundamental magneto-hydrodynamic physics of the Sun. We expect to demonstrate significant increases in the cost/benefit ratio of telescope electronics, which will make practical the extremely large collecting areas required to reach the ultimate sensitivity needed for transformational science.

ODP uses NRAO staff from all NRAO sites to work on projects in a way that best matches technical capability to project requirements, regardless of the geographic location of the individuals involved. The ODP uses an established process for introducing and evaluating new technical concepts and allowing fair internal competition for resources, based on scientific merit. The Observatory Science and Technical Council (OSTC) helps set development priorities across the Observatory to ensure that the most scientifically promising ideas and partnerships are pursued. The ODP maintains a prioritized list of instrument development projects across all telescopes, and thus is well positioned to take advantage of any additional funding opportunities that might arise.

Table 5.1: Financial & FTE Projections, ODP

5.1 Coordinated Development Laboratory

In FY 2011, the Coordinated Development Laboratory, a renamed and expanded Central Development Lab, established processes for introducing and evaluating new technical concepts and allowing fair

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competition for resources governed by strategic priorities. In FY2012, the CDL will continue to manage development required by new projects until the major problems are solved, and risks are understood and mitigated to an acceptable level, enabling project managers to reasonably scope funding and implementation using standard management techniques. The CDL is a constituent part of the ODP so that scientists, engineers, and technologists across the NRAO can participate in long-term development regardless of final instrument location. A key mission of the CDL is to develop technologies necessary for the long-range objectives of the Observatory and advance the state of the art of the technologies required to support the Observatory’s mission. Major development areas include the following.

Phased Array Feed Development: The NRAO has been working with Brigham Young University (BYU) via NSF funding for 9 years on RFI mitigation and beam-forming arrays. The BYU-NRAO team first successfully demonstrated high-efficiency beam forming with an uncooled 19-element array on the 20- meter Green Bank telescope. Now in development is a 19-element, dual polarization cryogenic array on the GBT for initial 300-MHz bandwidth spectral line and pulsar science, including a prototype digital data link between the GBT receiver room and the GB lab, development of a low-profile receiver module that will digitize the signals at the array receiver box, and development of beam-forming firmware for the CASPER field-programmable gate array (FPGA) system. In FY2012, the first tests of a fully cryogenic receiver will be done. The three-year goal is a 37-element cryogenic array on the GBT with system temperature less than 25 K.

Advanced Receiver Technology Development: The extreme demands of SKA and focal plane arrays on receiver cost, weight, size and power consumption requires entirely new receiver architectures. Following a path outlined in an Astro2010 whitepaper, the CDL has embarked on the development of an integrated receiver beginning at the antenna feed terminals or waveguide and ending in a digital data stream that can go to any number of signal processing back-ends. This signal will be digitized very close to the antenna output and sent via optical fiber to the central processing facility. Hardware polarizers and polarization splitters will be largely replaced by much more accurate digital signal processing, and multiple frequency conversions will be replaced by a single sideband separating mixer with high isolation, and stable digital sideband separation. Excellent progress was made in FY 2011, and the first practical receiver (for 1.7-2.4 GHz) will be completed and tested on the GBT in FY 2012.

Low-noise Cryogenic Amplifier Development: The CDL will continue to investigate the relative merits of the Heterostructure Field Effect Transistor (HFET) and the Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT). The HFET has been the workhorse for cryogenic receivers and will continue to offer the lowest receiver noise up 100 GHz. HBT amplifiers can, in principle, offer an order of magnitude lower 1/f-like gain fluctuations, improving continuum radiometer sensitivity, and they show promise to offer the greatest bandwidth-sensitivity combination below a few GHz. The first cryogenic phased array feed will use HBTs obtained from Caltech. The CDL will also continue the redesign process, if needed, to improve the manufacturability of EVLA amplifiers. Complementary work on HFETs in MMIC designs is also underway with very promising results.

MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit) Development: MMIC devices, long used at room temperature in many types of electronics, will provide the means for large-scale Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) production in the future. In this approach, all circuit elements are combined onto a single macro- scale chip instead of one-at-time under a microscope. This chip, typically a few millimeters in dimension, is simply glued into a metal block and wire-bonded to interface circuits in a few hours rather than a few days. Attempts have been made for the last two decades to develop MMIC amplifier chips that can be successfully cooled to cryogenic temperatures. In the last few years, some success has been seen, and we will pursue this technology vigorously. A few devices have now been demonstrated to match the

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sensitivity of the chip-and-wire amplifiers made using the best-ever wafers of previous decades, such as the “Cryo3” wafer run at TRW in 1998.

Some MMIC chips for the frequency range 60-95 GHz were manufactured in 2009 by Northrop Grumman Space Technology (NGST, successor to TRW) in a collaborative project with JPL and CalTech and show great promise, with achieved noise temperatures that are among the very best ever recorded for this frequency range. In FY2011 a new 35nm InP HEMT wafer run was completed and is under test at the time of writing. Several samples from the new wafer of three different designs have been delivered for packaging and testing. These include two wideband 68-116 GHz designs and one improved 67-90 GHz design. LNAs using the first iteration of the 67-90 GHz design were delivered to GB for use in the new GBT 4mm receiver. Work will continue in FY2012 to develop a practical means of building arrays requiring very large numbers of cryogenic receivers, in order to meet the science objectives at an affordable cost. This work has broad application across nearly all fields of astrophysics.

Mm and Sub-mm Technology R&D: The electromagnetic spectrum above 1THz is extremely rich and highly rewarding for molecular radio astronomy if sensitive wideband heterodyne detectors can be developed. Recent developments in devices, materials, and fabrication technology suggest that nearly quantum-limited sensitivity with greater than 10 GHz bandwidth should be possible in the next decade. The new technology will be suitable for focal-plane and phased-array receivers as well as conventional single element receivers and interferometers. In 2009, the NSF approved an NRAO proposal to fund the University of Virginia Microfabrication Laboratory (UVML) for the production of replacement Nb/Al-oxide/Nb SIS mixer chips for ALMA and, in collaboration with the CDL, to develop NbTiN SIS mixers for frequencies above 700 GHz. In FY 2011, defects in some commercial fabrication apparatus resulted in contamination which has delayed obtaining good junctions; this is now under control, and fabrication runs have begun again. In FY 2012, the first experimental high-frequency devices will be mounted and tested at the CDL and then sent to the University of Arizona for receiver integration and first light on a telescope. It complements the continuum and relatively narrow band spectral line capabilities of bolometer detectors and will have use in ALMA, SOFIA, balloon-borne experiments, and possibly spacecraft in the future.

Digital Signal Processing: Essentially all new instrumentation development requires advanced digital signal processing (DSP), and in many cases DSP development is a dominant part of the project. NRAO has been a key member of the CASPER (Center for Astronomical Signal Processing and Electronics Research) Consortium for some time, and has built up a substantial expertise in this area. In addition, NRAO is collaborating with the CASPER community to develop fully reconfigurable computing; using FPGAs, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and multi-core, clustered Central Processing Units (CPUs) to provide signal processing capability in the most flexible and cost-effective way. Examples of recent and current DSP development include the new Green Bank Ultimate Pulsar Processing Instrument (GUPPI) pulsar searching / timing backend that is essential to reaching the goals of NANOGrav to detect nano- Hz gravitational wave background, the new GBT Spectrometer, and the VLBI Digital Backend. FY 2012 projects will include wide-bandwidth beam-formers for phased array feeds and high-speed digital links that will enable large numbers of data channels to be efficiently transmitted from the telescope focus to central processing stations. This technology will also be a vital component of PAPER and FASR.

As noted in Section 2, as a key part of NANOGrav, the GBT has the potential to enable the first direct detection of gravitational waves through pulsar timing. One limitation on pulsar timing accuracy is the removal of interstellar dispersion delay which varies with time. Wider instantaneous bandwidth allows more accurate dispersion removal. As a collaboration between NRAO and Caltech, we propose to build a new feed/receiver/backend which will cover the optimum frequency range of 0.6-2.3 GHz for best

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timing precision at the higher frequencies and maximum simultaneous dispersion sensitivity at the low end of this band.

The first stage of this project will be a wideband (0.5 - 3 GHz) feed and receiver. This will be based on a scaled version of a 2 - 12 GHz feed developed by A. Akgiray at Caltech, modified to match the GBT optics. During FY 2012 a prototype feed will be developed to demonstrate that it can deliver the wideband sensitivity comparable to the existing separate 820MHz and 1.4 GHz GBT systems. Once the feed and receiver development is in hand, the necessary signal processing requirements will be addressed by extending the bandwidth of the GBT's GUPPI pulsar backend by porting its basic design to the more capable CASPER ROACH2 FPGA board and the latest GPU processors.

Electromagnetic Devices Development: In FY 2012, new developments will include advanced electromagnetic devices such as feeds, reflectors, vacuum windows, polarizers, ortho-mode transducers, and waveguide hybrids for initiatives such as GBT focal plane horn arrays and the THz heterodyne receiver technology development.

CDL Production, Maintenance and Repair Activity

HFET Amplifiers Production: The CDL Amplifier Group will deliver new and upgraded amplifiers to EVLA and provide amplifier repair and maintenance support to the GBT and the VLBA in FY 2012. The last of 22 new C-band (4-8 GHz) amplifiers will be delivered to the VLBA and the last of 56 new P-band (230- 470 MHz) room temperature amplifiers to the EVLA. EVLA spares production will commence.

Electromagnetic Devices Production: Production and testing of feeds, phase shifters, and OMTs in support of EVLA construction will conclude in FY 2012.

5.2 Key Partnerships: New Initiatives Office

The NIO pursues, develops, and manages strategic partnerships and collaborations with academic, government, and non-profit organizations. Among the core NIO activities envisioned for FY 2012 are managing and expanding the partnerships to sustain the scientific operations and unique technical capabilities of the VLBA and GBT. As described below, these partnerships will include the USNO, the MPIfR, ASIAA, CSIRO, and International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), and the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO). Observatory partnerships with other sister observatories in China are also likely to evolve during this period.

NIO is also charged with establishing collaborations with community groups in order to respond to the recommendations of the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, and helping to realize the Survey’s science recommendations during the coming decade in partnership with the astronomy community. In FY 2012 NIO will convene and lead a community workshop to begin developing an updated and sharply focused science case for a new instrument that would build upon the capabilities of existing and emerging world- class centimeter wave radio telescopes, and would begin to take shape in the decade of the 2020s. A second workshop, intended to establish an ongoing community structure to identify and develop the technologies critical to engineer and construct such a new instrument, is also planned.

Specific areas in which NIO expects to play an active role during FY2012 include:

Further Partnerships to Support the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA): The 2006 NSF Senior Review recommended that the VLBA close by FY 2011 unless outside partners able to support 50% of the array’s direct operating costs could be found. This recommendation required NRAO to raise

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approximately $3M per year from non-NSF sources, and had NASA not backed out of an agreement to contribute $2M for VLBA operations in exchange for spacecraft tracking services, this goal would have been met in FY 2011.

The budgetary shortfall created by NASA’s withdrawal was a major factor prompting a workshop held at NRAO in January 2011 that brought together many major U.S. and international VLBA stakeholders to assess the present scientific state of VLBI and to consider possible paths forward for the VLBA. The meeting emphatically affirmed the diversity and cutting-edge nature of current VLBI research, and made it clear that there is a strong, broadly based desire in the international community to keep the VLBA operating as a 10-antenna array.

A number of pledges of support for VLBA operations were received during the January VLBA meeting and several agreements for external funding of the VLBA have already been signed. Beginning in FY 2012, the USNO will provide $1M per year over 5 years towards VLBA operations in exchange for daily 1.5 hour observations that use the Mauna Kea and Pie Town antennas; the observations enable the rapid determination of UT1-UTC, a key parameter describing the spin phase of the earth that is required to maintain the integrity of the GPS reference frame. One of three agreements signed in May 2011 with SHAO will provide at least $100k per year in VLBA operations support over the next 5 years, with the intention of increasing this to at least $200k per year within the next year or two. NRAO anticipates that additional external support for VLBA operations will begin in FY 2012: CSIRO and ICRAR have pledged $125k per year toward VLBA operations for at least the next two years, the MPIfR is actively seeking $200k per year for five years from the Max Planck Foundation in order to support VLBA operations (thus extending its long-standing VLBA partnership with NRAO), and ASIAA is in the process of assuming partial support for the operation of one of the VLBA sites at a level equivalent to approximately $200k per year. During FY2012, NRAO will seek to broaden the scope of its VLBA partnership with the USNO (by providing a duplicate of the DiFX correlator, and which may lead to an ongoing support contract) and will continue to pursue a VLBA support partnership with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. NRAO also plans to reopen discussions with NASA in FY2012 aimed at establishing a long-term agreement to support spacecraft tracking, navigation and data downlinks with the VLBA, the GBT, and, possibly, other antennas at the Green Bank site.

ALMA VLBI: NRAO is a participant with an international collaboration in a proposal for coherently phasing all dishes in the ALMA facility, allowing the array to operate effectively as a large single aperture. This additional functionality will allow ALMA to address scientific questions of broad impact and provides a singularly high-resolution, high-sensitivity new observational capability to the global astronomy community. In conjunction with other (sub)mm wavelength facilities, a phased ALMA will serve as the high sensitivity anchor for (sub)mm VLBI arrays capable of resolving super massive black holes on Schwarzschild radius scales. The proposal effort is led by Haystack Observatory.

Partnerships with Sister Observatories in China: As noted above, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between NRAO and SHAO during FY2011, initiating a broad array of scientific and technical collaborations; activities include plans for staff and student personnel exchanges, as well as a number of front- and backend system procurements from NRAO which SHAO hopes to make for its new 65m radio telescope currently under construction. A provisional Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to procure a dual-polarization cooled 6-cm receiver from NRAO was signed as part of the in May 2011 agreement package. This arrangement is contingent upon NRAO’s securing the approval of the U.S. government to export a low-noise radio astronomical receiver to China. The complex process of obtaining the necessary approvals began in June 2011, and is expected to continue into FY 2012. As a general matter, the fluid nature of US export regulations as they apply to China, as well as the increasing formalization of the US export approval processes over the past decade or so, make it clear that a

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broad program of export compliance will need to be instituted by NRAO if the ambitious procurement program sought by SHAO and a number of other institutions in the PRC is to start successfully and flourish. Such a program will be developed by NIO during FY 2012 once the initial SHAO export approval is obtained.

An MOU similar to the SHAO-NRAO was previously signed with the National Astronomical Observatory of China (NAOC) in 2008. Under that umbrella agreement, there have been ongoing discussions of possible specific scientific, and engineering collaborations between NRAO and the FAST 500-meter telescope project. Discussions aimed at developing specific collaborations are expected to continue during FY2012. Finally, there is also a possibility that a very large (~110 m diameter) radio telescope may be begun by the Urumqi Observatory group in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. If so, a collaborative arrangement between the Urumqi group and NRAO is likely to be sought.

Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR): The ultrabroadband (0.05 - 21 GHz) FASR imaging array will be the most powerful radioheliograph in the world. Composed of three complementary sets of antennas, the instrument is intended to image radio emission from the middle chromosphere to the outer corona in three dimensions once every second, providing unique measurements of the Sun’s coronal magnetic fields, of magnetic energy release and particle acceleration in solar flares, and chromospheric and coronal heating. FASR will make significant contributions to understanding the physics of space weather, as well as contributing to monitoring and forecasting space weather phenomena, and will be a facility for the solar and space physics community.

From the outset the FASR project was conceived as a partnership between NRAO and multiple universities under AUI management, with NRAO providing scientific and technical expertise as well as project management. Astro2010 ranked FASR highly as a mid-scale project, reinforcing the top recommendation from the independent solar and space physics decadal survey. Moreover, Astro2010 recommended that the NSF develop the Mid-Scale Innovations Program as a means of funding projects like FASR, a project characterized by the Astro2010 as “compelling.” FASR is now at a level of readiness that will enable it to ramp up to the construction project quickly; the construction project has a nominal duration of five years but the project can respond flexibly to fiscal realities, building out as quickly, or gradually, as budgets permit.

Current plans call for the development of a full FASR construction proposal during FY 2012, a process that NIO will facilitate.

NANOGrav: Though predicted by Einstein’s 1916 theory of General Relativity, gravitational radiation— energy propagated at the speed of light via waves in space-time—has not yet been directly detected. One detection approach—using masses suspended in vacuo and measuring their displacement with precision laser interferometers to detect the passage of a gravity wave—is approaching fruition with the upgrade of NSF’s LIGO facility. Another, complimentary technique proposed to the Astro2010 Decadal Survey by the NANOGrav envisions using the naturally occurring population of millisecond precision pulsars in the Galaxy as “clocks” that could detect very low frequency gravitational waves.

The Decadal Survey’s strong endorsement of the NANOGrav consortium’s science goals has reinforced NRAO support for the development of technologies critical to the NANOGrav mission. These activities will continue in FY2012, and over the next several years, it is expected that NRAO telescopes will be used as test beds for these technologies, as well as primary platforms in pursuit of NANOGrav science. FY2012 is expected to see considerable enhancement of the NANOGrav consortium’s activities and organization, activities which NIO is prepared to support as necessary.

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PAPER-HERA: Characterizing “Cosmic Dawn”—the emergence of the very first stars and their host galaxies from the fabric of the largely featureless infant Universe—is one of the key scientific goals recommended by the Astro2010 Decadal Survey. The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Arrays (HERA) roadmap presented to the Survey one strategy for reaching that goal, proposing to build out a staged sequence of increasingly powerful radio arrays to unveil and parameterize in increasing detail the physical processes that led to the contemporary Universe. This roadmap was strongly endorsed by Astro2010, in part because of its scientific focus, and in part because it is to be heavily leveraged through partnerships and proposes to build upon existing world-class radio astronomical infrastructure.

PAPER, the Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization, a partnership between NRAO and scientists at UC-Berkeley, the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, and Curtin University in Australia, is one of two HERA-I class instruments cited as currently under development. In June 2011, PAPER completed its expansion to a 64-antenna array at its South African site, and the PAPER collaboration’s request for $4.5M from NSF to expand the 64-element array into 128 elements, in order to attempt a detection of an EOR signature, was also approved in FY2011. NRAO intends to continue to act as a major institutional partner in PAPER/HERA and on behalf of the U.S. astronomy community will to continue to lend its technical and managerial expertise to facilitate the ongoing success of the PAPER/HERA program.

Lunar Radio Astronomy: The NRAO has been collaborating with the University of Colorado and others in the Lunar University Node for Astrophysics Research (LUNAR) program. LUNAR involves development of concepts for performing astrophysics using the Moon as the observing platform for low-frequency cosmology and astrophysics, gravitational physics and lunar structure, and radio heliophysics. NRAO participation will include the development of concepts for low frequency receiving antennas and a refinement of the science case while defining the corresponding instrument requirements.

During the past year, activities have been centered on the Dark Ages Radio Explorer (DARE) mission, a lunar orbiter concept designed to detect the strongly-redshifted (40-120 MHz) emission of primordial hydrogen atoms at the end of the so-called Dark Ages, a time when the Universe was less than 200 Myr old and the first stars were beginning to light up. An initial funding proposal to NASA, in which NRAO participated, was submitted in February 2009 and was reviewed in mid FY 2011. If the proposed program is successful in moving toward the construction phase, the Observatory expects to play a key role in the design and fabrication of the DARE satellite’s radio antennas and radio receivers.

The NRAO SKA Program Office in the U.S. Post-SKA Era; The North American Array: NSF’s decision to forego support for U.S. participation in the SKA project for the remainder of the decade along with the subsequent decision of the US SKA Consortium to dissolve itself at the end of CY 2011 offer an opportunity for U.S. radio astronomy to take a fresh look at the case for new cm-wave instruments. In FY 2012 NRAO intends to begin to lead the development of a new and sharply focused science case to logically build upon and extend the capabilities of the Observatory’s existing world-class EVLA and VLBA telescopes. This emerging concept, the North American Array, is envisioned as a logical, scientifically- driven evolution of the EVLA and VLBA that will begin to take shape in the decade of the 2020s, and as noted above, NIO intends to organize at least two workshops in FY 2012 to initiate a community-wide scientific and technical planning process.

Discussions between the NRAO and the US SKA Consortium during FY 2010 and FY 2011 led to a provisional agreement co-written by NIO that NRAO will help manage the Dish Verification Antenna (DVA-1) project of the US SKA Consortium’s Technical Development Project (TDP); the Observatory would also host the test antenna at the EVLA site. If this arrangement goes forward (it is subject to NSF

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approval of TDP funding), NRAO management activities would probably begin in late 2011and would continue into FY 2012.

MeerKAT: The NRAO collaboration with the South African SKA Project Office (SASPO) includes an engineer and scientist exchange program that will continue in FY 2012. This collaboration has fostered the adoption of NRAO’s CASA package as MeerKAT’s post-processing software, and has led to algorithm development in South Africa that is expected to be also applicable to EVLA and ALMA. Current plans call for that program to become more structured and formalized beginning in FY 2012.

SOFIA Second-Generation Instrumentation: In early FY2012 NRAO will submit a proposal to NASA to build a second-generation receiver for SOFIA. While the proposed instrumental concept is still in a somewhat fluid state, it is likely to be a small array receiver based on NbTiN/AlN/NbTiN SIS mixers and covering the 1200-1500 GHz range. Such a receiver would offer an increase in mapping speed of at least a factor of 100 over current SOFIA instrumentation in this frequency range and would be aimed at observing rotational transitions of the many simple hydride molecules that are now known to be abundant in the dense interstellar medium. Because these THz transitions dominate the cooling of the warm ISM, they play a crucial role in determining the structure and evolution of molecular cloud cores and the disks encircling young stellar objects.

If funded, work on the new receiver would likely begin in FY 2012. The 3-year development of the instrument would be synergistic with ALMA development activities.

Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry: Russia’s RadioAstron (Spektr R) satellite successfully launched in July 2011. In FY 2012, following on-orbit checkout, it is expected that the VLBA, GBT, Effelsberg, and Arecibo, as well as several ground-based Russian radio telescopes will search for fringes with the spacecraft and will explore its performance on a range of baselines. Following the fringe detection period, we anticipate the continued participation of the GBT, EVLA, and VLBA in the RadioAstron scientific program via the normal NRAO proposal process. The Socorro DiFX correlator and the MPIfR correlator are being prepared to handle data from the space-ground baselines.

The Astro Space Center at Moscow’s Lebedev Physical Institute recently expressed interest to NRAO in establishing a tracking station for RadioAstron at our Green Bank site. The 43m antenna will become available for a new contract in November 2011, and could be readily refurbished. A multiyear usage contract for tracking and downlinking RadioAstron data is currently under consideration.

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6. Broader Impacts: Radio Astronomy and Society

6.1 Radio Astronomy for Everyone: Education and Public Outreach

Astronomy is the most initially accessible science, for everyone can see the sky. It is the science that most touches upon questions that resonate with people’s natural curiosity about the greatest mysteries of existence and origins. Yet the sophisticated tools and techniques of radio astronomy, the research that today’s professional astronomers conduct with them, and the data products that emerge, are not so easy for even people interested in science to immediately grasp.

With record public expenditures being made to equip NRAO’s science users with the best-ever research tools, and profound scientific payoffs anticipated as the EVLA and ALMA come on line and the GBT and VLBA exploit their upgraded capabilities, it is more important than ever that the Observatory enable its ultimate benefactors to enjoy a share of the bounty. American radio astronomy, newly invigorated, can serve as an attractive setting for inspiring and educating learners of all ages and backgrounds in the realms of STEM.

NRAO’s EPO program broadens the impact of and participation in NRAO science and technology by engaging a diverse assortment of the science-interested public, students, and teachers in the adventure of radio astronomy and the enjoyment of its results.

EPO efforts at NRAO are aligned under the Director’s Office (DO) and the financial information for FY2012 EPO activities can be found in Section 7.1. EPO activities are broadly divided into two main categories:

 News & Public Information  STEM Education, consisting of: o Formal Education programs o Informal Education programs (science centers, tours, events)

This plan lays out the major achievements for which EPO will strive during FY 2012. As the year unfolds, however, unanticipated opportunities for leveraged impact will almost certainly reveal themselves. We therefore plan to be flexible enough to take advantage of such opportunities as they present themselves, rather than slavishly adhere to a wholly predetermined series of outcomes. The specifics that follow are thus subject to modification as the year unfolds, with the single inviolable principal being that we will devote our resources for maximum outreach impact.

Major Initiatives

FY2012 will bring two important NRAO milestones:

 The $100 million EVLA construction project will finish, and routine science operation will commence.  The $1.3 billion ALMA project will begin delivering early science results, even as construction of the array hurtles toward its completion in 2013.

NRAO’s EPO office is well positioned to exploit the opportunities these milestones afford for raising public awareness. The recruitment of a 4 FTE media team (writer, multimedia designer, artist/illustrator, and web programmer) was completed in late FY2011, and a new and media-friendly public website NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 43

design was also completed and is now ready to receive content. In addition, a data visualization scientist recently hired by OSO will be available to EPO to spearhead the representation (and interpretation) of radio astronomy data in formats and venues that reach popular audiences.

A third milestone that informs our plan occurs within EPO itself, implementation of our first-ever fee structure for the public tour program at the Green Bank Science Center.

Against that context, we plan the following major outreach initiatives:

EVLA Public Engagement: The EVLA is a huge, first-ever, once-in-a-lifetime leap in capability for one of astronomy’s most successful and storied telescopes. If ever there was a time for the strongest effort we can muster to engage the public in the excitement and promise of the EVLA, and the amazing science it will enable, this is it. So the EVLA will share top-billing (along with ALMA) in EPO’s FY 2012 program. We will:

 Create new descriptive and explanatory web content about the EVLA, including an online virtual tour that will take viewers on an odyssey through the array complex and support facilities in Socorro, including the WIDAR correlator room, an EVLA antenna itself, antenna maintenance and transporter facilities, and Socorro development labs – all hosted on camera by EVLA scientist Rick Perley.  Formulate, publicize and manage an online contest to solicit public suggestions for naming the array (with the final decision resting solely with NRAO), in time for its formal dedication.  Organize a press event and associated materials to coincide with the symposium on EVLA and ALMA early science results at the 2012 AAAS meeting in Vancouver.  Produce and install new, colorful outdoor tour signage for the VLA Walking Tour path.  Make other improvements to the EVLA “visitor experience” (exhibits, introductory film, tour programs, etc.) as such funding as we can obtain enables.  Complete the creation of beautiful, colorful EVLA public release images, and publicize/distribute as widely as such funding as we can obtain enables.  Work with Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) and the EVLA team on a plan to maximally exploit for public awareness the planned formal re-dedication of the array in spring or summer 2012.  Increase promotion of public/student visits to the EVLA Visitor Center and tours as such funding as we can obtain enables.  Promote all of the above activities via our expanding social media presence and in other ways.

ALMA Public Awareness: As early science results emerge, ALMA will begin to be noticed by a public that has largely ignored it. The process by which those results are publically released, particularly with respect to ALMA imagery, will need to be carefully planned and governed, in consultation with our ALMA partners, so that the public’s first impression of what their $1.3 billion just bought isn’t just some short-baseline-derived fuzzy blobs reminiscent of the disastrous first images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

We plan a multi-pronged effort to accrue substantial public attention to ALMA. While the quantity of bullet points that follow is comparable to the EVLA list above, they represent in some cases much larger-impact projects, reflecting the fact that NA ALMA Operations provides the preponderance of funding for the EPO News and Public Information function.

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We will:  Complete production of a one-hour broadcast documentary about ALMA construction and science promise, submitting to PBS for approval and anticipated nationwide HD broadcast in the 2011/2012 broadcast season. This documentary, having captured aspects of ALMA construction that will be completed by the time it is broadcast, will serve as the defacto television record of North America’s contributions to the creation of the array.  Strive for international translation and distribution of the program.  Create rich web content to complement the ALMA documentary, including extended scientist and engineer interviews and profiles, and other background information.  Engage a professional web game developer in the development of a “sim ALMA” online role- playing game targeting middle school-age kids. In this game, players will be responsible for carrying out numerous functions in the array, preparing it for observational requirements that appear in the “queue.” Research (including NSF-funded research) shows that role-playing games are ideal ways of reaching middle schoolers.  Work closely with the international ALMA EPO Working Group to develop and implement plans and procedures for publicizing major ALMA construction milestones (including formal dedication of the facility), and for the release of newsworthy science results.  As noted in the EVLA section above, organize a press event and associated materials to coincide with the symposium on EVLA and ALMA early science results at the 2012 AAAS meeting in Vancouver.  Seek opportunities to publicize ALMA via major publications, broadcast media, and online media.  Promote the resources we create, contribute to, or enable via our expanding social media network.

Green Bank Tour Enhancement: We will implement a fee structure for tourists who wish to take the Green Bank bus tour. (Admission to the Green Bank Science Center will continue to be free, as will tours to school groups.) Since what was formerly free will now cost money, it is important that the product be as good as we can make it. One of the weaknesses of the telescope tour is that visitors are – quite appropriately! – deprived of the ultimate experience of actually going up on the mammoth GBT structure, which is the only way its true scale can be experienced. Another weakness of the general visitor experience at the otherwise wonderful Green Bank Science Center is that some of the exhibits are broken and need repair.

We will:

 Pursue the means to repair and improve GB Science Center exhibits via contracted services  Seek funding and other resources – we already have a 3D HD video camera and are experimenting with it -- to create a new tour film for the GB Science Center in 3D, and equip the GB Science Center auditorium for 3D projection. The time for this is now, as 3D home theater drives the technology down to affordable prices.

Visualization Radio Astronomy Data for the Public: There is a tradition of visualization of radio data in the radio astronomy world that is not conducive to public understanding. Scientists typically employ false color flood-fills (close cousins to contour plots) in radio imagery as a way of presenting a greatly expanded luminosity range compared to the ~100:1 dynamic range of normal print and display media. Since radio observations were traditionally taken in one narrow frequency/color, there was no reason to use color to represent color, when it could be put to use representing an expanded range of brightness.

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The public, struggling as they do with the very notion that radio is light (rather than sound!) doesn’t need this added complexity. Indeed, in this age of the image, the one thing that they can be counted on to grasp – even if they can’t quite articulate it – is that pictures of nature often don’t linearly represent the dynamic luminosity range of nature. (That everyone instinctively knows this explains why nobody shields their eyes when looking at a photograph that happens to have the sun in the frame!)

Nowadays radio astronomy is becoming wide-bandwidth. We’re trading-in the old black-and-white cameras for ones that can capture thousands of colors simultaneously. The science community’s response to having all these colors is to depict color as z-depth in a 3-dimensional cube. This offers intriguing possibilities for depiction of 3D structure in those situations in which spatial displacement can be reasonably inferred from Doppler velocity, but it also adds yet another layer of mystification to data that, for the public, is already intriguingly mysterious in what it can tell us about nature.

In cooperation with OSO, EPO will work with a newly hired data visualization scientist to develop effective approaches to and techniques for displaying and interpreting radio astronomy data for the public, an area in which NRAO is already taking the lead among our ALMA partners. This effort will go way beyond just formulating ways to make “pretty pictures” and will entail:

 Conversion of radio data into formats that can be ingested by mainstream image processing and animation tools (such as Photoshop, After Effects, Maya).  Creation of scripts to embed NRAO science data into public astronomical presentation tools (such as Google Sky, Microsoft World Wide Telescope, Sky-Skan Digital Universe, Evans & Sutherland Digistar, and SCISS Uniview).  Assisting the EPO team with developing accurate public interpretations and descriptions of the data.  Embedding data representations that audiences can, in real-time, manipulate into NRAO public web pages.

Radio SkyNet Junior Scholars: The NRAO’s 20 Meter telescope in Green Bank is currently being renovated and will become the world’s largest remotely controlled radio telescope dedicated to education, as part of the University of North Carolina’s (UNC’s) SkyNet network of (otherwise) optical remotely controlled telescopes. A pending grant request to the NSF’s ITEST program will, if approved, fund the development of a program that will create an educational interface and program for educational use of these telescopes by geographically diverse informal educators. This program will be developed in cooperation with the Yerkes Observatory, UNC, and Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Amplifier of the Year: The Planetarium Community; An enduring strategy within EPO is to seek external amplifiers to boost and disseminate our messages. There are many such networks, developed by others, that can be exploited profitably. We don’t have the resources to tackle them all at once, but can make significant progress within a given year with at least one.

In 2012 the International Planetarium Society will host its biennial conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Planetariums represent a standing army of enthused astronomy evangelists, and they collectively reach some 100,000,000 people world-wide each year. NRAO has hitherto paid them little attention. We will propose a special session at the IPS meeting, entitled The Radio Astronomy Renaissance, in which we will:

 Present a compressed tutorial on radio astronomy basics and the renaissance that our new and newly renovated facilities are bringing to the field

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 Offer special resources and opportunities for further engagement in radio astronomy by planetarians2  Solicit community input into resources, products, and programs that would be of most value to planetarians  Advocate for the incorporation of radio data into commercial digital planetarium visualization systems

News & Public Information – Ongoing Activities

NRAO will continue and augment is long-standing tradition of providing timely information about the Observatory and its users’ science results. We will populate the newly-designed public website with visually enriched information and continue to push social media (principally Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) as a means of ongoing discussion about all manner of interesting ‘tidbits’ among an audience that, while still modest in size, saw impressive growth during 2011.

Disseminating NRAO News: State-of-the-art telescopes produce newsworthy science results. We will:

 Continue news release dissemination via AAS and AAAS channels, and the European Alpha Galileo science news distribution service.  Augment important news releases with media such as videos and animations.  Work closely with the NSF’s Office of Legislative and Public Affairs to achieve additional news recognition.  Experiment with live, on-line press conferences.  Enable discussions about key releases with the public via social media networks.  Conduct press conferences (conditioned upon newsworthy results) at AAS and AAAS meetings.  Translate Spanish language versions of releases via our Chilean office and website.  Format NRAO news for distribution to 225+ museums, planetariums, etc. via the Space Telescope Science Institute’s ViewSpace program.

For sub-newsworthy information that, while not warranting the attention of the general press, is of interest to members of the public who follow the NRAO closely, we will continue to make use of social media (principally Twitter and Facebook) to alert our “fans” to the latest developments, and encourage the online conversations that they enjoy.

Populating NRAO’s New Public Website: During 2011 NRAO completed the design, but not the full implementation, of a new public website that can be unambiguously dedicated to satisfying the interested non-specialist’s thirst for information, meaning, and wonder. In addition to news releases and other items described in the Major Initiatives section above, we will continue as time permits to populate the site with media-rich content to enable first-time and repeat guests of all ages and backgrounds to find aesthetically and intellectually satisfying expositions of the natural phenomena revealed by radio astronomy, and of the facilities, technology, and people involved in the adventure, as well as access to the images and authoritative information written at the layperson’s level. The site will also serve to promote awareness of our in-depth offerings and opportunities, including visits to and tours of our facilities and education programs.

2 Not a typo; a planetarian is a person who works in a planetarium. NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 47

Exploiting the Social Media Phenomenon: A continually growing opportunity for networking with an online audience of tech- and science-savvy enthusiasts is made possible by social media networks. Currently the best potential impact comes through a combination of Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Success is predicated upon generating dialog and conversation, not just posting announcements.

We will continue and amplify its efforts to engage an online lay audience, using Twitter to stimulate chain-reaction “buzz,” Facebook and YouTube to rapidly post new images and videos (and invite targeted guest feedback), and the NRAO website to showcase our science discoveries and high-end media.

Responding to Media Requests: In addition to our own self-initiated projects, we will continue to respond to requests for images, interviews, site tours, expert information, and video footage from the numerous members of the media who include radio astronomy in their own topical stories and productions.

STEM Education (Formal K-12 & Informal)

Formal Education Programs at Green Bank: The Observatory will continue its numerous exemplary education programs in Green Bank, which include:

 The Pulsar Search Collaboratory, an NSF-funded high program in which high school students search for pulsar signatures in GBT data; several students have made genuine discoveries.  The WV Governor’s School for Math and Science, which welcomes 60 gifted, rising 8th graders for in-depth research experiences (subject to continued funding from WV).  National Youth Science Camp Tour, which brings 120 rising college freshmen from every state in the US, plus Puerto Rico, to Green Bank for intensive education.  Educational Research in Radio Astronomy Camp, organized the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill, in which college and high school students visit NRAO for a one-week residential research camp.  Science Institutes for Undergraduate Minority Students – intensive 10-day STEM experiences for undergraduate students from minority-serving colleges and universities, offered during inter- semester break terms (pending receipt of funding).  Numerous schools visit Green Bank for overnight research experiences using the 40 Foot radio telescope dedicated for that purpose.

Formal Education Efforts at the VLA: With the impending re-dedication of the VLA and the anticipated resurgence in public and educator interest, we will continue last year’s efforts to better equip ourselves to offer educational programs to visiting groups. 67 Informal Education via Science Centers, Tours, and Events: NRAO will continue to operate the Green Bank Science Center and the VLA Visitor Center, and to offer special tour opportunities and Open House events at those sites, as well as an Open House event in Charlottesville.

We will also seek events in which we can affordably participate in regions other than those that host our facilities; an example from 2011 is the National Science and Engineering Festival that was held on the National Mall in Washington.

ALMA-Specific EPO Activities in Chile

There are a number of ALMA-specific EPO activities that the NRAO will conduct in Chile, where NRAO supports via NAASC funding an EPO Officer. Activities include continued development and NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 48

maintenance of the Spanish-language nrao.cl website, assistance with logistics on the visit of journalists and film crews from the U.S., and events in Chile for science teachers and students. The EPO Officer will participate in the international ALMA EPO Working Group and will provide information for Chilean media about North America’s contributions to ALMA and other NRAO science achievements.

6.2 Diversity

The NRAO is fully committed to creating a culture and environment that is rich in diversity. The NRAO seeks to have diversity thrive in all aspects of its operations—senior management to site operations—so that its objectives, values, and benefits are readily and continually a part of every NRAO staff member thinking, decisions, and behaviors. We intend to effectively attract, employ, nurture, and retain a diverse workforce that will serve as a role model to other research facilities. In addition, we intend to expand our broader impact initiatives throughout our science community. The NRAO will achieve its diversity objectives in FY 2012 via the initiatives described below. Diversity efforts at NRAO are aligned within Human Resources and the financial information for FY2012 Diversity activities can be found in Section 7.2.

A “Bottom Up” Approach: The NRAO will follow a “bottom up” approach in implementing its diversity strategies and initiatives, as detailed in the AUI Broadening Participation Plan. NRAO will continue building and supporting the successful Diversity Advocate model where each NRAO site has an Advocate who provides leadership and promotes the advancement of diversity within the respective sites. Human Resources (HR) will broaden this support and establish well-defined Employee Diversity Groups who will enthusiastically promote diversity and inclusion activities and assist in creating a safe environment for diversity discussions and awareness.

Diversity Training: Diversity Training will be conducted across the Observatory and be customized to each site’s local culture and goals. This training will incorporate a wide-ranging discussion on diversity and how it relates to NRAO and its employees, as well as a comprehensive review of the NRAO Diversity Plan and the AUI Broadening Participation Plan. Diversity training will take place via a phased approach. The Diversity Advocates received training in 2010. The members of the Employee Diversity Groups will receive customized training in FY 2012. The following phase (FY 2012) of Diversity training will be focused on employees across the Observatory. The Diversity Advocates and members of the Employee Diversity Groups will be an integral part of the employee training model.

Community Outreach: HR will continue supporting NRAO’s collaborative relationship with Howard University by supporting the efforts of Dr. Aaron Evans who is assisting Howard University in further developing its astronomy program. Their work includes curriculum development, in-class presentations by NRAO astronomers, scientists and engineers, internships for Howard students and recruiting graduates. HR will also support the proposal designed by Richard Prestage to collaborate with the Engineering Department at Howard University. Richard will sponsor two Pre-Doctoral students to collaborate on engineering projects for FY 2012. In addition, HR will support Kartik Sheth and Aaron Evans’ Broader Impact for Scientific Outreach initiative aimed at advanced undergraduate or graduate level under-represented students. Students will spend eight months at their home institution during preparatory work followed by three months on-site working on focused research programs with NRAO staff. This program involves a peer mentoring model where the NRAO NAASC staff will assist the participants with obtaining hands-on experience with technology and instrumentation. NRAO was able to partner with the Center for Chemistry of the Universe (CCU)/VA-NC Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Summer Research Program in 2011. The VA-NC LSAMP is comprised of four majority institutions in Virginia and four Historically Black Colleges and Universities in North Carolina. Collaboration between NRAO, CCU and the VA-NC LSAMP will deepen NSF’s footprint at

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the involved institutions. NRAO’s continued participation in this initiative will enhance the broader impact goals and position NRAO to continue to build its diverse pipeline in a strategic manner since the contacts and partnerships within the Alliance have been formalized. This initiative also ties into the NRAO’s EPO goals.

HR, along with the staff, will actively seek colloquium speakers and lecturers from diverse engineering and scientific staff at other institutions, and craft opportunities for NRAO scientific staff to visit and collaborate with minority institutions, their faculties, and students.

Successful achievement of the above- referenced initiatives are contingent upon the availability of funds for FY 2012.

Communications Strategy: HR will design an effective diversity communication strategy for the Observatory. A robust communication campaign will be implemented across the NRAO that promotes and supports the role and purpose of Diversity Advocates, Employee Diversity Groups, and the Diversity Council. Timely and interesting Internet content will be developed and periodically updated for the NRAO staff, public, and science community web sites.

Partnerships: The NRAO will continue to establish and develop effective partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). We will strive to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines via a well-designed program of education, mentoring, and research experiences for HBCU and MSI students. The NRAO has been successful in hosting Howard University students engaged in scientific and engineering projects. Research collaborations with underrepresented minorities have been established with students from Norfolk State University, West Virginia University, as well as the University of Maryland and University of Virginia. We will seek partners to promote STEM education opportunities to schools within our community and plan to explore international STEM projects.

Successful achievement of the above- referenced initiatives are contingent upon the availability of funds for FY 2012.

Recruiting and Hiring: Diversity is also a central element in all NRAO recruiting and hiring. HR will continue to enhance recruitment policies and ensure that search committees and candidate pools for every open NRAO position—scientific, technical, management, administrative, etc.—include a diverse cross section of available talent. HR will also ensure that the composition of search committees have diverse perspectives represented. HR will continue to research and provide diverse advertising sources to hiring managers that will enhance our ability to cast a broader net for targeted audiences. HR will work with AUI's Diversity Officer to devise a strategy to improve advertising sources that will enhance the pool and provide statistical data regarding availability of the unique talent for NRAO's specialized skill sets. NRAO did not participate in Diversity Recruitment Fairs in 2011 due to budget restraints. If funding is available in 2012, HR would partner with the scientific and engineering staff within NRAO to attend upcoming events.

Metrics: HR will analyze, evaluate and periodically publish metrics that enable NRAO to quantify our progress towards our diversity objectives.

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7. Efficient Operations: Administration and Services

7.1 Director’s Office

Office of Science and Academic Affairs

Scientific staff

The OSAA has primary responsibility for the scientific productivity and research environment at the NRAO, overseeing the research aspects of all astronomers, computer scientists, and research engineers at all sites. The responsibilities of the OSAA include: scientific staff research travel budget, annual scientific performance appraisals, scientific staff hiring and academic promotions, and scientific sabbaticals and leave. The OSAA also oversees adjunct appoints at NRAO, the colloquia at NRAO sites, and the Jansky lectureship.

A productive and active scientific staff is fundamental to the successful operation of cutting-edge observational facilities. The scientific staff are key to telescope operations, user support, and long-range development and planning. NRAO has a world-class staff of about 90 astronomers, computer scientists, and research engineers, recognized internationally for their excellence in telescope design and support, as well as their technical and scientific knowledge and production.

The scientific staff are fully integrated into Observatory operations. All staff have clear functional duties relating to the major mission and facilities, as outlined in the other sections of this report. Staff lead efforts in education of the professional community, as well as public outreach, fostering a scientifically literate society.

Postdoctoral Fellows

The OSAA oversees the postdoctoral fellowship programs at the NRAO, including the Jansky fellows and project postdoctoral appointments. The Jansky fellowship program is NRAO’s long-standing prize research fellowship program, and fellows can be in-residence at an NRAO site, or be located at external institutions in the USA. The program comes with no formal duties at the NRAO, although Janskys are highly encouraged to participate in activities at the sites, including telescope commissioning and technological development. The NRAO project postdoctoral appointments entail typically 50% service time. The total number of Jansky fellows is typically 12, with a comparable number of project or other postdoctoral appointments.

We have numerous programs in place that foster the professional development of postdocs at the NRAO. Following is a brief list of some of these activities.  Annual postdoc symposium: an excellent forum for all postdocs at NRAO (including external Jansky fellows) to present their latest work, and to establish collaborations with their colleagues. The symposium rotates between NRAO sites.  Science activities at all the sites include: lunch talks, colloquia, science tea. The postdocs are asked to organize some of these activities.  NRAO hosts numerous summer schools on radio astronomy techniques and science topics. The postdocs are encouraged to participate, and help organize in some cases.

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 NRAO runs one of the longest-standing and most successful REU programs, and the postdocs are encouraged to supervise undergraduate students in summer research. They also are asked to give summer student lectures in areas of their particular expertise.  Each site has an informal postdoc lunch once per week.  Lectures have been presented on career development, and professional development is a key aspect of the mentoring duties of the NRAO staff primarily responsible for the postdoc programs.  Each site has various lectures and formal instruction on key skill areas, such as python programming or training in the use of astronomical tools.  NRAO provides substantial research support, including travel, page charges, computing. NRAO monitors the professional progress of the postdocs through numerous mechanisms. The Jansky monitoring and mentoring program is primarily over-seen by Dr. W.M. Goss, with assistance at NRAO Headquarters in Charlottesville from Kartik Sheth, and from the Head of OSAA (Chris Carilli). The NAASC project postdoc program is overseen by Scott Schnee. Other postdoc appointments are overseen by the relevant project supervisor. Following are some of the mechanisms that are being implemented for postdoc monitoring:  Jansky fellows submit biannual progress reports to OSAA.  Jansky fellows have an annual interview by program director and/or Head of OSAA  For external fellows, we require an annual progress report from the host institution, including discussion of the points delineated in Section 1.  The site supervisor, or delegated individual, for project postdocs performs a biannual review of the postdoc performance, with input from the postdoc (scientific and functional), and communicates the report to the OSAA.  Starting in CY2012, the project postdocs will participate in the annual NRAO Performance Evaluation Process as per standard scientific staff policy. This includes a functional review by the immediate supervisor, and a scientific review by OSAA.  A summary of postdoc mentoring and monitoring is given in the NRAO quarterly and annual reports.

International Spectrum Management

The ability to observe without harmful radiofrequency interference (RFI) is fundamental to the NRAO science. The methods whereby spectrum is apportioned into bands and rules are formulated to shield band users from interference are called “spectrum management.” The NRAO participates heavily in spectrum management in order to protect and improve observing conditions for all astronomers and has done so since its inception.

NRAO spectrum management activities and inter-site coordination of interference concerns are the responsibility of the NRAO Spectrum Manager, a one-third FTE position assigned to a tenured NRAO Astronomer based in Charlottesville. Local site-oriented RFI-mitigation efforts are conducted by employees at the observing sites who report to their respective NRAO Assistant Directors. The NRAO observing sites actively pursue their own programs of local RFI mitigation but also do some of the national coordination among services; for instance, an engineer at the VLA site is responsible for informing the radio astronomy community when tests of military frequencies aboard GPS satellites will occur. The US National Radio Quiet Zone is administered from Green Bank on behalf of both NRAO and the US Navy operations at Sugar Grove.

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The Green Bank Interference Protection Group was administratively reorganized and one of its members took advantage of the NRAO Early Retirement Plan. As a result for 2012 Green Bank will support one full-time RF engineer and the EVLA also has one full-time engineer (who also handles VLBA concerns). These engineers have the responsibility for a very wide range of activities designed to keep the local environment clean, and especially to protect against the possibility of self-generated interference. They test all equipment for compatibility and establish procedures for installation and operation of electrical and electronic equipment on-site, including use by visitors

Administration of the National Radio Quiet Zone is the responsibility of one FTE based in Green Bank, aided by local site engineers and astronomers. The pressures on this job have increased drastically as the volume of transmitter applications has followed strong upward national trends, with a concomitant increase in the work load of all of the site-based RFI engineers.

The NRAO Spectrum Manager will continue in 2012 to mediate several interactions between the NRAO sites and other spectrum users. Coordination agreements with commercial providers of satellite services within the National Radio Quiet Zone will be finalized. VLBA stations in the Southwest continue to be impacted by efforts to police the border with Mexico despite cancellation of most elements of the Secure Border Initiative.

Domestic Regulatory Activities: The NRAO monitors FCC actions and is the most frequent commenter during the public processes that unfold when that agency proposes and implements new rules regarding use of the radio spectrum. Of particular concern now are new proposed rules for operation of 76-77 GHz vehicular radars, because these devices are capable of burning out a radio astronomy receiver if seen near the boresight of an antenna. NRAO regularly liaises with the NSF Spectrum Manager and with the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF) in these activities and an NRAO staff member serves on CORF.

International Activities: On behalf of radio astronomy, and in the belief that success in these activities will flow back to their own countries, the NRAO and other observatories promote an international agenda that is coordinated at ITU-R sessions in Geneva and at URSI, IAU and COSPAR General Assemblies. The NRAO Spectrum Manager will participate in the upcoming, month-long World Radio Conference WRC12 in Geneva as the representative of IUCAF, the ICSU-chartered international committee jointly- funded by IAU, URSI and COSPAR. The use of several radio astronomy bands may be affected by prospective allocations to such new uses as pilotless drone aircraft in commercial airspace; extension of spectrum for high-powered high-precision military radar; and prospective allocations to satellite-phones for broadband use.

Another important focus of international activities is to foster increased recognition of locally- administered radio quiet and coordination zones. The use of these zones plays an increasingly important role in radio astronomy but the zones themselves have in general been treated in isolation and are not recognized when policies regarding radio astronomy operations are formulated at the international level.

ALMA: The NRAO spectrum manager informally represents ALMA interests abroad at the ITU-R and liaises with the ALMA Project Director and Project Scientist and with SUBTEL, the Chilean national telecommunications authority that administers the radio quiet and coordination zones that it created around the ALMA core. The NRAO Spectrum Manager is also working toward implementation of self- sustaining spectrum management activities within the ALMA operations plan.

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Table 7.1: Financial & FTE Projection, Director’s Office

7.2 Observatory Administrative Services

Environmental Safety & Security

Environmental: The major environmental goal for FY 2012 is to eliminate the storage of ALMA related chemical waste at the EVLA. An additional goal is to continue the unbroken string of violation free months at Green Bank (January 2007) as well as to ensure that the EVLA continues in preparation for the implementation of additional Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau (PSTB) regulations beginning in New Mexico during FY 2011.

Safety: The primary objectives for FY 2012 include continued improvement on Frequency & Severity of Injury metrics. ES&S will drive those changes by continuing delivery of Hazard Recognition and Risk Mitigation Training at the VLA, GBT and NTC facilities.

ES&S will also conduct formal assessments of risk (with mitigation) for the most hazardous Observatory evolutions (elevated work, lockout/tag out, chemical safety, walking & working surfaces, etc.). This process will include Job Safety Analysis (JSA) for those activities being assessed. The order of the assessments will be based on the facility maintenance schedules; however, the expectation is to complete ~25% per quarter. Additional resources have been requested to support this effort. We will continue to drive uniform assessments of safe behaviors and conditions by routinely and frequently conducting on-site inspection of the facilities.

Additional objectives include assessing the costs and efficiency of Property Plant and Equipment (PPE) purchasing programs (gloves, eyeglasses and shoes in particular). A review will be conducted to examine the frequency/magnitude by which PPE reimbursements are made with FY 2011 results being available by the end of Q1 FY 2012.

We will continue to drive toward certification for our Site Safety Officers through encouragement and reward. By the end of FY 2011 there will be one certified Safety Professional. The goal is to have at least one additional Safety Officer in the process of obtaining the Associate Safety Professional (ASP)/ Certified Safety Professional (CSP) certification.

Human Resources

Staffing: Three critical staffing challenges will be managed by HR in FY 2012. The first and most significant involves staff reductions related to the ramp down in ALMA construction, as sixty (60) positions are scheduled to end in FY 2012. These employees receive a six-month notification letter, which provides them with enough advance notice to plan for continued employment. HR proactively alerts employees via email of every job opening as soon as it is posted and works in conjunction with the ALMA IPT leads

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 54

to identify transition opportunities for ALMA construction staff within NRAO or ALMA Chile. Second, NRAO HR will provide executive guidance to the Joint ALMA Observatory’s (JAO) HR Department on the JAO transition from construction to operations for AUI/NRAO Chilean Local Staff (LSM). The primary objective in FY 2012 is for JAO HR to develop and implement a structured LSM staff construction roll off process. Third, HR will help mitigate the loss of NRAO staff during stressful economic times, especially with the loss of females and minorities working on the ALMA construction staff. Steps taken will include identifying employment opportunities within NRAO and encouraging application for these positions, recognizing top performers with promotions, equity increases, or Star Awards.

Compensation: The completion of the NRAO exempt staff review will occur in FY 2012 and will include an assessment of the NRAO management structure to ensure proper alignment of job titles and grades with market/peer organizations. Upon completion of the exempt review, the results of the market assessments will be used to identify and prioritize areas where equity adjustments should be targeted. To enable these corrections during this period of flat or decreasing budgets, an Observatory-wide promotion/equity review process will be implemented by HR to help correct market inequities and retain top talent using NRAO’s limited funding. NRAO HR will continue training a JAO HR staff member on proper compensation methodology and practice for JAO LSM staff.

Establishing current job descriptions for all NRAO jobs will be completed as part of the non-exempt (completed) and exempt staff review process. Maintaining currency of job descriptions will be facilitated through the annual performance evaluation process (PEP) and could be further supported though the use of a software program called Requisite System (RS). This program was purchased and installed in FY 2011 to manage reporting relationships throughout the Observatory, in direct support of NRAO’s Workforce Management Plan and the Observatory Staffing Plan contained within. Beta testing will take place during FY 2012 to assess its capabilities and fit within NRAO to automate the PEP process and provide a means for managers to identify existing workforce skills and staff developmental needs.

The NRAO Total Rewards Strategy will be presented to the AUI Board in the first quarter of FY 2012 and implemented when approved. The strategy is designed to deliver a competitive, market-driven compensation and benefits package to employees that take into account NRAO’s broad spectrum of jobs that are geographically disbursed domestically and internationally. It will also guide NRAO through its economic challenges by identifying how to allocate its limited resources (compensation) and what changes can be made to reduce costs with the least amount of workforce disruption (benefits).

Benefits: Implementing the first phase of a revised Retiree Medical Plan in the second quarter of FY 2012 is HR’s top benefits priority. The revised plan will be presented to the AUI Board in the first quarter of FY 2012 for approval. The long term success of the revised Retiree Medical Plan will require changes in the medical plan for active employees, whereby employees who are entering the workforce will have a vehicle to save money for medical expense when they retire in a manner similar to retirement savings plans. Employees nearing retirement age will receive coverage similar to traditional medical plans but will be paying for retiree medical coverage after they retire. The full implementation of the required changes will span two to three years.

HR will implement its objectives as stated in the NRAO Employee Survey Action Plan that was endorsed by the AUI Board in June 2011. It will also help facilitate the objective required of NRAO Management. The origin of the survey lies in NRAO benefits and is a key element of the NRAO Total Rewards Strategy, but has grown to encompass other key areas such as morale, diversity, management communications and leadership. As such, the Action Plan was designed to address the following issues:

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 Improve Morale  Clarify NRAO Management Roles  Build Management Experience  Balance Compensation and Benefits with Workforce

A successful electronic benefit open enrollment process is another key objective in FY 2012. HR will work in close coordination with MIS to ensure that all of the necessary steps are taken in advance of the open enrollment process to achieve a successful outcome for employees.

Improving NRAO’s employee benefits through improved service from providers and/or lower costs continues in FY 2012 through the selection and implementation of a new vision care program. This program is 100% employee paid, so there will be no cost impact to the Observatory.

Ensuring NRAO compliance with the updated HIPAA Privacy regulations mandated by the 2009 ARRA continues in FY 2012 with the installation of locked access doors to the Charlottesville hallway where HR is located. Only NRAO employees will have access to the hallway using their electronic access keys for the CV building.

Employee Relations: A full-time HR professional will be hired to provide on-site support for Green Bank employees and management, thereby providing on-site HR support at all three US based NRAO sites. The primary focus of the position will be employment, employee relations and HR administrative responsibilities for the site.

Training and Development: The establishment of an on-going management development program was successfully initiated in FY 2011 and will continue in FY 2012 by expanding participation on a site-by-site basis. The next training session will be conducted fall 2012 in New Mexico. Future sessions in FY 2012 are subject to budgetary constraints. The program is tailored to meet the needs of NRAO’s unique environment and business/operations model, preparing managers with the knowledge needed to successfully manage and lead employees.

ALMA Chile Human Resources: Establishing clear role and responsibility parameters for supporting NRAO Local and International Staff in Chile is the key objective for NRAO HR. Initial discussions took place in FY 2011 that included the NRAO Director and Deputy Director, JAO Director, Deputy Director and JAO HR Manager, and NRAO Chile Office AD to establish the groundwork. The objective for FY 2012 is to develop a document that details the supporting HR roles and responsibilities supported within NRAO HR, JAO HR and the NRAO Chile Office. Supporting JAO HR, as stated under Compensation, also falls under this heading.

The Office of Chile Affairs (OCA) in Santiago supports the legal and business affairs of AUI/NRAO in Chile. Activities supported on behalf of the NA component of ALMA construction in Chile include the construction of roads and utilities for the AOS power and fiber optic distribution to the antenna stations. The office will continue its administrative services at the ALMA site, including support of Vertex activities and the contracts for security, catering, cleaning, and camp maintenance. The OCA will also continue its oversight of ALMA human resources activities, including contracts, payroll, travel support, and interactions with the labor union of local AUI staff. The office is also responsible for local property management and NRAO import/export activities for ALMA. The OCA will also monitor NRAO safety in Chile with the supervision of NA Site Safety Officers.

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Computing & Information Services

CIS oversees operational computing support needs for the NRAO sites as well as providing key observer supporting services ALMA-wide. This oversight includes planning, policy, standards (for software, hardware, and system administration), computer security, allocation of the shared central budget, web services, computer staff training, inter-site computing-related travel, procurements, and maintenance contracts. CIS also manages the telecommunications infrastructure (voice, video, data and mobile communications) within the observatory. In addition, CIS covers the cost of upgrading Computing Infrastructure for desktop and servers as well as printers and the storage systems required to provide archived observation data to the community, and since March 2011, hosts the ALMA-wide helpdesk.

The partnership with OSO for provisioning such critical services as the next generation Science Data Archive, High Performance Computing and network support, as well as the new web Content Management System and user forum solutions, has facilitated the coherent planning and delivery of computing support and services throughout the observatory. CIS plays a key role in multiple observer facing services and is supporting the implementation of the storage and computing needs of the NAASC as well as the hosting and support of the observer Helpdesk. Complementary to this is the support for hosting of the Science Data Archive for EVLA and VLBA as well as GBT survey data, and leveraging VAO standards and tools.

The following sections outline the activities coordinated by CIS Management and Administration, to ensure an optimum computing, storage, and communications environment for staff and users of NRAO telescopes as well as an active development program.

Computing Standards and Policy: To provide a uniform structure in which to carry out our mission, CIS will continue to develop, evolve and enforce standards, policies, and conventions designed to optimize uniformity between sites, while enabling the diversity and agility needed within an active research environment. Policies addressing computer use, major software procurements and computer access will be updated in FY12 with particular focus on enabling local and remote access to science data in a secure manner and to verify HIPAA compliance for the handling of sensitive information.

Standards include supported computer hardware configurations and application software suites. Moving into FY12 the scalable middleware framework will continue to grow in such key areas as Archive (NGAS), Cluster Computing (Torque, Ganglia), Parallel Filesystems (Lustre) and Web Application Development/Content Management Systems (Python, Plone). This is in addition to the more basic needs for maintaining standards for servers, desktops, laptops, current Operating Systems, mobile devices and printers.

The evolution of web-based applications, Software as a Service, mobile access, and distributed computing/storage will require constant vigilance and leadership from CIS as more users adopt these technologies to facilitate collaboration and research. A major long-term commitment exists in observatory-wide alignment for archive access with particular reference to data processing driven by OSO in collaboration with the VAO.

Within the past year, the dynamic of tablets (iPad, Android) and cloud/grid services (Google, TeraGrid/XD) continues to gain popularity, and our support models and access policies need to be revalidated to assess risk and opportunity from these technologies.

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CIS supervises the maintenance of all computer equipment and software observatory-wide and maintains a budget to provide these services. This role must shift to integrate the NRAO portion of ALMA via the NAASC and be cognizant of the challenges imposed by the close collaboration with a global organization (JAO) with divergent standards, policies, and support expectations, for example in licensing and maintaining software outside of the U.S.

The sites and associated major projects (Green Bank, New Mexico, NAASC) each have a computing support responsibility under OTO and OSO, with CIS coordinating the activities of the computing divisions through the Common Computing Environment (CCE).

Common Computing Environments: The CCE coordinates and prioritize NRAO-wide computing projects and initiatives between the sites, facilitated by the annual system-administrators meeting and attendance of computing conferences. A major milestone delivered in FY11 was the work to improve the central management of systems and patches for both Windows (System Center) and Macintosh (Monki). Other key endeavors are to improve user training and the quality of support documentation.

In FY12 we will proceed with the implementation of Windows 7, along with the increased use of server virtualization to reduce system population. We will capitalize upon the implementation of Windows System Center to streamline the centralized management of patches and applications with a specific focus on the move to ForeFront Endpoint Protection for malware defense. In addition, the implementation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 6 will be expedited.

The experience gained from the shift to site centralized HPC solutions for both storage and computing will be shared throughout the observatory through OSO Data Management and Software working groups and deployed within the standard CCE framework.

Information Infrastructure (Web Services): In 2011 the NRAO completed a major initiative to migrate the observer supporting Science web site for NRAO and North American ALMA to the new Plone Content Management Systems (CMS). This resulted in a greatly simplified interface for updating the web sites with clear accountability for ownership and publication of content. The follow-on goal is the implementation of a CMS and User Portal service to provide current and relevant information to a diverse audience with integrated workflows, ownership attribution, and content version control. The prototype for this system is now running on a High Availability Linux cluster which will be used for both the ALMA User Portal and internal NRAO content hosting.

The successful release of the NRAO supported ALMA Helpdesk solution in March 2011 has grown in visibility as all ALMA Regional Centers observer support leverages the same solution already deployed within NRAO. In Q2 FY12 the advent of a coherent Single Sign-On (SSO) solution and user account association between the overlapping ALMA and existing NRAO communities will allow for a unified service access.

Multiple Web Applications in support of Observatory Operations are being coordinated through CIS in FY 2012, these include delivery of the next generation publication bibliography tracking application, visitor registration, and an updated video conference management solution.

Networking and Telecommunications: The major telecommunications work completed in FY 2011 was the re-bid of the GSA FTS2001 services contract to the new Networx contract. This negotiation has been successfully concluded, resulting in substantial improvements in both network speed and value to the Observatory. In addition, the infrastructure needed to increase Internet2/NLR access to Gigabit speeds

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has been implemented in Socorro and Charlottesville, to facilitate external astronomer access to new and archived observation data.

The intranet bandwidth into Green Bank was more than doubled to 45Megabit/second, with good progress being made to initiate a 10Gigabit/second link to the national research network backbone via WVU, enabled by state funding. In preparation for ALMA Early Science, NRAO has partnered with NOAO/AURA to share a Gigabit Link from Santiago, Chile to the US to allow ALMA science data products to be transferred in real-time rather than by shipped media. The initial replication of ~2TeraBytes of ALMA data was completed in Q4 FY11 in preparation for early science starting in Q1 FY12.

The on-going initiative to migrate the phone system in CV to VoIP was expedited in Q4 FY11; completion of this work in Q1 FY12 will obviate the need to replace the end-of-life voicemail system by consolidating on a unified voice platform.

Finally, as the importance of international partnerships and the cost of flying continue to increase, it is appropriate that we maintain a current video conference infrastructure to better serve the user community and reduce the need for travel. Two HD conference systems were installed in FY11, and it is planned that at least two more system upgrades will be delivered in FY12 to maintain infrastructure support.

Charlottesville/NAASC Computing: The mission of Charlottesville (CV) Headquarters Computing is to provide computing-related services to the local staff and scientific visitors. The local groups served by the CV Computing Division include the Director’s Office, the NAASC, Education and Public Outreach, NRAO internal Communications, the scientific staff, Observatory Business Services, the Coordinated Development Lab, Human Resources, and the CV-based software development team. The CV Computing Division also supports the AUI office in Washington D.C. and NRAO staff in Chile as needed. This support includes e-mail, printers, central servers, centralized data storage, data backup, software installation and support, computer configuration and procurement, remote-access capabilities, web services, directory services, network management, telephone service, video and collaboration services, as well as desktop system and application support.

With the initiation of ALMA observations, the responsibilities for observer support will increase dramatically through such services as Helpdesk and ALMA Regional Center Archive, and a shift in focus for the Computing team will be required to appropriately support these external users both as on-site visitors and via remote access. The key performance metrics relate to meeting established Service Level Objectives for helpdesk ticket resolution and availability are essential as we host the ALMA-wide helpdesk instance. We will also be supporting HR and the Program Office in implementing the Requisite Organization staff planning software that will improve the skill to task mapping of our employees.

Computing Security: Following on the success of this year’s Computer and Data security employee on- boarding initiative, CIS will be providing self-paced training classes online to address the concern over ever more sophisticated attacks. We will continue to shift to a risk management strategy in which the users of NRAO computing resources are educated and engaged in the mitigation of cyber attacks. These increasingly depend on social engineered vulnerabilities with risks mitigated through a manifold of prompt patch management, user education and training, bulletins and proactive engagement with auditors. The major delivery vector identified is malicious web content, rather than E-mail, and the successful upgrade of our end-point protection software will allow for improved layered defense.

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Multiple internal and external security audits found no systemic exceptions but did recommend more formal employee access termination procedures which will be implemented in FY12 in conjunction with MIS and HR. In FY12 it is also expected that an audit of HIPAA health insurance data access will highlight multiple opportunities for more stringent process management as well as data and physical access controls.

Digital Infrastructure: Observatory-wide Digital Infrastructure (DI) covers larger enhancements to computing infrastructure, as well as enhancements for individual science requirements. Such costly items as central servers, wide-bed printers, shared disk arrays, backup libraries, and core network routers fall into this category. The central disk filer in Charlottesville was successfully upgraded in FY11, consolidating to a single Network Attached Storage device providing three times (12TBytes) the high availability storage to the users. For observation data, with the commitment to preserve all validated products, we have not only the cost of maintaining historical data, but also the imminent ~2-3 orders of magnitude growth in data rate over the next few years, reaching 1PetaByte/year by 2013. This is an identified risk not only for the storage itself, but for the network, space, power, cooling and the staff needed to service these data. The predicted rise in commodity disk capacity will be heavily leveraged to ensure that a scalable high performance storage solution is provided to support the instruments and associated data processing needs. To this end, 12 storage servers, providing over 700TBytes of storage were brought on-line in FY11, with standard 24-disk systems being purchased as needed by the individual instruments (ALMA/EVLA/VLBA/GBT) with data replication between sites as deemed appropriate. Sample GBT pulsar search data was successfully transferred to the TeraGrid/XD with ~200TBytes being made available in Q1 FY12, together with a replica of EVLA/VLBA data in CV.

Recurring Costs: The Recurring Cost line items ensure that NRAO scientists and staff desktop systems are refreshed on a regular cycle and that legacy systems are proactively retired. Of concern in the next year is the anticipated rise in computing capacity needed to analyze observation data that had previously been manipulated on standard desktop and even laptop systems. Already in FY11 we have seen the cost of a Science Data analysis desktop system double due to higher RAM, CPU and disk requirements, in addition to the greater demand for laptops due to increased travel and out-reach, conferences and reviews. These factors have placed greater pressure on the CIS budget, but are mitigated in the short- term by NAASC observer support funds for new hires tracked within the OSO section.

Business Services

The Observatory Business Services division provides management and support for budget development and analysis, facilities planning, and general business administration for Charlottesville operations and observatory-wide requirements. During this fiscal year the division will concentrate on improving existing models and processes to create a more integrated system of management tools. Below are the goals for the OBS division in FY 2012.

Budget & Business Analysis: Budget & Business Analysis is responsible for developing, monitoring, and reporting on the Observatory budgets including multi-year forecasts, monthly budget reports, and ad hoc queries.

 Operations Budget Workbook. A single workbook has been developed in a database format to capture all of the Observatory operations work breakdown structure. During the coming fiscal year, the group will focus on expanding the functionality of the workbook to expand the capabilities in support of Observatory functional alignment.  Reports Review. The Observatory functional alignment has driven the need for a complete review of the published reports available in the JDEdwards system. The review was to have

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taken place in FY 2011 however availability of resources limited the opportunity to work on the reports. The review will be a cooperative effort between Business Services, Fiscal, MIS, and key reports users. The review scope will include the validation of data elements, cataloging of the data, and a description of the report. The process will also cull out redundant or unnecessary reports.  Automated Reports Generation and Publication. In collaboration with MIS, the OBS division will explore methods to automatically generate routine reports at the close of reporting periods. If successful, this process will eliminated hours of tedious report queries needed to keep budget stakeholders and PI’s informed of their budget status on a monthly basis.

General Business and Administration: The business and administration duties include Charlottesville invoice processing, sales summary, material receiver processing, petty cash, employee relocation, charge card reconciliation, and general clerical support.

 Travel webpage. A travel resource webpage will be established to cover all aspects of travel including relocation, routine travel arrangements, links to forms and other travel resources. This webpage will serve as a complementary resource to other NRAO web pages that have travel information of a very specific nature such as travel to Chile for ALMA.

Charlottesville Facilities: The Charlottesville facilities activities include managing all aspects of maintaining the facilities, assigning office assignments, and ensuring the safety, security, and usability of the site. During FY 2012 several projects are planned to upgrade the security of the Edgemont Road facility. Information about the one remaining task is provided below.

During FY 2008, the Charlottesville facilities received two security reviews that identified shortfalls in the protection of employees and equipment. There were incidents of uninvited visitors at the facilities that raised employee legitimate concerns. Several projects were undertaken to enhance the facility physical security however one remaining project is to install additional surveillance cameras. The Edgemont Road facility has a surveillance camera system that provides rudimentary coverage of building interior access points. To improve this system, additional cameras will be installed to focus on the parking lots and interior locations where surveillance gaps exist. Monitors will be installed on the desks of select employees to monitor the lobby area and parking lot activity.

Fiscal

The primary objectives of the NRAO Fiscal Division are: strategic financial support for business and operational planning, support the Observatory in all major financial functions and meet all external and internal audit and reporting requirements. The Fiscal Division has set the following strategic goals:

External, Internal and Incurred Cost Audits: During FY 2008 AUI implemented a three year internal audit plan and initiated an “Office of Chile Affairs” review scheduled for the fourth quarter of FY 2011. The audit follow-up is anticipated to extend into FY 2012.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) scheduled an Incurred Cost Submission Audit for FY 2008 - 2010 to begin in the fourth quarter of 2011. The audit is expected to continue into FY 2012.

Procurement Card Implementation: The Procurement Card (PCard) program will replace the existing Departmental Credit Card program and will incorporate PCard distribution to individual employees to be used for official NRAO purchases. The PCard program will incorporate an automated monthly reconciliation and approval process which will upload the account assignment to the general ledger.

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Implementation team formation and early project tasks were undertaken in Q3 FY 2011. A phased implementation will occur in FY 2012 with completion projected in Q3.

Automated Clearing House (ACH) Payments: During FY 2010 the Fiscal Department initiated implementation of ACH payments to vendors for all categories of payments. Full implementation is expected in FY 2012. This effort will reduce the number of physical checks that have to be sent to vendors and somewhat reduce the Accounts Payable workload and materials costs.

Management Information Systems

The Management Information Systems (MIS) Division provides Observatory-wide business systems support to all aspects of Observatory operations including electronic timekeeping, payroll, human resources, general ledger, accounts payable, business computer (Windows Based and SQL), and support hardware computers. MIS is also responsible for providing financial reporting via business systems, user support, and enhancements along with upgrades for business computer systems. MIS utilizes the Oracle J.D. Edwards EnterpriseOne 8.10 product as the NRAO Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) business software.

FY 2012 key objectives include consolidation, review, and rewrite the financial reports beginning in the second quarter FY 2012. During FY 2012 the division will complete the major J.D.Edwards ERP upgrade from the 8.10 version to the newest version of EnterpriseOne. The upgrade will involve upgrades in software, hardware, database, and custom designed products.

Contracts and Procurement

The Contracts and Procurement (CAP) Division will utilize existing resources to provide accurate and timely information for NRAO management, NSF and non-NSF sponsors. CAP’s primary goal is to acquire fair and reasonable prices, while selecting companies providing an overall best value solution to NRAO, its projects and meeting the needs and schedule of our customers. CAP utilizes best business practices, leading-edge business tools, qualified and competent staff and improved integration within the Observatory. Planned actions include: improving our web presence, a complete update of the procurement manual, finalizing a procurement-card system and an import/export procedures manual, creating an Observatory-wide standard contract change order process, conducting internal procurement reviews and supporting external audits. Below are details about each of the planned enhancements.

Web Presence: The Contracts & Procurement Division will establish an expanded and user-friendly web presence in which internal and external customers will be able to obtain standard procurement forms, terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and proposal materials. The external website will be modified to include a form that will allow potential subcontractors/suppliers to provide company information for pre-qualifications on future purchases. The source and pricing justification training documentation will also be placed on the internal website.

Procurement Manual: The Procurement Manual underwent a major revision during FY 2011. During FY 2012 an update will be released to cover best practices based on the recommendations obtained from the NSF, Internal/External Auditors, changes in the Federal Regulations, the annual OMB Circular A-133 audit and industry best-practices for contracting and procurement.

Procurement-Card (P-Card) Program: During FY2011 a P-Card vendor was selected, contract signed, and an implementation team established under the leadership of the Fiscal Officer. During FY 2012, the

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program will be implemented in phases across the Observatory. Once implementation is complete the program will be turned over to the CAP division for routine administration.

Export Compliance: The NRAO will establish an export compliance program that includes development of an Observatory policy, technology transfer plan, policy & procedures manual, and employee education

Grants Administration: Grants Administration is responsible for providing pre-award budget development, non-observing proposal submittals, and post-award tracking. During FY 2012, Grants Administration will continue to refine the web-based application to post grant specific documents for all non-programmatic grants including budget reports, progress reports, and upcoming submittals.

Table 7.2: Financial & FTE Projection, Observatory Administrative Services

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Appendix A: Major Milestones and Functional Tasks

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Appendix B: Preliminary Financial Plan & Work Breakdown Structure

Table 1: New Cooperative Agreement Funds FY2012

*CSA-4 is the projected successor to SPO-3. Funding shown represents funding for FY12 and advance funding for FY13.

Table 2: Total Available Funding FY2012

Table 3: Carryover Detail FY2012

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Table 4: NSF New Funding by Expense Element FY2012

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Table 5: Observatory Work Breakdown Structure

NOTE: Cost Pool Recovery has been distributed through the functional areas and the FY12 budget reduced to reflect the impact of the cost pool as appropriate.

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Appendix C: FY 2011 Annual Progress Summary

1. Overview

The NRAO is delivering major new capabilities for the science community and our operational telescope facilities are producing outstanding science across all of modern astrophysics. At the same time, the construction of two major new research facilities is nearing completion. This appendix provides highlights of NRAO progress through 30 June 2011 against the FY 2011 Program Operating Plan. A complete FY 2011 progress report will be available November 2011. This summary provides a brief description of activities reported in the FY 2011 Quarterly Status Updates for Quarters 1, 2, and 3. Detailed descriptions of these activities are available in the NRAO Quarterly Status Updates submitted as Interim Reports to the NSF.

2. Science Highlights

Numerous significant and exciting scientific results have been obtained to date in FY 2011 by observers using NRAO research facilities, as described below.

EVLA

Modeling the Magnetic Field in the Galactic Disk: Polarization measurements of Faraday rotation have revealed that the magnetic field in the inner Galaxy closely follows the spiral arms, while in the outer Galaxy, the field is purely azimuthal. The models contain no reversals in the outer Galaxy and suggest the existence of a single reversed region that spirals out from the Galactic center.

Publication: C.L. Van Eck, J.C. Brown, J.M. Stil, K. Rae (Univ Calgary); S.A. Mao (CfA, ATNF); B.M. Gaensler (Univ Sydney), A. Shukurov (Univ Newcastle), A.R. Taylor (Univ Calgary), M. Haverhorn (ASTRON, Leiden Univ), P.P. Kronber (Univ Toronto, LANL), N.M. McClure-Griffiths (ATNF), 2011 ApJ, 728, 97.

Advances in Imaging Masers: Fish et al used the EVLA Ka-band receivers to acquire the first high resolution imaging of the Class I, 36GHz methanol masers in a dense star-forming region, DR21. Class I masers are likely shock heated, and trace an early, dense star formation phase. The pronounced "S- curve” in Stokes V implies a very large magnetic field if interpreted as Zeeman splitting, and thus higher densities than previously believed.

Publication: V.L. Fish (Haystack), T.C. Muehlbrad (Haystack, TX Lutheran Univ), P. Pratap (Haystack), L.O. Sjouwerman (NRAO), V. Strelnitski (Univ NM), M. Pihlstrom (Univ NM, NRAO), T.L. Bourke (CfA), 2011 ApJ, in press.

Imaging Molecular Gas in Lensed Lyman Break Galaxies: The EVLA Ka-band system has performed the first imaging of molecular gas in normal star-forming galaxies at high redshift (z ~ 3 Lyman Break Galaxies). Two strongly lensed sources were detected in CO1-0. The gas masses, gas fractions, moderate CO excitation, and star formation efficiencies are comparable to low redshift star-forming galaxies.

Publication: D.A. Riechers (Caltech, Hubble Fellow), C.L. Carilli (NRAO), F. Walter (MPIA), E. Mamjian (NRAO), 2011 ApJ Letters, 724, L153.

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EVLA ApJ Letters issue: A special Astrophysical Journal Letters issue (expected publication date August 2011) will present the first year of EVLA Early Science. This issue will include 36 papers and cover topics from nearby stars to the most distant galaxies.

Subsonic Cloud Collapse: Embedded Filaments Revealed: Pineda et al present the first clear delineation of subsonic cloud fragmentation in a low-mass star-forming region, Bernard 5, observing this molecular cloud region with the GBT and the EVLA in NH3 , a dense gas tracer.

Publication: J.E. Pineda (ESO, Univ Manchester), A.A. Goodman (CfA), H.G.Arce (Yale Univ), P. Caselli (Univ Leeds), S. Longmore (ESO), S. Corder (NAASC, NRAO), 2011 ApJL, special EVLA issue.

Molecular Protocluster: Carilli et al used the EVLA to image a cluster of molecular gas-rich galaxies at z = 4.1. Three hyperstarburst galaxies (SFR ~ 1000 Mo/yr) are found within a 30” region, an ideal laboratory for studying clustered, massive galaxy formation in the early Universe.

Publication: C.L. Carilli (NRAO); J. Hodge, F. Walter (MPIA); D. Riechers (Caltech, Hubble Fellow); E. Daddi, H. Dannerbauer (CEA), G. Morrison (IfA), 2011 ApJL, special EVLA issue.

GBT

The electron-proton mass ratio limit: Absorption lines from NH3, CS, and H2CO at z ~ 0.685 were measured by GBT against a background radio galaxy. The inversion and rotational line frequencies have different dependences on the proton-electron mass ratio, , and a comparison between the line redshifts yielded a 3 limit / < 3.6E-7 over 6.2 Gyr, the most stringent limit to date.

Publication: N. Kanekar, 2011 Ap J Letters, 728, L12.

Mapping a cluster merger: Observations of the galaxy cluster MACS0744 with the 3mm bolometer array MUSTANG show structure in the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. The MUSTANG data provide evidence of a shock that is not apparent in the other tracers, and was likely produced when the infalling sub-cluster passed through the main core, losing its baryons to ram-pressure stripping.

Publication: P.M. Korngut, S.R. Dicker, E.D. Reese (Univ Penn); B.S. Mason (NRAO); M.J. Devlin, T. Mroczkowski (Univ Penn); C.L. Sarazin, M. Sun (Univ VA); J. Sievers (CITA), 2011 ApJ, 734, 10.

Discovering millisecond pulsars via gamma ray selection: The GBT discovered 3 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in binary systems via a search based on sources selected in gamma rays by Fermi. These observations imply that most MSPs are efficient gamma ray sources, and verify a new discovery method.

Publication: S.M. Ransom (NRAO) et al. 2011, ApJ, 727, L16.

Discovering HII regions in our Galaxy: Bania et al used the GBT to discover a large population of previously unknown Galactic H II regions via their hydrogen radio recombination line emission. the first quadrant of the Galaxy the GBT detected 602 discrete recombination line components from 448 lines- of-sight, more than doubling the known H II regions in this part of the Milky Way.

Publication: T.M. Bania (Boston Univ), L.D. Anderson (Boston Univ, Univ Provence), D.S. Balser (NRAO), R.T. Rood (Univ VA), 2010 ApJL, 718, L106.

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CO detection in strongly lensed, high z galaxies: The GBT detected CO 1-0 emission from two strongly lensed z ~ 3 starburst, submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) from the Herschel Atlas survey. The galaxy redshifts were previously unknown. These observations demonstrate the power of the GBT Zpectrometer as a redshift machine, and the molecular gas masses exceed 1010 M(sun).

Publication: D.T. Frayer (NRAO) et al., 2011 ApJL, 726, L22.

Discovering H2O Masers in M31: Five water maser complexes have been discovered in M31 using the GBT. These will provide the high brightness temperature point sources needed for proper motion studies of M31, enabling measurement of its full 3D velocity vector and its geometric distance.

Publication: J.D. Darling, 2011 ApJL, in press.

Testing fundamental physics for compact objects: An accurate mass determination for PSG J1614- 2230 makes it the most massive pulsar known and rules out a number of soft equations of state for nuclear matter including many “exotic” hyperon and kaon models.

Publication: P.B. Demorest (NRAO), T. Pennucci (Univ VA), S.M. Ransom (NRAO), M.S.E. Roberts (Eureka Scientific), and J.W.T. Hessels (ASTRON, Univ Amsterdam), 2010, Nature, 467, 1081.

Measuring supermassive black hole masses: H2O masers discovered with the GBT enabled a mapping of the nuclear disk with the High Sensitivity Array. Black hole masses measured for Seyfert galaxies showed that they lie below the line defined by supermassive black holes in elliptical galaxies.

Publication: C.Y. Kuo (Univ VA); J.A. Braatz, J.J. Condon, C.M.V. Impellizieri, K.Y. Lo (NRAO); I. Zaw (NYU), M. Schenker (Caltech), C. Henkel (MPIR), M.J. Reid (CfA), and J.E. Greene (Princeton), 2011 ApJ, 727, 20.

A new technique for studying dark energy: Using the ‘intensity mapping’ technique, the GBT has made the first detection of HI 21cm emission at substantial redshift (z ~ 1). This technique has the promise of mapping large-scale structure at high redshift and for determining the nature of the Dark Energy that drives cosmic acceleration.

Publication: T-C Chang (Academia Sinica, Univ Toronto), U-L Pen (Univ Toronto), K. Bandura & J.B. Peterson (Carnegie Mellon), 2010 Nature, 466, 463.

VLBA

Wide-field VLBA Observations of the Chandra Deep Field South: A new wide-field technique allows for hundreds of sources to be simultaneously studied and was used to target extragalactic sources in the Chandra Deep Field South. The results were used to classify sources as AGN or starbursts. With this advance, VLBI can be used effectively alongside deep surveys with other instruments.

Publication: E. Middleberg (Bochum), A. Deller (NRAO), J. Morgan (INAF, Università Studi, MPIR), H. Rottmann (MPIfR), W. Alef (MPIfR), S. Tingay (Curtin Univ), R. Norris (ATNF), U. Bach (MPIfR), W. Brisken (NRAO), and E. Lenc (ATNF), 2011 A&A 526, 74.

Direct Distance to W51: Sato et al. used H2O masers to determine an accurate trigonometric parallax for W51, a well-known massive star-forming region, which also yields an accurate estimate of the distance to the Galactic center by simple geometry. Combining the parallax and proper motion measurements, the full-space motion of this massive star-forming region is obtained.

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Publication: M. Sato (Univ Tokyo, CfA, NAOJ), M.J. Reid (CfA), A. Brunthaler (MPIfR), and K.M. Menten (MPIfR), 2010 ApJ, 720, 1055.

The VLA measures superstar clusters: Brogan et al studied the Galactic–type water masers in the Antennae interacting galaxies at high resolution. All three maser regions are highly obscured in the optical, and coincident with compact radio continuum emission. Two are dominated by thermal ionized gas, suggesting the presence of natal super star clusters containing the equivalent of a few thousand O stars. This research highlights the potential of H2O masers to pinpoint sites of highly obscured young super star cluster formation with exquisite angular resolution.

Publication: C. Brogan (NRAO), K. Johnson (NRAO, Univ VA), and J. Darling (Univ Colorado), 2010 ApJL, 716, L51.

Radio-Optical-Gamma-Ray properties of AGN: Arshakian et. al., observed 83 AGN detected in 15GHz VLBA and Fermi observations, finding a strong correlation between radio, optical, and gamma luminosity. Modeling of these correlations with a simple leptonic jet model for blazars indicates that variations of the accretion disk luminosity (and hence jet power) reproduces the trends observed in most of the correlations.

Publication: T.G. Arshakian (MPIfR), J. Leon-Tavares (Aalto Univ), M. Boettcher (Ohio Univ), J. Torrealba (INAOE), V.H. Chavushyan (INAOE), M.L. Lister (Purdue Univ), E. Ros (Univ Valencia, MPIfR), J.A. Zensus (MPIfR), 2011, submitted A&A.

Radar observations and Shape of Near-Earth Asteroid 2008 EV5: EV5 was observed with the Arecibo and Goldstone planetary radars and the VLBA. EV5 rotates retrograde and its overall shape is a 400 ± 50 m oblate spheroid. The most prominent surface feature is a ridge parallel to the asteroid’s equator that is broken by a concavity about 150 m in diameter that is likely an impact crater. Shaking during the impact and later regolith redistribution may have erased smaller features.

Publication: M.W. Bush et al., 2011 Icarus, 212, 649.

3. Observatory Science Operations

NRAO observing proposal system: Beginning with the proposal deadline of 1 Feb 2011, the NRAO changed its proposal evaluation and time allocation process to an Observatory-wide panel-based system that is no longer telescope-based and that depends on community members for scientific evaluation and the NRAO staff for technical review only. Eight Science Review Panels evaluate all proposals, and there is a single Time Allocation Committee for all North American NRAO facilities. All NRAO observing proposals submitted for the 1 Feb 2011 deadline were released for review 15 Feb. The Science Review Panels completed their work 25 Mar. The TAC recommendations were reviewed and approved at the Director’s Review on 26 May. Final dispositions were sent to proposers 1 June.

Science community outreach: NRAO was a major participant in the winter American Astronomical Society meeting (AAS, Jan 2011, Seattle), the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, Feb 2012, Washington DC), and the summer AAS meeting (May 2011, Boston). At the AAS-Seattle meeting, the NRAO held a Town Hall, organized special ALMA and EVLA Special Sessions, led an ALMA/NAASC proposal preparation tutorial session, and participated in the meeting exhibition. At the AAS-Boston meeting, the NRAO participated in the meeting exhibition and led additional ALMA/NAASC proposal preparation tutorial sessions. A VLBA-themed science

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symposium was presented at the AAAS Annual Meeting that attracted major media attention. A NAASC/NRC workshop entitled "ALMA: Extending the Limits of Astrophysical Spectroscopy" was held 15-17 Jan 2011 in Victoria, BC and was attended by 125 scientists from around the world. A major post- Astro2010 science conference titled “Building on New Worlds, New Horizons” was co-hosted by NRAO and AUI in Santa Fe, NM 7-10 Mar 2011.

Science Internet: Staff across the NRAO was trained in the Plone content management system Mar- Apr 2011. The bulk import of our science web site into Plone occurred mid-Apr, and the site was fully operational in Plone 1 May.

NAASC: The NAASC proposal for the FY 2012-15 funding of NA ALMA Operations was approved for funding by the NSB. Under development since 2007, the NRAO NAASC entered its full operations phase with the announcement of the Early Science (Cycle 0) Call for Proposals 31 Mar 2011.

ALMA Cycle 0 Early Science: The Cycle 0 Call for Proposals was released 31 Mar and the Observing Tool (OT) and Science Portal were deployed under a User Support configuration that supports the 3 ALMA Regional Centers after extensive testing of the local deployments of the Portal, the OT and the Sensitivity Calculator. The OT has the online and offline versions of Splatalogue interfaced through VO standards and protocols. CASA has an extensive subset of the Splatalogue database that has been included as a CASA table and made available to the users. Users access the online version of CASA via the web interface, define their own search criteria, dump the data to file and upload their own catalog into CASA. Cycle 0 Early Science observing proposals were due 30 Jun 2011. An impressive 923 proposals were submitted, demonstrating the community’s great interest in ALMA science.

ALMA community days: A comprehensive series of very successful ALMA Early Science "Community Day" events was organized by the NAASC and held around the US and Canada Jan-Jun 2011; 900+ astronomers were reached through these Community Days.

ALMA Commissioning & Science Verification: NAASC staff participated in processing science verification data to provide the community with examples of ALMA data. Scripts with detailed descriptions (CASAguides) were generated to accompany the data, which were posted to the science portal. NAASC supported testing and deployment of CASA release 3.2, and the CASA guides were updated. Early Science configuration files for use with ALMA simulators were posted. Molecular and atomic transitions in Splatalogue were updated. NAASC participated in the finalization of ops procedures for proposal review, technical assessments, archive, Science Portal, document templates, and Helpdesk. NAASC made major contributions to the user documentation: ALMA Cycle 0 Proposers Guide, Technical Handbook, Call for Proposals, and Science Portal content. NAASC published an ALMA Primer based on final configurations and capabilities.

ALMA Development Plan: More than 70 scientists and engineers attended an ALMA development & studies workshop held in Charlottesville 21-22 Mar to discuss the astronomical motivation for developing new capabilities for ALMA.

Training the Next Generation: Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students accepted appointments as 2011 summer students. Four Co-Op students continued their appointments. Eight undergraduates continued undergraduate internships. Five graduate students began or continued work as graduate interns with NRAO mentors. Pre-docs included a UVA student working in CV, and a New Mexico Tech student working in Socorro. The Student Observing Support program committee recommended funding $167,549 to 7 of 24 proposals submitted in Q3; and $81,200 to 6 of 11 proposals submitted in Q2.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 77

High Performance Computing: A successful data-intensive astronomy workshop was held 3-5 May in GB that addressed many of the current community issues regarding high performance computing.

National User Facility Organization exhibition: This event was held in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC 7 Apr 2011 and highlighted the important role that scientific user facilities play in science education, economic competitiveness, fundamental knowledge, and scientific achievements.

4. Observatory Telescope Operations

ALMA

The past year saw excellent progress on ALMA construction, with steady production and delivery of ALMA components. North American ALMA personnel are deeply engaged in assembly, integration, verification, and commissioning, and scientific activities. Multiple internal reviews and a comprehensive ALMA Annual External Review concluded that no fundamental obstacles stood in the way of Early Science, and the ALMA Board enthusiastically endorsed the initiation of Early Science in fall 2011.

Management: NRAO/AUI instituted a program to improve safety in the conduct of its work at the ALMA site. The program involves placing two safety officers at the site. The primary focus of the safety officers is the work performed by local Chilean companies under contract with AUI. The ALMA AAER was conducted in Santiago 24-28 October 2011.

Site: The AOS Utilities contract was delayed due to the termination of the former contractor 30 Jun 2010. The new contract was signed December 2010 and work restarted on site on 3 January 2011. AOS road construction work is 89% complete. This contract restarted in October 2011 after the winter break and is scheduled to complete in Q4 FY 2011.

Antenna: During Q3 FY2011 the 14th Vertex antenna was fully accepted into the JAO. Pointing acceptance testing began on the 15th Vertex antenna. Integration, commissioning, and acceptance testing on the 16th Vertex antenna is nearing completion with acceptance of the antenna by the JAO expected shortly in early Q4 FY 2011.

Nutator: The performance of the servo control system was optimized while the rocker arm and stow mechanism redesign was completed in Taiwan. Upon completion of the servo control, unit #1 will be returned to Taiwan for refurbishment and then transported to Chile.

Front End: NA Front Ends are off the critical path: delivery of the 14th NA Front End is expected in FY 2011. Production of WCA bands 3, 6, 7, and 9 is on schedule. Band 3 Cold Cartridge Assembly (CCA) deliveries are ahead of schedule. Band 6 CCA mixer production yield was low due to an unnecessarily stringent internal acceptance criterion. The criterion (amplitude stability) has been reset and production yields have increased correspondingly. The Front End Service Vehicle #1 successfully completed its PAI on 28 Jun in Taiwan and is now in-transit to Chile.

Back End: The Central LO Article 2 was installed Mar 2011. In Q3 and into early Q4, a short final installation campaign has begun to install and accept the remaining cable harnessing and Subarray Switch and Line Length Corrector modules needed to complete distribution to the full 66 antenna array. AA’s are continuing to be assembled and accepted for shipment in Socorro.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 78

Correlator: Quadrants 1 and 2 were reconfigured and verified for 2-quadrant operation, servicing up to 32 antennas. Quadrants 3, at the AOS, and 4, in Charlottesville, are in use for firmware and software verification as more functionality is added. Quadrant 4 is ready for disassembly and shipping, but the actual ship date depends on when it will be needed to support 33 or more antennas. The delayed delivery of quadrant 4 currently poses no risk to budget or schedule.

Computing: Release 8.0 of the ALMA software was deployed Jan 2011; and R8.1 was deployed Jul 2011 for routine CSV use.

Science: The Plan for ALMA Early Science Cycle 0 is on schedule. The Science IPT participates in an Imaging Tiger Team at the NAASC, which works with the CSV imaging team through analysis of ALMA data to verify performance of the array. Several science verification images made with ALMA data during Q3 2011 show that the performance of the array is already impressive, equal in sensitivity and spectral compass to the best millimeter arrays in the world. Two datasets were released as part of the Science Verification program.

SPO-7 activities: Delivery of production Band 4 and 8 CCAs is scheduled for Q4. NA FEIC is prepared to retrofit these cold cartridges into assembled Front Ends. Test operations plans for both Bands is complete. A formal Statement of Work is being prepared to cover the transferred production of five FEs from the NA FEIC to the EA FEIC.

Office of Chilean Affairs (OCA): The number of employees for which OCA provides ALMA with legal, payroll and travel support is now 242 local staff (217 under JAO supervision, 25 under AUI/NRAO’s). The shift forms for night operators was signed by the Union, thus completing regularization of all work shifts for ALMA. The Internal Rules & Regulations Manual was updated to include the new “ALMA Alcohol and Drugs Misuse Policy”. OCA continued to provide the legal and institutional support for numerous ALMA contracts and procurements. The termination of the AOS Utilities – Electrical and FO cables installation contract with Echeverría & Kelly Ltda. continues to involve additional litigation.

EVLA

EVLA Construction: The focus has been on completing the VLA to EVLA antenna retrofit, populating the 1–50 GHz continuous frequency coverage receiver bands in each antenna, and demonstrating the full range of WIDAR capabilities. The project remains on schedule, with only a few outstanding requirements yet to be completed. These include the qualification and production of the 3-bit, 4 Gsps sampler assemblies, the completion of production for four Front End receiver bands, and the development of solar observing capability at L-band. The financial health of the project is solid. Project contingency remains at a high level and is in a strong position to assure project completion.

Systems Integration: The EVLA antennas have resumed a regular overhaul schedule. As the first antennas to be upgraded to EVLA status are cycled through the barn, their electronics are also being brought up to the standard of the current EVLA design.

Subsystems for the EVLA are complete with the exception of those described below.

Antennas: The final shipment of Ku-band (12–18 GHz) feed horns from GB will occur Sep 2011. These feeds represent the last remaining major mechanical component for the EVLA.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 79

Front End: C-, K-, Ka-, and Q-band receiver installation is complete. L-, S-, X-, and Ku-band receiver production remains in progress. A full complement will be available for astronomical use by the end of EVLA construction in 2012.

Correlator: All WIDAR components have been delivered and the correlator’s capabilities are being explored and developed on a daily basis. A two-fold acceptance plan, with one portion covering the basic hardware while the other part is concerned with on-the-sky testing, is being written. Hardware testing is ongoing and will be completed by summer 2011 while the more involved task of verifying the WIDAR capabilities will continue throughout 2011.

Fiber Optic System: Prototype 3-bit, 4 Gsps samplers were installed for evaluation on the array in Jul 2010 but did not pass their acceptance tests. Revised prototypes were installed Apr 2011, and testing is ongoing. The plan remains for the successful production and implementation of the 3-bit samplers prior to the close of EVLA construction in 2012. If necessary, contingency funding will be used to hire additional staff to accelerate the retrofit of the existing Digital Transmission System (DTS) modules with 3-bit samplers, and to install and test these on the array.

Science Support Software (SSS): The new Observation Scheduling Tool was implemented for dynamic scheduling, which interfaces to the same databases as the other SSS software tools and uses a common software library. The Observation Preparation Tool prepares and executes EVLA observations. The Archive Access Tool provides access to the science data archive, and fully supports the download of both VLA and EVLA data.

EVLA Commissioning & Early Science: Commissioning has focused on characterizing the behavior and performance of the observing bands and broad observing modes to improve the efficiency and quality of the science observing; the day-to-day data integrity has been maintained in the face of ongoing development as well as the generation of detailed guidelines for observing strategies at all frequencies and for different science goals.

The first astronomical observations at 74 MHz were made during a special campaign that covered the B, BnA, and A configurations. The system was tested and commissioned in Q2, in time for the science campaign in Q3. The first tests of dividing the EVLA into multiple sub-arrays occurred Q3. The planetary/ephemeris object observing modes were enabled in Q2, and delivered the first detection of the Pluto/Charon system at wavelengths longer than 3mm. Modes with increased numbers of spectral channels over a given bandwidth were enabled for RSR observations.

The OSRO program that provides capabilities for the general user community, and the RSRO program, available to visiting scientists in residence at the Domenici Science Operations Center (DSOC), have been paced principally by the incremental progress in the WIDAR correlator functionality.

Largely based on the successful commissioning of the initial RSRO capabilities we have also been able to offer 16 correlator sub-bands, and up to 2 GHz instantaneous bandwidth, to the general user community at the 1 Feb 2011 proposal deadline, for observations starting in the next D-configuration. The RSRO program continues to advance toward the full WIDAR capabilities and will offer enhanced spectral modes as well as recirculation and hardware stacking modes for enhanced channel resolution. The push to 8 GHz bandwidths is underway and expected to be available to RSRO scientists, for at least a subset of antennas, at the beginning of 2012.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 80

A full suite of tools is available to the community in support of EVLA observations, including the Proposal Submission Tool, Observing Preparation Tool, Archive Access Tool, and Post-Processing (CASA, AIPS).

Array Operations: The azimuth bearing replacement program is being carried out because of premature, excessive wear. We are replacing the azimuth bearings on the remaining EVLA antennas at the rate of one per year, with a spare bearing always kept in reserve in the case of a catastrophic failure. In1998, a VLA track system inspection found roughly one-third of the railroad ties to be past their service life. 20,000 ties along with ballast were purchased with ARRA funds. In Nov 2010 the Visiting Scientist Quarters at the EVLA site were demolished due to expensive maintenance issues related to age, such as the corrosion of sprinkler system pipes.

A new 90TB parallel Lustre based file system with an aggregate data rate of approximately 4.5GBytes/second was added to supply data post processing clusters and staff workstations. The archive storage cluster was increased by an additional 120TB bringing the total storage capacity to 240TB plus a duplicate 240TB system for backup.

VLBA

DiFX software correlator: This software correlator began supporting two new observing modes in trimester 2010C: correlation of multiple phase centers in a single processing pass, and the selection of spectral subsets of the observed bands (“spectral zooming”).

High Sensitivity Array (HSA): The HSA continues to be available, though without the phased EVLA. Good progress is being made towards commissioning the phased array capabilities on the EVLA, primarily through the participation of EVLA RSRO visitors.

Tiger Team visits: Tiger Team visits occurred at the North Liberty, Fort Davis (elevation bearing only), and Owens Valley VLBA sites. The major mechanical work for the C-band upgrade is done opportunistically with each tiger team visit.

GBT

Site Infrastructure: A number of site infrastructure projects were undertaken over the past year, many funded through the ARAA. These included an elevated water tank, building roof repairs, and boiler improvements.

Storage facility: A new warehouse was built on site near the central instrument shop to allow for the storage of equipment that previously was left exposed to the elements. This new building also allows for temporary storage of parts built onsite and awaiting offsite shipment.

Internet Access & Telephone system: NRAO staff continues to work with both the state of WV and private companies to improve the broadband speed out of GB to Internet2 as well as to improve the phone system to Green Bank, which has suffered numerous failures over the past year. Progress with the state of West Virginia/Frontier Telecom has been slow, but work continues, with an expectation of a 10Gb/s connect directly from Green Bank, WV to the physics building at the College of Ebberly Arts and Science at West Virginia University (Morgantown) within two years. Another local telecom cooperative, SKSRT, is also planning a broadband connection to GB.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 81

5. Observatory Development and Programs

CDL

Amplifier Development: Several samples from new 35nm InP HEMT wafer of three different designs were delivered for packaging and testing. These include two wideband 68-116 GHz designs and one improved 67-90 GHz design. LNAs using the first iteration of the 67-90 GHz design were delivered to GB for use in the new GBT 4mm receiver. Work continued on understanding the performance of 30 micron wide cryo3 devices at W-band, following the development of a 75-120 GHz demonstration amplifier. Development of W-band (68-120 GHz) low noise amplifiers is extremely important for the transition from cm – mm wavelengths. A 75-120 GHz amplifier using NGST cryo3 wafer devices with noise temperature of less than 70 K over the whole band was demonstrated with the minimum noise temperature of 26K of at 80 GHz. This best noise temperature in the band is about the same as the best recent results provided by NGST 35nm gate length technology. The work is now continuing on improving the broadband noise performance. The commercial L-band amplifiers from MITEQ to be used in MeerKat Array receivers have been successfully evaluated at cryogenic temperatures.

Amplifier Production: New amplifier production included amplifiers for 230-470 MHz, 1-2 GHz, 2-4 GHz, 4-8 GHz, 8-12 GHz, 12-18 GHz, and 18-26 GHz. Repair, upgrade, and retesting of amplifiers included 1- 2 GHz, 4-8 GHz, 8-12 GHz, and 12-18 GHz. In total, 60 amplifiers were shipped. The EVLA and VLBA amplifier and production is on schedule. The delivery of K-band amplifiers to MPI has been completed.

Electromagnetic Development: Far-field patterns of the X-band feed were measured in the E-, H- and 45˚- planes and found to be satisfactory. The taper at the edge of the main reflector varies from -10.9 dB to - 15.1 dB between 8 and 10 GHz.

Advanced Receiver Development: The goal of the advanced receiver development is to digitize the receiver signal as close as possible to the RF, and integrate the complete signal chain from RF to optical fiber into a compact, low-power package. This will provide performance, operability and reliability improvements to all NRAO receivers. Three experimental LNAs using SiGe transistors from a new wafer run have been built and tested. This required the addition of Al wire-bonding capability in the lab, a material system and technique not previously used in radio astronomy instrumentation but which will be important in the future to leverage commercial advances in Si-based technology. The amplifiers exhibit 6K minimum noise at 2 GHz, an encouraging first result. All components of the S-Band cryogenic Digital Orthomode Transducer (DOMT) receiver are complete. If successful, this receiver will be more compact than our current state-of-the art designs, and will enhance the sensitivity of cm-wave observations ~ 10-20% by reducing the noise contribution of input losses in front of the cryogenic amplifiers. A follow-up design to the S-Band DOMT receiver has been roughed out in a paper design study. Based on triple-ridged waveguide, this innovative design would achieve 1-3 GHz instantaneous bandwidth with no compromise in receiver noise temperature compared to our current best instruments. This distinguishes it from most other broadband receiver technologies currently proposed, where system temperature is sacrificed in favor of instantaneous bandwidth.

Millimeter & Submillimeter-Wave Receiver Development: The ability to manufacture SIS junctions is vital to ALMA and other sub-mm telescopes. The UVA Microfabrication Laboratory (UVML) is one of the few locations in the world with this capability. A high level of contamination was found following factory modification of the Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) source at the UVML. The ICP system was rebuilt, cleaned, and purged of contaminant. SIS junction characteristics with AlN barriers are now approaching mixer quality and continue to improve as ICP continues to operate. After one more ICP run to determine barrier thickness versus nitridation time, the 385-500 GHs SIS mixers will be fabricated.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 82

Development of ALMA Band 10 (780-950) mixers based on 385-500 GHz prototype work continues. A NASA call for proposals for SOFIA 2nd Generation Instrumentation has been released. In addition to concept development of multi-pixel 1.2-1.5 THz HEB receiver for proposal, prototype fabrication has begun of a 1.5 THz mixer block with feedhorn.

Phased Array Feed (PAF): The phased array feed forms 7 beams on the sky by combining the signals from 19 dipoles placed in the telescope focal plane. Applications include HI mapping, pulsar surveys, and EOR science on the GBT. The primary objective of the ambient-temperature array measurements was to test the design assumptions that the array system noise can be improved with an optimal impedance match between the array-embedded dipoles and the low-noise amplifiers. The cryogenic version is the first cryogenic phased array feed ever tried and has the lowest system temperature of any PAF to date.

The Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER): The components for the 64-element array in South Africa were fabricated, shipped and deployed successfully. The GB array has been reconfigured into three north–south lines and astronomy observations continue with emphasis on the study of cross- coupling among the elements.

The Lunar University Node for Astrophysics Research (LUNAR): This is a grant from the NASA Lunar Science Institute to develop instrumentation for lunar-based research. Current activity is focused on the Explorer-class DARE mission proposal, particularly the antenna and front-end design concepts.

Broadband Active Feed: The cryogenic version was cooled to 100K in the receiver test range in GB and the performance was found to be consistent with modeling.

VLBA Sensitivity Upgrade: This project aims to deliver 2 Gbps to users by Jul 2011 and to demonstrate 4 Gbps operation in 2012. Access to 2 Gbps was advertised for the 1 Feb 2011 proposal deadline, on a best-effort basis. First scientific use of the Sensitivity Upgrade equipment is anticipated by mid-2011, at an intermediate expanded bandwidth of 256 MHz per polarization, equivalent to 2 Gbps sampled data rate. New recording media and correlation processing resources, sufficient to support nearly full-time operation at this data rate, were acquired through a NSF MRI R2 award.

VLBA C-band Upgrade: This upgrade enable observations of the 6.7-GHz methanol maser line, the best marker for precision astrometric measurements of distances to and transverse motions in high-mass star forming regions over the Galaxy. The project is making good progress, with a completion date at Q3 end, FY12. Work is being performed on a best–effort basis using resources partially allocated to the EVLA project, which has priority. The GB Central Instrument Shop is fabricating the feeds. The VLA Machine shop is fabricating the dewars, OMTs, and modules; CDL is providing the LNAs. An upgraded version of the DiFX software correlator was implemented Oct 2010 per the plan for special observing modes. This upgrade replaces the existing receiver with a 4–8 GHz EVLA style receiver, adds a wideband downconverter, upgrades the Monitor and Control system, and brings EVLA control system infrastructure to the VLBA, including a local fiber network. This project was made possible by substantial funding provided by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. Design, construction, and trial installation of prototype feeds have been completed. Sequential removal of receivers from service in the array started in Mar.

GBT K-Band Focal Plane Array (KFPA) was returned to the lab in Q3 FY11 for an enhancement to add a wideband mode for two beams. The milestone of releasing the KPFA for general use was achieved with 153 hours of observing scheduled in Q2 FY11.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 83

GBT FPGA Spectrometer: Following the Q2 FY11 Conceptual Design Review, detailed designs for the modes and interfaces were developed in Q3. The infrastructure design for the new spectrometer was completed and work started on the IF routing, clock routing, and signal switching systems. This project is in collaboration with the UC Berkeley CASPER group.

GBT Precision Telescope Control System (PTCS ): In Q3FY11, an enhanced control kernel was added into the servo system code base running on the system simulator in the servo lab. A paper describing the design and operation of the Quadrant Detector system was accepted by the PASP, and a paper on the traditional holography techniques used to improve the GBT’s surface was submitted.

GBT 4mm receiver: First light was achieved in Q3FY11 using LNAs and post amplifiers from other projects and GB stock.

GBT Dynamic Scheduling (DSS): The DSS team continued its improvements to the scheduling algorithm, including usability and robustness improvements to the Schedulers' Tools, completion of the new Resource Calendar to ease the scheduling of maintenance days and activities, release of the new sensitivity calculator for GBT proposers, and continued improvements to the scheduling algorithm inspired by continued simulation as well as scheduler feedback.

GB 20-meter Telescope: The X-Band receiver was installed on the 20m telescope and connected to M&C systems, cryogenic systems, local oscillator, and IF system to control room and demonstrated to the UNC Skynet team. All interfaces passed tests and the receiver performance was as expected.

New Initiatives Office

Future of the VLBA: A workshop with major international VLBI and US stakeholders was held in CV 27-29 Jan 2011. It emphasized the enormous scientific promise of VLBA and that it would be severely damaged by any reduction in the number of sites. Pledges of ~$1M per year for VLBA operations were received from a half-dozen institutions. Intensive efforts are now underway to transform these pledges into working agreements.

DVA-1: NIO continued to work with TDP, DRAO and the SPDO to refine the DVA-1 Program Letter of Intent. NRAO continues to examine the strategic relationship of the proposed work to the needs of the US astronomy community. A CoDR held in Socorro 3-4 Feb 2011 received generally positive reviews.

China: the NRAO Director and the SHAO Director signed Agreements 20 May 2011. Export assessments for C-band receivers and future hardware to SHAO are underway and we are examining both Dept. of Commerce and Department of State (ITAR) regulations.

RadioAstron: Launch occurred 18 July 2011. Formal negotiations for a ground station agreement will not begin until the satellite is demonstrated as functional and healthy on-orbit.

Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR): Preparations for the FASR construction project have moved into a discussion phase with NSF/AGS.

USSKA Consortium: NRAO personnel attended the USSKA Consortium meeting in Albuquerque, which was focused on the response to Astro2010 and interfacing with the international SKA project on possible activities this coming decade. These discussions are ongoing, as is development of a coherent US strategy for future SKA involvement. NRAO is a key participant in these discussions.

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6. Broader Impacts

Education & Public Outreach

ALMA documentary: ALMA HD Broadcast Documentary filming was conducted in Europe Dec 2010 at Airborne Composites and Vertex Antennentechnik. HD filming was also conducted in CV during Oct 2010 at the NRAO Technology Center, the UVA Center for Chemistry in the Universe, and the UVA Microfabrication Lab. Filming in Chile at the ALMA site included 20+ trips to the Array Operations Site and a day of helicopter aerials in Mar. General Dynamics underwrote half the cost of the aerials. Filming of astronomer interviews for the broadcast documentary was conducted at the Jan AAS meeting. With all but pick-up filming completed, the ALMA documentary has moved into the editing stage. EPO has filmed several pick-up shots of ALMA receivers and the UVA grounds per request from the editor.

Public website: EPO staff and several guests met 24-26 Jan to brainstorm a vision and content outline for a new public web site. A web programmer was hired. The public website re-design will feature clean, luminous “app-like” design and multiple “stage configurations” for display of visual content. The Joomla content management system was selected as being most compatible.

Press releases & media: A press release and press conference at the May AAS on ALMA Early Science in Boston generated significant press coverage. A Popular Science article on world’s biggest science projects will feature both EVLA and VLBA. Popular Science feature on “College Labs” will feature photos of NRAO summer students at the EVLA. A press conference held at the Feb AAAS meeting in Washington DC was in support of a VLBA-themed science symposium and generated good coverage, including Time magazine.

STEM Education: Numerous overnight educational events are being conducted at GB, including research with the 40-foot telescope. The 2011 Pulsar Search Collaboratory has 230 students from 32 schools actively participating. Students discovered three new pulsars during Q2. A Chautauqua course on radio astronomy for teachers gathered enough registrations to succeed after a 2-year hiatus. NRAO had a prime-location booth opposite the National Air and Space Museum for the USA Science and Engineering Festival on the National Mall 23-24 Oct. and enjoyed capacity crowds. The annual GB Open House drew 400+ guests and was promoted as an official Satellite Event of the USA Science and Engineering Festival.

EVLA Visitor Center: Guided tours are part of the new “First Saturdays” program and are generating visitation and gift shop sales triple that of comparable Saturdays in previous years. The Fall EVLA Open House was held the first Saturday in October with 427 people attending.

Businessmen & Government Representatives visit ALMA: NRAO Chile and High Management Net from Universidad del Desarrollo, organized a visit to ALMA for businessmen and Government representatives. More than 30 people visited the radio observatory to learn about its technology and the role of ALMA as a relevant initiative of managing a science project in Chile.

NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 85

Human Resources – Diversity

NRAO continued developing a proactive recruitment process that focuses on finding and attracting diverse candidates to the Observatory. The emphasis is on improving diversity within the Scientific Staff and engineering staff, developing a formal process covering all levels of hiring within the Observatory that supports diversity hiring and creates manager accountability for following the process. We are also working with Dr. Marcus Martin, Chief Diversity and Equity Officer at UVA on future collaborations.

7. Management and Administration/Observatory Support Services

Office of Science & Academic Affairs

Chris Carilli replaced Tim Bastian as OSAA Head in Mar 2011. Dale Frail was named the Assistant Director for New Mexico operations. The annual NRAO postdoc symposium was held in Charlottesville Apr 2011, with talks by all postdocs and outside experts. Sander Weinreb (JPL/Caltech) was named the 2011 Jansky Lecturer.

Spectrum Management

The FCC was more active in one month at the end of 2010 than in the preceding three years, concerning issues affecting radio astronomy. Some of the issues in the experimental radio license proceeding are potentially troubling. NRAO is prepared to submit comments to FCC on: reallocation of spectrum adjacent to the radio astronomy band at 42.5 – 43.5 GHz; prospective reallocation of TV broadcast spectrum to foster sharing of some channels and vacancy of others; establishment of new experimental radio licenses in test zones that might not be required to observe protections for radio astronomy bands since they would be in such remote areas; and on the use of radio systems that access spectrum on an as-available basis.

Human Resources (HR)

Employee Climate Survey: The NRAO completed its analysis of the results of the Employee Climate Survey and established an action plan that focuses on four key issues: (1) Improve Morale; (2) Clarify NRAO Management Roles; (3) Build Management Experience, and (4) Balance Compensation and Benefits with Workforce.

Benefits: Completed Implementation of Heath Care Reform (HCR) and other Federal mandates in NRAO benefit plans. HR is supporting implementation through Q4 for the identification of HIPAA protected information locations and sources and the development of HR processes to maintain security. Work on Total Rewards Strategy continues, but has been delayed by other tasks. Other priorities, including Health Care Reform and electronic open enrollment took majority of benefits resources. Alternative Medical Plan Options – planning has begun for development of HSA or other medical option. Will continue to develop in coming year(s). AUI Board mandate to reduce or eliminate AUI FAS 106 liability.

Training: Established an on-going management development program, initially targeting new and future managers who are members of the NRAO Scientific Staff. The initial program focused on ~ 20 current and high-potential future managers from NRAO’s Scientific Staff.

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Computing & Information Services (CIS)

Science Data Management and VAO: In line with the Archive growth predictions, CIS is upgrading the Archive storage solution to enable ingestion at a rate > 1 Petabyte/yr. Work is also underway to install an integrated User Portal to enable support of Observer Services, including VO compliant Archive Access as well as enabling High Performance Computing to analyze these data. To support early science, the immediate focus is on EVLA archive data management leveraging the Next Generation Archive System (NGAS) originally adopted for ALMA. For GBT data, a collaboration with TeraGrid and NCSA has resulted in 200 Terabytes of archive quality storage being allocated to host pulsar search survey data. Gigabit Perimeter router/firewalls installed for both CV and AOC bandwidth improved to ~700 Mbit/sec. CIS is proceeding with implementation of archive synchronization for EVLA and ALMA to CV. A contract between NRAO and NOAO was signed for shared Gigabit link to Chile, with final acceptance pending the Santiago Metropolitan Link.

Computing Support Service Management: CIS is moving to a user-centric service-oriented approach to providing information technology in a uniform and scalable manner. The adoption of a commercial grade Helpdesk solution has greatly increased our ability to track and address user concerns.

Computing Security: CIS has adopt a Risk Management approach to security with identification and ranking of contributory elements that could compromise the ability of the Observatory to service the needs of the scientific research community. The 5-level ranking of information sensitivity and annual security training for all employees is essential to this effort.

Networking and Telecommunications: The NRAO is a sponsored participant in the Internet2 and National Lambda Rail (NLR) research networks from all major locations. We will continue to ensure that the network capacity will be adequate to support operations driven by project requirements, as well as those needed of video conferencing a data sharing with the wider community.

Common Computing Environments (CCE): The CCE ensures that all NRAO sites and services are actively coordinated where appropriate (e.g. E-mail, desktop standards and central file storage). The increase in data virtualization and growth in mobile access (smart phone, tablets, and laptops) present unique opportunities for enhancing access mitigated by security and manageability concerns.

Web Support: The NAASC User Portal and Observing Tool went live for the ALMA Early Science call, and an ALMA-wide Helpdesk (hosted at NAASC) moved into production. CIS is working to create an optimum computing, storage, and network environment for the NRAO user community, including increased support for high performance computing and VAO-compliant archive access.

SC10 High Performance Computing conference: CIS participated in the exhibit, and had substantial representation in the tutorial and technical sessions at this key annual conference.

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Appendix D: FY 2012 NRAO Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal

The NRAO takes seriously its role of protecting and assuring that the physical assets needed for the functioning of the Observatory are maintained and renewed as required. Infrastructure systems include fixed assets, control systems, and software required to operate, manage and monitor the systems. Infrastructure also includes accessory buildings, roads, communications systems, energy, waste, and water management facilities, and site vehicle and maintenance equipment that are an essential part of the overall system.

Although the NRAO sites are responsible for infrastructure performance, prioritization of site infrastructure maintenance and repair needs is both a site responsibility and an Observatory-wide activity. The site prioritizes and performs routine maintenance and repair. Extraordinary maintenance and repair requirements are prioritized and funded at the Observatory-wide level. As not all infrastructure needs can be funded at the present allocation levels, NRAO maintains a prioritized list of infrastructure initiatives in case funds become available and as a reminder of issues and opportunities pending. Full details for these projects are maintained outside this document.

The FY2012 Program Operating Plan includes the following routine maintenance and infrastructure renewal activities:

1. ALMA Maintenance Plans and Schedules

The routine, daily maintenance of the ALMA site infrastructure, antennas, front ends, and associated equipment are performed by the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) in Chile. Another aspect of ALMA technical support is the off-site maintenance performed by the Executives to ensure that experts from each subsystem are retained and continue to efficiently repair and update their construction products.

Antennas: ALMA hardware maintenance is based upon the concept of a line replaceable unit (LRU) and is separated into three tiers. Tier 1 maintenance is the detection of a fault in an LRU and the replacement of that LRU with a spare. Tier 2 maintenance is the root cause diagnosis of a fault, and the repair and retest of the LRU. Tier 1 and 2 maintenance is performed by the JAO at the ALMA site. Tier 3 maintenance includes the off-site, Executive-based test, repair, and recalibration of LRU sub-assemblies that are beyond the knowledge, equipment, and capabilities of Tier 2. The hardware maintained in North America (NA) includes the cold-cartridge assemblies for Bands 3 and 6, the warm cartridges assemblies for Bands 3, 6, 7 ,and 9, monitor and control modules, IF switches, and backend subsystems including data transmitters and receivers, reference generators, photonic modules, and local oscillator modules.

Software: The ALMA software group in NA is responsible for supporting the ALMA science pipeline, the offline data reduction and analysis package known as CASA, and the project tracking tool. NA is also responsible for supporting software systems critical to successful telescope operations, including monitor and control, correlator software, and telescope dynamic scheduling. The off-site maintenance of this software falls into a number of categories including software modification to correct problems based on bug reports, modifications to keep software useable in a changing environment (e.g. a new operating system), modifications to improve performance or maintainability, and modifications to detect and correct latent faults in the software.

The construction activities of many groups within ALMA-NA is coming to an end, and the transition of the construction staff to operations was started in late 2011 to ensure that staff possessing skills unique and critical to ALMA operations and maintenance were retained. The transition of the ALMA-NA NRAO | FY 2012 Program Operating Plan 88

software and backend groups in Socorro, NM, is largely complete. The transition of the ALMA-NA front end, local oscillator, and photonics groups in Charlottesville is underway and should be complete by mid-2012. The off-site maintenance activity has commenced as Early Science observations with ALMA have begun.

2. EVLA Maintenance Plans and Schedules

Antennas: EVLA antennas will be routinely cycled through the Antenna Assembly Building for a checkout and overhaul throughout FY 2012. The overhaul process includes (1) structural inspections that may reveal existing and potential problems; (2) the installation of upgrades to mechanical parts, electrical systems and electronic equipment; (3) addressing maintenance issues that require the Antenna Assembly Building resources, such as azimuth gear and bearing replacement; (4) inspecting and changing oil in gear boxes; (5) carrying out touch-up painting on the structure; and (6) repairing and replacing parts as needed. Routine checkout and overhaul takes approximately six weeks, so that each antenna will undergo this process at roughly three-year intervals. The process of replacing one antenna azimuth bearing per year will continue, with antenna 10 scheduled for a bearing change in FY 2012.

Ongoing array maintenance will continue routinely in FY 2012 outside of the antenna overhaul process. This includes cold-head and compressor maintenance for the cryogenic receivers, repair of failed parts in the front ends, servo and LO-IF systems, and the maintenance and repair of fiber optic connections. Antenna mechanics also check grease for metal chips on all antennas in the field to be alerted for potential failure of moving parts, especially azimuth gears.

Track: During FY 2012, inspection of the EVLA railroad tracks will continue, checking for problems that could compromise the safety of the transporters that carry the antennas during array reconfigurations; approximately 60 antennas are relocated annually during these configuration changes. These inspections also guard against problems that could jeopardize the safety of the maintenance rail vehicles that are used by technicians to service the antennas.

Maintaining track integrity requires specialized railroad repair vehicles and equipment, as well as ballast, rails and track intersections. ARRA stimulus funding was used in FY 2010 to purchase a multi-year supply of railroad ties, ballast and installation hardware in addition to a replacement rail tamper, spiker, as well as a spike-puller. Approximately 5000 ties will be replaced along the ~44 miles of array tracks in FY 2012; replacing a single tie requires about one ton of ballast.

All pads slated for antenna installations are inspected prior to each reconfiguration. The array will be in the D configuration at the beginning of FY 2012, and will continue moving through the new configuration cycle that was instituted when the WIDAR correlator entered service in FY 2010. It should be noted that the array configuration schedule may be subject to change driven by EVLA commissioning needs and proposal pressure. The table below reflects the current plan for FY 2012.

Table 4.7: Planned FY 2012 EVLA Array Re-Configuration Dates

Correlator: Since coming on line in FY 2010, the EVLA correlator will continue to require routine maintenance for its HVAC, fire suppression, and UPS systems. Maintenance and repair of correlator boards, racks, fans, power supplies and related parts, is still driven by the commissioning process. As a

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general matter, it is expected that maintenance and servicing requirements for the new, more complex WIDAR correlator will be greater than its predecessor.

Site Infrastructure: The EVLA site buildings and grounds will continue to undergo routine annual inspection and maintenance in FY 2012. This includes annual road grading; roof repairs; heating and cooling systems maintenance; pest and weed control; fire brigade and emergency medical response team training; servicing of petroleum fuel system, sewer systems, water supply, backup generator power, electrical lines and related systems.

Vehicle Support: The EVLA continues to operate more than 50 vehicles and heavy equipment items, such as loaders, tampers, backhoes, trenchers, and buses. Many of these are used daily and will continue to be routinely serviced and repaired to remain in safe, efficient working condition through FY 2012 and onward.

3. VLBA Maintenance Plans and Schedules

Antennas: In FY 2012, the Mauna Kea, Kitt Peak and Los Alamos VLBA stations are scheduled to receive major maintenance visits by the VLBA Tiger Team comprising personnel from the New Mexico-based antenna mechanics and servo groups (Q2, Q3, Q4). The team will inspect, repair, and upgrade mechanical and electronic components, as needed. Gears will be greased and checked for early signs of potential failure, and elevation bearings checked. Most, if not all, of the VLBA antennas will likely need both elevation bearings replaced within the next five years. The Kitt Peak antenna will have an azimuth wheel assembly replaced.

Correlator, Recorders and Playback Units: Routine maintenance to the Mark5 recording and playback units will continue. We expect to bring back the Mark5A units from the VLBA stations to Socorro to increase the number of playback units.

Electronics: Each VLBA station has eight cooled receivers and two helium compressors that are routinely checked and repaired by local site technicians or, if needed, by personnel dispatched from Socorro. Site technicians routinely perform weekly and monthly preventive maintenance, and many tasks related to inspection and maintenance of the VLBA masers and GPS receivers, servo systems, electrical systems, and site recorders, will be ongoing.

4. GBT Maintenance Plans and Schedules

GBT: The GBT will undergo routine maintenance processes throughout FY 2012. Maintenance processes for the telescope will include (1) Structural painting (performed through the summer months), (2) periodic monitoring of the GBT surface through traditional and out-of-focus holography techniques, (3) replacement of the actuators on the GBT’s secondary mirror, and (4) weekly preventative maintenance activities, comprised of the installation of upgrades to mechanical parts, electrical systems and electronic equipment, monitoring and lubrication of azimuth and elevation gears and bearings, inspecting and changing oil in gear boxes, and repairing and replacing parts as needed. Additionally, the three year cycle for structural inspections will be performed in FY 2012.

GBT Maintenance: The GBT is a large and complex structure, with over 2000 actuated surface panels and 16 million pounds of moving weight. Structural painting is performed annually, structural inspections on three year cycle (with the next inspection taking place in FY 2012), and preventative maintenance is performed weekly.

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Monitoring and improvements of the GBT surface (quarterly): The GBT now has an excellent r.m.s. of <250 μm across the 2.3 acre surface. To maintain the scientific efficiency of the telescope, periodic monitoring of the GBT surface is required through traditional and out-of-focus holography techniques. Replacement of the actuators on the GBT’s secondary mirror (FY2012/2013): The age of the actuators on the GBT’s secondary surface require the replacement of those actuators in the FY2012/2013 timescale to ensure continued accuracy of the GBT’s pointing and focus.

GBT painting (annual): Extreme weather conditions in GB dictate that common maintenance cycles for items such as painting be performed in the warmer summer months. As part of our regular annual cycle of maintenance, painting and reconditioning of the telescope is done every summer by a crew of painters hired as employees for an approximate 4 month timeframe.

GBT and other telescopes: Ongoing telescope front-end and back-end maintenance will continue routinely in FY 2012, including cold-head and compressor maintenance for the cryogenic receivers, repair of failed parts in the front ends, servo and LO-IF systems, and the maintenance and repair of fiber optic connections. Antenna mechanics also check grease for metal chips, on the GBT and all other antennas, in the field to be alerted for potential failure of moving parts, especially azimuth truck bearings and elevation gears and bearings.

Site Infrastructure: The GB site buildings and grounds will continue to undergo routine annual inspection and maintenance in FY 2012. This includes annual road repair and winter plowing; roof repairs; heating and cooling systems maintenance; pest and weed control; servicing of sewer systems, water supply, backup generator power, HVAC systems, electrical lines and related systems.

Road repair, maintenance, and plowing (as needed): The GB site owns and maintains all roads within its boundary, and is therefore responsible to repair all damage and keep the roads clear for proper use and, most importantly, for the passage of emergency vehicles when necessary. To that end, the maintenance group is responsible to repair all road damage caused by accident or weather extreme, and plow the roads of snow in the winter. Proper maintenance of the roads has kept them in outstanding shape over the course of the last 50 years with minimal outlay of funds for replacement. These activities are required to ensure the GB site and the GBT remain in a current state of repair.

Vehicle Support: The GB site continues to operate more than 65 vehicles and heavy equipment items, such as loaders, dozers, backhoes, trenchers, tractors, mowers, fleet vehicles, and buses. All of these are used daily and will continue to be routinely serviced and repaired to remain in safe, efficient working condition through FY 2012 and onward.

5. CDL & HQ Maintenance Plans and Schedules

The Edgemont Road facilities are leased from University of Virginia (UVa) and therefore all maintenance and repair is handled by their internal facilities engineering department. They follow a preventative maintenance schedule and respond to emergency requests as needed. The NRAO Technology Center (NTC), where the Coordinated Development Laboratory and NRAO production is housed, is leased and maintained through a private leaseholder agreement and maintenance and repairs are subject to the provisions of the agreement.

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Appendix E: Senior Management Staff

Senior Management Lo, Fred K.Y. Director Jewell, Philip Deputy Director Wingate, Lory Associate Director for Observatory Program Management Under Recruitment Associate Director for Administration McKinnon, Mark NA ALMA Project Director, NA ALMA Project Manager Frail, Dale Assistant Director for the EVLA, VLBA, and Site Director for NM Operations O’Neil, Karen Assistant Director for the GBT, and Site Director for GB Operations Bastian, Tim Assistant Director for Observatory Science Operations Carilli, Chris Assistant Director for Office of Science and Academic Affairs Dickman, Robert Assistant Director for New Initiatives Office Hardy, Eduardo Assistant Director for Chile Affairs Prestage, Richard Assistant Director for Coordinated Development Laboratory Stoke, John Assistant Director for Education and Public Outreach Wootten, Al Interim Assistant Director for NA ALMA Science Center Firmani, James Human Resources Manager Adams, Mark Head of Observatory Communications

Figure 1: NRAO Reporting Relationships FY 2012

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Appendix F: Science Staff

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Appendix G: Committees

The NRAO Visiting Committee

The NRAO Visiting Committee is appointed by the AUI Board of Trustees to review the management and research programs of the Observatory. The current membership as of June 2010 is listed below. Four retiring members will be replaced by AUI in September 2011.

Stefi Baum Rochester Institute of Technology Pierre Cox IRAM Reinhard Genzel Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics Timothy Heckman Johns Hopkins University George Helou Spitzer Space Telescope Victoria Kaspi McGill University Robert Kennicutt University of Cambridge Elizabeth Lada University of Florida, Gainesville Douglas Lin University of California, Santa Cruz Malcolm Longair University of Cambridge David Sanders University of Hawaii Jonas Zmuidzinas, Chair California Institute of Technology

The Users Committee

The Users Committee is made up of users and potential users of NRAO facilities from throughout the scientific community. It advises the Director and the Observatory staff on all aspects of Observatory activities that affect the users of the telescopes. This committee, which is appointed by the Director, meets annually in May or June. The current membership is listed below.

Edo Berger Harvard University Edwin Bergin University of Michigan Sarah Church Stanford University Helene Courtois Institute for Astronomy, Hawaii Mark Devlin University of Pennsylvania Eric Feigelson Penn State University Mark Heyer Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory Hiroshi Imai Kagoshima University Rick Jenet University of Texas Svetlana Jorstad Boston University Matthias Kadler NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Laurent Loinard UNAM Amy Lovell Agnes Scott College Ue-Li Pen University of Toronto Gordon Richards Drexel University Eva Schinnerer Max-Planck-Institut fűr Astronomie Aneta Siemiginowska Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA Michael Skrutskie University of Virginia Lisa Storrie-Lombardi Caltech David Thompson NASAs GSFC David Wilner Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA

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The Panel to Advise on Science and EVLA Operations (PASEO)

The Panel to Advise on Science and EVLA Operations (PASEO) will advise the NRAO Director and the Assistant Director for New Mexico Operations on matters concerning the Science commissioning and early science priorities for the EVLA. Members will be appointed by the NRAO Director in consultation with the Assistant Director for New Mexico Operations and the EVLA Project Scientist. Appointments to PASEO are for a three year term. The current membership is listed below.

Roger Brissenden Harvard University Alison Coil University of California, San Diego Marco de Vos ASTRON, the Netherlands Paul Ho Harvard University Zeljko Ivesic University of Washington Robert J. Ivison University of Edinburgh/Royal Observatory Karl Menten MPIfR, Bonn, Germany Ronald J. Nijboer ASTRON, the Netherlands Ue-Li Pen Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics Mark Reid Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Luis Rodriguez UNAM, Mexico Alicia Soderberg Harvard University, CfA Jacqueline van Gorkom, Chair Columbia University Fabian Walter MPIfR, Heidelberg, Germany

ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee (ANASAC)

The ANASAC provides scientific advice to the NRAO director on the science operation of ALMA and the NAASC, as representatives of the wider North American astronomical community. The current membership is listed below.

Andrew Baker Rutgers University Alberto Bolatto, Chair University of Maryland John Carpenter Caltech Richard Crutcher University of Illinois Neal Evans University of Texas Alyssa Goodman Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA Kelsey Johnson University of Virginia Leslie Looney University of Illinois Michael Mumma GSFC/University of Maryland David Neufeld Johns Hopkins University Rachel Osten STScI Deborah Padgett IPAC Douglass Scott University of British Columbia Hsien Shang ASIAA Gordon Stacey Cornell University Jonathan Williams University of Hawaii David Wilner Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA

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Internal Committee

Observatory Science and Technical Council (OSTC)

The OSTC will advise the NRAO Director, ODP, and OSAA on policy and technical issues related to science and academic affairs at the NRAO. Specific issues include the policies and activities of the SAA (Science and Academic Affairs). Other responsibilities of the OSTC include (1) call of ideas for new telescopes, new projects, and new instrumentation for existing telescopes throughout the user community; (2) provide Observatory-wide coordination and prioritization in all technical areas, including future planning and R&D (3) stimulate the scientific environment for research throughout the NRAO, including the organization of research support for the scientific staff. The members of this council serve three-year renewable terms.

Tony Kerr, co-Chair Walter Brisken, co-Chair Sanjay Bhatnagar Jim Condon Aaron Evans Dave Frayer Dick Sramek Peter Napier Bill Shillue

Ex officio and non-voting: Chris Carilli, Rick Fisher.

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Appendix H: Acronyms

Acronym Definition AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science AAs Antenna Articles AAER Annual ALMA External Review AAS American Astronomical Society AAT Archive Access Tool AGN Active Galactic Nucleus, or Active Galactic Nuclei AIPS Astronomical Image Processing System AIV Assembly Integration and Verification (AIV) ALMA Atacama Large Millimeter Array ANASAC ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee AOS Array Operations Site (ALMA, Chile) ARC ALMA Regional Center ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ASC Array Science Center ASP Associate Safety Professional ASIAA Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics AURA Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy AU Astronomical Unit AUI Associated Universities, Incorporated BE Back End BYU Brigham Young University C&P Contracts and Procurement CARS Corrective Action Requests CASA Common Astronomy Software Applications CASPER Center for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics (UC Berkeley) CASS CSIRO Astronomy and Space Sciences CCA Cold Cartridge Assembly CCE Common Computing Environments CCU Center for Chemistry of the Universe CDE Community Day Events CDL Coordinated Development Laboratory/Central Development Laboratory CDR Critical Design Review CICADA Configurable Instrument Collaboration for Agile Data Acquisition CIDL Configuration Item Documentation Lists CIS Computing and Information Services cm Centimeter CMS Content Management System CoDR Conceptual Design Review CORF Committee on Radio Frequencies COSPAR Joint Committee on Space Research CPU Central Processing Units CSA Cooperative Support Agreement CSP Certified Safety Professional CSIRO Australia’s Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation CSV Commissioning and Science Verification (ALMA) CV Charlottesville, VA DA Database Administrator DARE Dark Ages Radio Explorer dB Decibel

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Acronym Definition DBE Digital Back End DDC Digital Downconverter DI Digital Infrastructure DiFX DIstributed FX correlator DO Director’s Office DRAO Dominion Radio Astronomy Observatory DSN Deep Space Network DSO Division of Science Operations DSP Digital Signal Processing DSS Dynamic Scheduling System DVA-1 Dish Verification Antenna -1 EoR Epoch of Reionization EPO Education and Public Outreach ES&S Environment, Safety, and Security EVLA Expanded Very Large Array FASR Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope FCC Federal Communications Commission FE Front End FEIC Front End Integration Center FESV Front End Services Vehicles FITS Flexible Image Transport System FPGA Field-programmable Gate Array FTE Full-Time Equivalent FTP File Transfer Protocol FY Fiscal Year (October 1 through September 30) GB Green Bank, WV Gbps Giga-bits per second GBT Green Bank Telescope GHz Gigahertz GPS Global Positioning System GPU Graphics Processing Unit GUPPI Green Bank Ultimate Pulsar Processing Instrument HBCU Historically Black Colleges and Universities HBT Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor HD High Definition HDF High Density Files HERA Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array HFET Heterojunction Field-Effect Transistor HPC High Performance Computing HR Human Resources HV High Voltage HVAC Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning IAU International Astronomical Union ICRAR International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research IF Intermediate Frequency InP Indium Phosphide IPT Integrated Product Team ITU-R International Telecommunication Union-Radio communications Sector Scientific Committee on Frequency Allocations for Radio Astronomy and Space IUCAF Science JAO Joint ALMA Office JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Acronym Definition JSA Job Safety Analysis KFPA K-band Focal Plane Array kHz kiloHertz LIGO Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory LISA Laser Interferometer Space Antenna LMT Large Millimeter Telescope LNA Low Noise Amplifier LO Local Oscillator LO/IF Local Oscillator/Intermediate Frequency LSAMP Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation LUNAR Lunar University Node for Astrophysics Research M&C Monitor and Control M&S Materials and Supplies Mbps Mega-bits per second MeerKAT Karoo Array Telescope MHz Megahertz MIS Management Information Services mm millimeter Mm/submm Millimeter/submillimeter MMIC Monolithic Millimeter-wave Integrated Circuit MOA Memorandum of Agreement MOU Memorandum of Understanding MPIfR Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie MRI Major Research Instrumentation MSI Minority Serving Institutions as Micro-arcsecond Jy microJansky MUSTANG Multiplexed SQUID/TES Array for Ninety Gigahertz NA North American NAASC North American ALMA Science Center NANOGrav North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves NAOJ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan NAOC National Astronomical Observatory of China NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Nb Niobium NC North Carolina NIO New Initiatives Office NLR National Lambda Rail NRAO National Radio Astronomy Observatory NRL Naval Research Laboratory NRQZ National Radio Quiet Zone NSF-AST National Science Foundation – Division of Astronomical Sciences NSF-ATI National Science Foundation - Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation NTC NRAO Technology Center (Charlottesville, VA) NWNH 2010 Decadal Survey “New World New Horizons” OCA Office of Chile Affairs ODP Observatory Development & Programs OMT OrthoMode Transducer OPT Observation Preparation Tool/Optical Pointing Telescope OSAA Office of Science and Academic Affairs OSF Operations Support Facility (ALMA, Chile) OSRO Open Shared Risk Observing

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Acronym Definition OSO Observatory Science Operations OSTC Observatory Science and Technology Council OT Observing Tool OTO Observatory Telescope/Array Operations PA Product Assurance PAPER Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization PASEO Panel to Advise on Science and EVLA Operations pc parsec PEP Performance Evaluation Process PI Principle Investigator POP Program Operating Plan PPE Property Plant and Equipment PRC People’s Republic of China PRL President's Request Level PSC Pulsar Search Collaboratory PST Proposal Submission Tool PSTB Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau PTCS Precision Telescope Control System Q Fiscal Quarter R&D Research and Development RDBE ROACH Digital Backend REU Research Experiences for Undergraduates RF Radio Frequency RFI Radio-Frequency Interference RSRO Resident Shared Risk Observing SASPO South African SKA Project Office SEDS Spectral Energy Distributions SEI Systems Engineering and Integration SHAO Shanghai Astronomical Observatory SIS Superconductor–Insulator–Superconductor SKA Square Kilometre Array SMA Sub-Millimeter Array SMBH Supermassive Black Hole SOPHIA Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy SOS Student Observing Support SPDO SKA Program Development Office SPO Special Program Office SRP Science Review Panel SSO Single Sign-On STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics submm submillimeter SUBTEL Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones (Chile) SZE Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect TAC Time Allocation Committee TBytes Terabytes TDP Technology Development Project TES Transition Edge Sensor THz TeraHertz ULIRG Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxies UNC University of North Carolina U.S. United States of America USNO United States Naval Observatory

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Acronym Definition UVML University of Virginia Microfabrication Laboratory VA Virginia VAO Virtual Astronomical Observatory VLA Very Large Array VLBA Very Long Baseline Array VLBI Very Long Baseline Interferometry VOIP Voice of Internet Protocol VSOP-2 VLBI Space Observatory Program (2nd generation) WBS Work Breakdown Structure WCA Warm Cartridge Assembly WIDAR Wideband Interferometric Digital ARchitecture WRC World Radiocommunication Conference WV West Virginia WVRAZ West Virginia Radio Astronomy Zoning Act WVU West Virginia University

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