[asac]ASAC - Letter from Kaifu

Tue Aug 6 20:04:02 EDT 2002

Dear colleagues,

In the ASAC telecon today, we report that Kaifu-san sent a draft proposal 
summary of Japanese participation to ALMA to the EACC members on August 1. 
Below is a copy of his letter (a MS Word version is also attached):

*********************
( Letter from Kaifu)

Dear EACC memberss,

I am sending attached our draft proposal summary of Japanese participation 
to ALMA and a proposal for an interim framework in the transition phase. 
It is meant for a preview of our full proposal that we will send to the 
ALMA Coordination Committee (ACC) in mid August.  In the following, I 
explain some background of the draft plan.

Guiding Principle: Toward the Trilateral ALMA
Last year, with enthusiastic contribution by scientists in Europe, North 
America, Japan, and Chile, ASAC has worked out an ideal line of 
instrumentation and functions for the trilateral ALMA, which was indeed a 
valuable achievement.  We have set a guiding principle to realize this 
trilateral ALMA plan as much as possible by Japanese participation while 
minimizing the overheads by simple interfaces between Japan and the 
preceding partners.  NAOJ has drafted a new plan of Japanese participation 
to ALMA referring to the ASAC recommendation and further inputs from the 
Japanese scientific community.
The plan should also be consistent with our prior request for ALMA 
construction funding.  I would point out that the inclusion of the four 
12-m antennas in our proposal as a part of the ACA system is critically 
important in this respect, in addition to the scientific reasons.

Japanese funding status and time line
The Japanese government has funded the R&D for the ALMA project for FY 2002 
and 2003.  It includes the funding of the 12-m prototype antenna with other 
new developments such as photonic technologies, and a new building at NAOJ 
that houses the development/fabrication　facilities related to ALMA. 
Japanese major research facility projects have been 100% funded after such 
a major governmental investment in R&D.
To affirm the formal Japanese participation by getting funds for ALMA 
construction at a satisfactory level, we are making a new round of 
negotiation with our government.  The new round involves a Working Group of 
the MEXT Science Council that reviews the Japanese participation in ALMA in 
terms of its content and the size of the Japanese budget.  The WG has 
already started its review process with very positive response to our basic 
plan of participation as attached in this letter.  Their report will be 
submitted to the Council in December.  Our goal is to have a good 
understanding about the funding plan of ALMA-J among NAOJ, MEXT, and the 
Ministry of Finance (MoF) by the end of this year.  After the submission of 
the MEXT budget request of the ALMA-J starting from FY2004 to MoF in August 
2003, MEXT will be ready to make a formal statement of its intent.
It is needless to say that the above process in Japan must proceed in 
parallel with the negotiation with the European and North American 
partners.  In particular, we understand that the EACC and ALMA Board 
meetings planned in September - October this year will be a critically 
important occasion for the realization of Japanese participation to ALMA. 
I would very much appreciate your cooperation and fruitful discussion in 
coming meetings toward our bright goal, which would provide wonderful 
scientific excitements to us all.

Japanese prototype antenna and participation in the joint antenna evaluation
In May this year, the NAOJ has made a contract with Mitsubishi Electric 
Company for the Japanese 12-m prototype antenna.  We had a CDR in June with 
a participation of Jaap Baars and Jeff Kingsley, and the construction of 
the antenna is in good progress.
The operation of ALMA will last at least 30 years.  We can easily see that 
scientific pressure for submillimeter-wave observation will grow even 
larger in the course of the operation.  To keep up with this evolving 
requirement, new frequency bands or new generation signal processors would 
be added.  However, it will be almost impossible to replace the antennas. 
This was the reason why the partners of ALMA have decided to build the 
prototype antennas and to make the joint evaluation based on the careful 
consideration of technical risks.  We are willing to share the 
responsibility to finish this activity in a fruitful and timely manner, so 
that scientists can enjoy the high potential of the ALMA antenna in the 
coming decades.

With best wishes,

Norio Kaifu, Director General
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
August 1, 2002

*******

  The draft proposal summary of Japanese participation

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
August 1, 2002

1) The ACA system
Build a system of twelve 7-meter antennas and four high-performance 
12-meter antennas.  They are equipped with all the required frontends with 
the baseline receiver cartridges and the IF/backend systems.  The 12-meter 
antennas are equipped with the nutating subreflectors and will be dedicated 
to accurate single-dish measurements and calibration of the 7-meter antenna 
array.   The ACA system will significantly enhance the imaging and 
photometric capability of ALMA.

2) New Receiver Bands
Fabricate and install receiver frontend cartridges of two or three bands to 
the 64 antennas in the baseline ALMA and the 16 ACA system antennas.  For 
the receiver bands to add, we propose Band 10 with the highest priority and 
Bands 8 and 4 with the second priority.  This will bring new observing 
windows to ALMA particularly at submillimeter wavelengths.

3) The Second Generation Correlator
Build the second generation correlator to be used for both the 64-element 
array and the ACA system.  It will enhance the spectroscopic capability of 
ALMA by enabling observations with full bandwidth without sacrifice of 
number of spectral channels (i.e., spectral resolution) and sensitivity. 
This will make ALMA even more efficient and open a new field of science.

4) Contribution to Infrastructure and Operation
NAOJ will contribute to the infrastructure of the whole trilateral ALMA 
with a proper share.  It includes the one needed for installation and 
operation of the proposed Japanese instrumentation.  NAOJ will contribute a 
proper share of the operational cost of ALMA.

********

  Interim framework in the transition phase: a proposal

Considering the importance of the mutual communication and the coordination 
efforts to be made in the transition phase from the bilateral project to 
the formal start of the trilateral project, I propose the following;

1) To continue the EACC function as a table for discussion on the Japanese 
participation and related matters,

2) To continue the Japanese involvement in the ASAC activities.  In 
discussion on the Japanese participation plan, the Japanese members should 
have an official status equal to the members from Europe and North America,

3) To continue the ALG activities to keep the best liaison between the 
current Joint ALMA Office and the Japanese project management, and

4) To keep close communication in the DH/TL level between the bilateral 
project and the Japanese team.
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_______________________________________________________________
Tetsuo HASEGAWA, D. Sc.   <tetsuo.hasegawa at nao.ac.jp>
ALMA-J Project Scientist
Professor, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
Phone +81-422-34-3780 / FAX +81-422-34-3764
_______________________________________________________________