[asac]draft text for ORAL interim report to ALMA Board

[Christine Wilson]

Hi, everyone,

My understanding is that I will only have to present an oral (not a 
written) interim report to the ALMA Board at their meeting February 
24-25. However, I think it's useful to circulate a text of what I plan to 
say so that we can have agreement on the content in some detail.

A first draft of such a text is below. As discussed in the telecon, I 
have not included anything discussing what we plan to discuss in April, 
just what we have done since last September.

Thanks to Pierre for the text for item 4. European members in particular
should comment on the content in that item; there seemed to be some
disagreement in the telecon as to whether or not to mention the 6th
Framework program. 

Please send me any comments you have by Tuesday, February 18.

Thanks,
Chris

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Draft Text for (Oral) Interim ASAC Report to the Board February 24-25

(1) Proposed upgrade to baseline correlator

The ASAC read with interest the proposal in ALMA Memo 441 by Escoffier and
Webber to enhance the performance of the baseline ALMA correlator.  The
proposed enhancement would increase the number of channels in the wide
band mode from 256 to 4096 points in each 2 GHz of the 16 GHz available,
and therefore allow for better resolution. The relatively small number of
spectral channels currently available in the wide bandwidth modes is a
major scientific limitation of the baseline correlator that would be
remedied if this enhancement could be carried out. Therefore, the ASAC
encouraged the ALMA project to see if this enhancement to the correlator
can be implemented within the baseline ALMA project. 

(2) Science examples for calibration requirements

The ASAC has been assisting the Science IPT to prepare for the Level II
milestone of completing a review of the calibration requirements including
scientific examples. ASAC members have provided a variety of science
examples that exercise various aspects of ALMA calibration such as
polarization, flux, and bandpass calibration.

(3) Software issues

Software for ALMA was one of the major topics at the ALMA face-to-face
meeting in September 2002. Since that meeting, the ASAC has read with
interest the AIPS++ audit for ALMA requirements and has discussed the
audit in some detail. We have also heard reports on the results of the
Software IDR and the progress with Phase I of the AIPS++ IRAM re-use test.
We anticipate further discussions of software issues at our next
face-to-face meeting in April 2003. 

(4) Outreach in Europe

Since the last face-to-face meeting, the ESAC has had a number of
activities to inform the European astronomical community about the ALMA
project and to explore the possible schemes to support ALMA-related
activities in the sixth Framework Programme of the European Union. 

A one-day meeting on ALMA Science Operations was held at ESO Garching on
November 8, 2002, to update the astronomical community on the recent
developments in the ALMA project and to solicit input on the plans for
science operations and user support. The meeting was very well attended
with 100 participants from all over Europe. Several presentations were
given, and there were lively discussions about science operations,
software, and possible enhancements to the baseline ALMA project. Most of
the presentations given at the meeting are available on the European ALMA
website. Following the meeting, a questionnaire on the main topics of the
meeting was sent to all participants. The responses are currently being
analyzed by the ESAC and a summary will be made public in the coming
weeks. 

The European Union is making large amounts of funding available for
structuring European research areas through the 6th Framework Programme
(FP6), a four-year term programme starting at the end of 2003.  A major
aim between now and 2007 (when iterim ALMA operations will start) is to
foster and structure the European astronomical community around the ALMA
project and to prepare young European astronomers both technically and
scientifically to make optimum use of ALMA. The ESAC has therefore
explored possible ways to make use of the schemes of the FP6, and is
currently encouraging initiatives which are aimed at training the younger
generation in (sub)millimeter techniques for both single-dish and
interferometric observing and preparing towards the science which will be
done with ALMA.