[asac] beta release of the CASA (Common Astronomy Software Applications) offline software system

[Al Wootten]

================================

To the chairs of the ALMA, EVLA and NRAO Science Advisory Committees:
Jose Cernicharo <cerni at damir.iem.csic.es> (ASAC),
José Manuel Afonso <jafonso at oal.ul.pt> (ESAC),
Kotaro Kohno <kkohno at ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp> (EASAC),
Andrew Baker <ajb at astro.umd.edu> (ANASAC),
David Helfand <djh at astro.columbia.edu> (SAGE),
Roger Brissenden <rjb at head.cfa.harvard.edu> (EVLA Advisory Committee),
Tracy Clark (NRAO Users Committee);


As detailed in the latest NRAO newsletter
(http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/nraonews113.pdf), there was a beta
release of the CASA (Common Astronomy Software Applications) offline
software system in October 2007. This software has been under
development in support of the ALMA and EVLA projects, and is intended to
also be of general use for radio astronomy data post-processing. This
version has significant capabilities required by the ALMA and EVLA
projects, but is still under very active development. It will support
the import of data in a number of formats, and a reasonably full set of
processing capabilities (see the beta release notes
http://casa.nrao.edu/betarelease_notes.shtml for more information on
supported observing modes and data formats).

Since the NRAO and ALMA Regional Centers (ARCs) are not yet staffed to
support a large number of user queries, we have decided on a staged
release of user support for the Beta. Therefore, initially (through
early 2008) access to the Beta will be restricted to ALMA and EVLA
project personnel and a limited number of users drawn from our
scientific advisory committees. During this period, CASA User Support
Specialists will be trained in the use of CASA in order to provide
timely and responsive support, and in turn these specialists will train
others as needed. In 2008 we plan to gradually expand the availability
of the Beta to others in the community as our user support capabilities
ramp up.

We ask that you designate up to three (3) members of your committee (or
their designees, e.g. postdocs working in their stead) as CASA Beta
testers. These testers will be sent instructions on how to register for
the Beta and obtain user support. We expect that they will exercise the
advertised capabilities of CASA (as documented in the CASA Cookbook) and
provide feedback to the projects via the CASA helpdesk. Your
participation in the evaluation of the package and our user support will
be invaluable in helping us prepare for the larger scientific community.

Please send the names and emails of your designated testers to
casahelp at nrao.edu at your earliest convenience.

Further details on the Beta release policy and software capabilities are
available at http://casa.nrao.edu/betarelease.shtml.


- Nicole Radziwill (AD, Office of End to End Operations)
   Claire Chandler (Deputy AD for NM Operations; for EVLA user support)
   John Hibbard (North American ALMA Regional Center)
   Paola Andreani (European ALMA Regional Center)
   Ken Tatematsu (East Asian ALMA Regional Center)