science operations phil edwards head of science operations csiro atnf

Science Operations

Phil Edwards

Head of Science Operations

CSIRO ATNF

Telescope OperationsTelescope Operations

& Science Services& Science Services

Computer InfrastructureComputer Infrastructure

Scientific Computing & Scientific Computing & ArchivesArchives

Visitor servicesVisitor services

Receivers, LO & ConversionReceivers, LO & Conversion

Digital & Servo ElectronicsDigital & Servo Electronics

CryogenicsCryogenics

Mechanical, Drives, & Mechanical, Drives, & ElectricalElectrical

Science Science OperationsOperations

Engineering Engineering OperationsOperations

National National Facility Facility

OperationsOperations

ATNF Operations Structure

CSIRO. ATUC report May 2010: ATNF Science Operations

Telescope Operations and Science Services

• TAC met in July• Eight TAC members supported by 16 TAC readers

• No password required to access Cover Sheets and Obs Tables of scheduled proposals by time of next Call for Proposals

• Schedules released in early September• Release notes added for ATCA and Parkes

• Difficulties in filling the DA roster for Narrabri• AT staff, co-supervised students, or experienced others welcome!

• TOSS support for Narrabri Open Day & CASS Radio School• New version of AT User Guide

• Continued improvements to content and formatting

• New ATCA sensitivity calculator on-line• Beta version of new ATCA calibrator database on-line


Scientific computing and archives

• New version of OPAL worked well• Updates to CABB scheduler and caobs• On-the-fly mosaicing tests with CABB carried out• World Coordinate System being implemented in

miriad• MoniCA updated for new 20/13cm receivers• New version of MoniCA being tested• Parkes polarisation software being tested and

refined• New versions of showtel and winds at Parkes• ASAP development now in cooperation with ALMA


Computer Infrastructure

• On-going work in upgrading servers and adding storage

• Horus and draco upgraded, athena decommissioned

• Scheduled replacement of Parkes windows desktops and laptops completed, work begun at Narrabri

• Pilot SOC point-to-point broadcast quality video link commissioned between Mopra desk and room 23

• IP telephony installation at Marsfield (by IM&T)• Currently no phones with direct outside access

• Moving and recabling of equipment in RFI-proof racks at Parkes last week

• Shaun appointed leader of ASKAP Networking IPT


Visitor Services Group

• Vicki and Sam sharing the Project Leader role• Accommodation prices increased by 10% from

September 1• Meal prices unchanged

• Visitors now emailed after their stay and asked to complete and on-line questionnaire form

• VSG staff from all three sites had a get-together at Marsfield earlier this week

• New beds at Parkes Quarters• New fridge and freezer at Narrabri• Army of CASS Radio School participants well-fed


Around the Observatories

• Tidbinbilla• A record 7 proposals for 2010OCT (following 0 for 2010APR)

• Parkes pulsar project requiring higher frequency observations transferred to Tid

• New LNAs and down-converters for the 22GHz system expected this month

• New spectrometer and dual-pol filter box now being tested

• ATNF Vacation Student to work on on-the-fly mapping with Jimi Green and Shinji Horiuchi

• LBA• Correlator back-log (effectively) cleared

• LBA session from October 25th, with Hartebeesthoek & Tidbinbilla

• Shorter sessions during 2010OCT for observations of pulsar around periastron

• Discussions progressing with AUT about inclusion of Warwkworth in the LBA


LBA observing time (in hrs) by year and band

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

20cm 36 37 107 142 58 65

13cm 64 44 54 91 51 11

6cm 22 60 42 14 65 95

3cm 98 192 127 99 226 168

1cm 24 0 12 21 105 57

total 244 333 341 366 505 396


• Mopra• Paper on 12mm & 7mm characterisation published in PASA• Further 3mm characterisation observations over next month• Tests of “robotic mode” or “scripted” observing about to start• Successful fast-mapping observations

• Change of default cycle time to 2.048 sec likely to be adopted

• More tests of standing wave mitigation by sub-reflector cycling• Some work on documentation remains • Mopra all-sky webcam planned by 2011APR

• Parkes• CPSR2 decommissioned • Methanol multi-beam unlikely to be offered in future• Two week shutdown underway to commission RF switching matrix• Four week shutdown in March for MCP upgrade• Increasing RFI seen over last year: observers asked to record onset,

duration and characteristics as accurately as possible



• ATCA• 20/13cm receive upgrade continuing

• All six antennas outfitted by mid-December

• 20cm observing in 2010OCTS held off till mid-Dec as much as possible

• Galactic coordinate mosaicing implemented in caobs and awaiting testing: allowing galactic coordinates to be used in the CABB scheduler to follow

• Attempts to remedy instances of erratic azimuth tracking on some antennas continuing…

• CABB progress to be described in separate report

• All six Water Vapour Radiometers now accepted and installed, awaiting in situ calibration


WVRs

• Water Vapour Radiometer project funded by LIEF grant administered by UNSW, with contributions from

• UNSW• Sydney• James Cook• Swinburne• ATNF


Some first WVR data…


Scheduling policy

• Observers are expected to check the archives to determine whether observations of their proposed source(s) exist, and, if so, to justify why additional observations are required.

• The OPAL source list tool can be used with ATOA to determine which sources have been previously observed with the ATCA

• Similar observations of a source may be scheduled for more than one team

• Examples include Sgr A* with the ATCA, PSR J1141-6545 with Parkes

• Proposals do not include sufficient detail to cross-check proposed observations against existing observations

• Proposals for >30 sources do not need to list all sources

• Proposals only allocated a fraction of their requested time often elect to observe only a fraction of their original source list


Scheduling policy

• ATOA has not until recently allowed positional searches of ATCA mosaic observations

• Large projects for all telescopes are being encouraged to establish and maintain informative web pages so that prospective users can determine whether their proposed source(s) have already been covered by large survey programs

• Determining what constitutes a “sufficiently different” observation is not always clear-cut


Thank you


CSIRO/ATNFPhilip EdwardsCSIRO ATNF Head of Science Operations

Email: [email protected]: www.atnf.csiro.au

Contact UsPhone: 1300 363 400 or +61 3 9545 2176

Email: [email protected] Web: www.csiro.au

mailto:[email protected]

science operations phil edwards head of science operations csiro atnf

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