National Optical Astronomy Observatory - noao.edu · (KSP) by scientists based at US institutions and then submitting a subset to the NASEM 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics

National Optical Astronomy Observatory

Program Operating Plan

FY19

Submitted to the National Science Foundation

Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement AST-1421197

28 September 2018

1

1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 3

2 Overview .................................................................................................................. 4

2.1. Priorities and Program Initiatives ............................................................................. 5

2.2. Financial and Budget Overview ................................................................................ 7

2.3. Division of Effort—NOAO Scientific/Management Staff .........................................13

2.4. Organization and Key Management .........................................................................16

3 Mid-Scale Observatories ...................................................................................... 17

3.1. Kitt Peak National Observatory ................................................................................17 3.1.1. KP Associate Director’s Office ............................................................................................ 17 3.1.2. Mayall .................................................................................................................................. 18

3.1.2.1. Operations ....................................................................................................................... 20 3.1.2.2. Development ................................................................................................................... 20 3.1.2.3. Maintenance and Renewal .............................................................................................. 20

3.1.3. WIYN ................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1.3.1. Operations ....................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.3.2. Development ................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.3.3. Maintenance and Renewal .............................................................................................. 24 3.1.3.4. Tenant Observatories ...................................................................................................... 24

3.2. Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory ...............................................................25 3.2.1. CTIO Associate Director’s Office ........................................................................................ 26 3.2.2. Blanco Telescope Operations ............................................................................................. 29

3.2.2.1. Operations ....................................................................................................................... 32 3.2.2.2. Development, Maintenance, and Renewal ..................................................................... 32

3.2.3. SOAR Telescope Operations .............................................................................................. 33 3.2.3.1. Operations ....................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.3.2. Development ................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.3.3. Maintenance and Renewal .............................................................................................. 38

3.2.4. NOAO South Engineering and Technical Services ............................................................. 39 3.2.5. Small Telescopes ................................................................................................................ 40

3.2.5.1. Operations ....................................................................................................................... 43 3.2.5.2. Development ................................................................................................................... 43 3.2.5.3. Maintenance and Renewal .............................................................................................. 43

3.3. External Projects.......................................................................................................43

4 Community Science and Data Center ................................................................. 45

4.1. CSDC Associate Director’s Office ...........................................................................45

4.2. Community Science Program ..................................................................................48 4.2.1. Time Allocation Committee ................................................................................................. 49 4.2.2. National Gemini Office ........................................................................................................ 51 4.2.3. Community Development .................................................................................................... 53

4.3. Data-Intensive Astronomy ........................................................................................55 4.3.1. Data Lab .............................................................................................................................. 56 4.3.2. Time Domain Services ........................................................................................................ 58 4.3.3. Data Management Operations ............................................................................................ 61

5 NOAO Core ............................................................................................................ 64

2

5.1. NOAO Director’s Office ............................................................................................64

5.2. NOAO Core Infrastructure ........................................................................................66

5.3. AURA Support & Services ........................................................................................67

6 US Extremely Large Telescope Program ............................................................ 69

7 Center Operations Services ................................................................................. 71

7.1. Facilities ....................................................................................................................71 7.1.1. Arizona ................................................................................................................................ 71 7.1.2. Chile .................................................................................................................................... 75

7.2. Information Technology ...........................................................................................77 7.2.1. Arizona ................................................................................................................................ 77 7.2.2. Chile .................................................................................................................................... 78

7.3. Safety, Health, Environment.....................................................................................81 7.3.1. Arizona ................................................................................................................................ 81 7.3.2. Chile .................................................................................................................................... 82

7.4. Communications, Outreach, Education ..................................................................84 7.4.1. Education and Public Outreach ........................................................................................... 84

7.4.1.1. Arizona ............................................................................................................................ 84 7.4.1.2. Chile ................................................................................................................................ 89

7.4.2. Kitt Peak Visitor Center ....................................................................................................... 89

8 Risk Register ......................................................................................................... 92

8.1. Methodology .............................................................................................................92

8.2. Enterprise Risk .........................................................................................................92

8.3. Programmatic Risk ...................................................................................................95

Appendix: Abbreviations ............................................................................................ 99

3

1 Introduction

NOAO, Gemini, and LSST will soon be combined into a wholly new organization called the

National Center for Optical Infrared Astronomy (NCOA) pending NSF approval in FY19.

NCOA is expected to begin as an organization on 2019 October 1 (i.e., at the end of the

period covered by this Program Operations Plan). The elements of NOAO as described in

the present plan will be reorganized with NCOA. To highlight that reorganization, the NOAO

Program Operating Plan for fiscal 2019 (POP19) is itself re-organized into functional areas

that will emerge within NCOA. These are most visibly the Community Science and Data

Center (CSDC) and the Mid-Scale Observatories (MSO), which will comprise the NOAO

(and partner) 4m telescopes. The remaining two of four pillars of NCOA are Gemini and

LSST.

Facilities; Information Technology; Safety, Health, Environment; and Communications,

Outreach, Education will eventually be organized in NCOA within centrally operated divisions

(Center Operations Services and the NCOA Directorate). As such, these activities within NOAO

are grouped similarly in the POP19.

The transition to NCOA will take several years. A detailed plan for transitioning LSST

Operations, Gemini, and NOAO is the subject of an independent proposal being submitted to

the NSF by AURA. That proposal will generate an associated program operating plan for NCOA

activity in FY19. Some senior managers in NOAO are expected to contribute time to that effort.

The NOAO POP19 and NCOA POP19 will be reconciled with respect to overlapping staff

resources before submittal. The present NOAO POP19 covers all activity to be accomplished by

NOAO NSF funding and program revenue. NCOA planning activity is not included in the NOAO

POP19.

4

2 Overview

This is the annual Program Operating Plan (POP) for the National Optical Astronomy

Observatory (NOAO) covering Fiscal Year 2019 (1 October 2018–30 September 2019).

The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) operates NOAO

under cooperative agreement [AST-1421197] with the National Science Foundation (NSF).

From FY19 NSF base funding (AST-1421197), NOAO plans to deliver and/or enable the

following:

Operations and maintenance of the CTIO Blanco 4m facility on Cerro Tololo,

including the Dark Energy Camera (DECam)

Operations and maintenance of the SOAR 4.1m facility on Cerro Pachón on behalf

of the SOAR partnership

Scientific user support services for the US community users of the Gemini

Observatory

Further design of LSST community science support services consistent with the

National Research Council OIR System Optimization Study report and subsequent

NSF directives

Science data management operations, including delivery of science-ready data

products from wide-field imagers operating at the KPNO WIYN 3.5m, and CTIO

Blanco 4m telescopes, operation of a science data archive, and modernization and

homogenization of back-end scientific computing and database systems

Science data services including NOAO Data Lab operations, documentation, and

user support with associated data sets and operation of the Arizona-NOAO

Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System (ANTARES)1 on publicly

available live alert streams with simple filters

An Education and Public Outreach program that focuses on critical, local activities

and needs in Arizona and Chile, including dark sky protection and the operation of

visitor centers on Kitt Peak in Arizona and Cerro Tololo in Chile

NOAO financial contribution to the operation and maintenance of the physical plant

and IT infrastructure shared in Arizona and Chile with other AURA and non-AURA

entities

Budget and pay for AURA fees for corporate expenses as well as business and

human relations services required to manage a geographically distributed

organization with approximately 240 employees

Planning and reporting activities mandated by the NSF and (as necessary) other

federal agencies

Senior management team and associated administrative support personnel

1 ANTARES is being developed in collaboration with The University of Arizona Department of Computer Science and is supported by NSF award CISE AST-1344024.

OVERVIEW

5

From additional NSF funding under separate awards (as indicated below), NOAO plans

to deliver and/or enable the following:

With additional funding from the other WIYN institutions, operations and

maintenance of the KPNO WIYN 3.5m facility on Kitt Peak (AST-1559596)

With additional funding from NASA, installation and commissioning of the NN-

EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler Spectroscopy (NEID) instrument at

the WIYN 3.5m (AST-1559596)

Support planning for potential federal engagement in a bi-hemispheric

system of extremely large telescopes (ELTs) consisting of the Giant

Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the Thirty Meter Telescope, including (a) enabling

the development of exemplar Key Science Programs

(KSP) by scientists based at US institutions and then submitting a

subset to the NASEM 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics

(Astro 2020), and (b) with the Thirty Meter Telescope International

Observatory (TIO) and Giant Magellan Telescope Organization (GMTO),

develop and submit a collaborative proposal requesting NSF funding for

GMT and TMT construction phase activity

A two-week data science school in La Serena focused on applied tools for

astroinformatics, biomedical informatics, and other data-driven sciences (AST-

1637359)

Additional data services: development and/or validation of Data Lab science

analysis workflows and continued development to extend ANTARES to the LSST

scale (AST-0950945). Program management for same.

Continued modernization and extension of mountaintop public visitor centers in

Arizona and Chile (AST-0950945)

On a cost-recovery basis, NOAO also plans to deliver and/or enable the following:

With funding from the Department of Energy (DOE), operations and maintenance of

the KPNO Mayall 4m facility on Kitt Peak, including installation, commissioning,

validation, and operations of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)

Operations and maintenance of the SMARTS consortium small telescope

constellation on Cerro Tololo

Physical plant and IT infrastructure operation and maintenance services for tenant

and/or partner observatories on Kitt Peak, Cerro Pachón, Cerro Tololo, and Cerro

Las Campanas as well as within shared office and support facility compounds in

Tucson, Arizona, and La Serena, Chile

2.1. Priorities and Program Initiatives

The highest-priority NOAO activities for FY19 are shown in Table 1. These priorities

were established after consideration of ongoing external commitments and the eight

strategic initiatives defined in the NOAO Strategic Plan (2015, hereafter SP15) as

well as agency-level programmatic and financial guidance. For reference, the SP15

strategic initiatives are repeated here:

NOAO POP19

6

1. Provide and continuously improve world-leading mountain research infrastructure in

Arizona and Chile (i.e., telescopes, instruments, and services)

2. Lead and/or enable US OIR System optimization as directed by the NSF

3. Provide premier survey data products enabled by NOAO and its partners

4. Provide premier data services for the discovery, exploration, and analysis of those

data products

5. Engage in Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) operations and deploy

community research support services

6. Engage in Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope (GSMT) (a.k.a. Extremely Large

Telescope, ELT) operations and deploy GSMT community research support services

7. Lead or enable strategic discussions for the era beyond LSST and GSMT

8. Engage the public in the NOAO science enterprise

Table 1. NOAO FY19 Priorities

SP15

Strategic

Initiative

POP19

Section Activity

1, 3 3.1.1 Mayall/DESI installation, commissioning, and survey validation

1, 3 3.1.2 WIYN/NEID installation and commissioning

1, 3 3.2.2 Blanco/DECam operations (for Dark Energy Survey and

community users)

4, 5 4.3.1 Data Lab operations

2, 4, 5 4.3.2 ANTARES event broker

Processing publicly available event streams

2 3.2.3,

4.2.3,

4.3.2,

4.3.3

OIR System Optimization program (with focus on development

of end-to-end LSST follow-up observing system, AEON)

6 6 US-ELT Program

7 5.1 NOAO Director’s Office

8 7.4 Communications, Outreach, Education

Installation, commissioning, and survey validation of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic

Instrument (DESI) at the KPNO Mayall 4m and NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations

with Doppler Spectroscopy (NEID) installation and commissioning at the KPNO WIYN

3.5m have the highest priority due to time-critical commitments to external project and/or

science collaborations. Such modernization of mountain-based observational research

infrastructure lies at the heart of SP15-1. Furthermore, thanks to well-defined surveys,

DESI will enable the delivery of excellent data sets well suited for community research

(SP15-3).

Operation of the Dark Energy Camera on the CTIO Blanco 4m (Blanco/DECam)

comes next, in recognition of its high scientific productivity as well as our obligations to

the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Collaboration and other survey projects including the

OVERVIEW

7

DECam Legacy Survey. Modern instrumentation (SP15-1) enabling excellent data

products (SP15-3) is central to the ongoing NOAO program.

The Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System (ANTARES)

project is next in priority and will continue its design and development cycle with the

delivery of a fully functioning system capable of processing live, public alert streams with

simple filters. Time-domain services and event brokers (SP15-4) were identified as high-

priority community needs in the 2015 NRC OIR System Optimization Study report

(SP15-2), particularly on the LSST scale (SP15-5). Major deliverables include

ANTARES Core development to bring system to LSST scale;

a graphical user interface; and

public brokering of Zwicky Transient Facility alerts

While ANTARES is a distinct deliverable and critical for the US community to exploit

LSST, it will play an important role role in a larger follow-up network of telescopes that

NOAO is building in close collaboration with Gemini, SOAR, and Las Cumbres

Observatory. The project is called AEON (Astronomy Event Observatory Network).

AEON seeks to deploy dynamic scheduling (based on the successful Las Cumbres

model) on SOAR and (later) Gemini. In FY19 NOAO plans to execute a key on-sky test

at SOAR of dynamically scheduled observations as part of AEON development. AEON

is expected to be a key capability for the US community in the LSST era (and earlier for

other event streams like ZTF that will be available prior to LSST).

The Data Lab rounds out the highest-priority activities for FY19. Data Lab lies at the

center of the NOAO data product and services thrust (SP15-3 and SP15-4) initiated

during FY16 as well as being a pathfinder for similar services required in the LSST era

(SP15-5). Within the Data Lab environment, various high-value data sets will be

released (or re-released) as well as relevant data product and services documentation.

Of particular note is Legacy Survey Data Release 8, which will contain the latest co-

added images and associated source of the ongoing DES targeting survey projects

Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS), DECam Legacy Survey (DECaLS), and Mayall

Legacy Survey (MzLS). Data Lab will improve its deployment of compute services by

deploying a Job Manager to control queues and resources, the containerization of

asynchronous SQL queries, and the development of a client interface to support

provisioning of containerized jobs and to provide information on their status.

2.2. Financial and Budget Overview

The FY19 NOAO spend plan is summarized in Table 2.1 and illustrated in the

following three pie charts. The first and second pie charts show the breakdown by

program of the NSF (base plus supplemental) and total funding (respectively) in

terms of percentages.

The third pie chart (below) illustrates the percentage breakdown of the total funding

by expense category. Payroll is for NOAO employees. Services is for contracted activity

to outside vendors, for example, janitorial (Arizona) and security (Arizona and Chile).

Supplies includes non-capital furnishings and some computing equipment. Capital is for

items in excess of $5000 USD.

NOAO POP19

8

OVERVIEW

9

The table rolls up the individual budget tables provided in the following sections (3-7) for

each program.

Table 2.1. NOAO FY19 Budget Allocation by Program Area

FTE Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

Mid-Scale Observatories

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KP)

KP Associate Director's Office 3.4 639,773 - 639,773 -

Mayall 25.7 3,781,209 3,781,209 - -

WIYN 17.9 2,489,272 1,513,272 - 976,000

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

CTIO Associate Director’s Office 4.0 1,264,231 616,667 647,564 -

Blanco Telescope Operations 30.3 4,748,950 - 4,748,950 -

SOAR Telescope Operations 23.4 2,937,076 704,405 2,232,671 -

Engineering & Technical Services 7.1 1,050,891 436,068 614,823 -

Small Telescopes 4.1 558,515 558,515 - -

MSO Subtotal 115.9 17,469,917 7,610,136 8,883,781 976,000

Community Science and Data Center (CSDC)

CSDC Associate Director's Office 4.3 678,898 - 412,294 266,603

Community Science Program

Time Allocation Committee 2.5 473,855 - 473,855 -

US National Gemini Office 2.7 522,639 - 522,639 -

Community Development 1.2 376,516 138,064 198,726 39,726

Data-Intensive Astronomy

Data Management Operations 6.3 1,347,576 86,371 993,406 267,799

Data Lab 5.3 953,137 - 897,642 55,495

Time Domain Services 4.8 922,679 - 560,144 362,536

CSDC Subtotal 27.1 5,275,300 224,435 4,058,706 992,159

NOAO CORE (NC)

NOAO Director's Office 6.3 2,571,390 422,371 1,629,940 519,079

External Projects 3.0 449,741 421,292 28,449 -

NOAO Core Infrastructure 3.0 408,383 - - 408,384

AURA Support & Services - 274,197 10,000 264,197 -

NC Subtotal 12.3 3,703,711 853,663 1,922,586 927,463

US ELT Program 2.1 749,868 - 417,697 332,171

Center Operation Services

KP Mountain Operations 13.5 1,766,461 980,243 786,218 -

Kitt Peak Visitor Center 10.5 1,018,496 914,406 104,090 -

Education and Public Outreach 9.2 1,179,073 61,144 1,117,929 -

Facilities - Arizona 8.4 1,610,146 833,900 776,246 -

Information Technology - Arizona 5.0 856,658 351,207 505,451 -

Facilities - Chile 43.7 5,042,028 5,042,028 - -

Information Technology - Chile 4.6 1,154,622 597,325 557,297 -

COS Subtotal 94.9 12,627,484 8,780,253 3,847,231 -

FY 2019 TOTAL 252.3 39,826,280 17,468,487 19,130,001 3,227,793

FY 2019 NOAO Budget Allocation Summary

Rollup Table

NOAO POP19

10

Table 2.1 Key — FY 2019 NOAO Budget Allocation Summary

Mid-Scale Observatories (MSO) NOAO 4m-class telescopes and associated activities

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KP)

KP Associate Director's Office This program is responsible for overall management and performance of Kitt Peak

National Observatory.

Mayall This program includes effort to implement and operate DESI on the Mayall. This

program includes revenue from the DOE via LBNL.

WIYN This program includes all effort to operate and maintain the WIYN telescope and

includes effort from partner institutions. This program includes revenue from NASA.


CTIO Associate Director’s Office This program is responsible for overall management and performance of NOAO South. It

includes academic affairs for Chile-based operations and facilities costs for NOAO-only

buildings in La Serena.

Blanco Telescope Operations This program includes all effort to operate and maintain the Blanco 4m telescope,

including major instruments such as DECam.

SOAR Telescope Operations This program includes all effort to operate and maintain the SOAR telescope.

Engineering & Technical Services This program includes design, fabrication, installation, and operations support for the

telescopes and instrumentation on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón.

Small Telescopes This program includes support for the SMARTS consortium. Funding is provided through

SMARTS partner institutions outside NOAO’s base budget.


CSDC Associate Director's Office This program is responsible for overall management and performance of the CSDC.


Time Allocation Committee This program includes effort for the ANTARES event-broker project done in

collaboration with the University of Arizona and for a community workshop on event

brokers.

US National Gemini Office This program includes management of US community access to Gemini and other

System telescopes, including periodic meetings of NOAO user constituencies, other

informational workshops and committees, and the annual meeting of the Gemini long

and large programs survey teams. It also includes user support for observing proposal

preparation and submission for all System facilities, as well as post-observing data

processing.

Community Development This program includes all effort for science user community engagement on new major

initiatives (inside or outside of NOAO) relating to OIR system development.


Data Management Operations This program handles all data capture, transport, and archiving of NOAO science data

from all NOAO telescopes/programs. DMO is also responsible for serving all raw data

and pipelined imaging data to PIs and all data products to the community after

appropriate proprietary periods.

Data Lab This program includes development of new tools for discovery and analysis using NOAO

data sets.

Time Domain Services This program includes effort for the ANTARES event-broker project done in

collaboration with the University of Arizona and for a community workshop on event

brokers.

NOAO CORE (NC)

NOAO Director's Office This program is responsible for overall management and performance of NOAO.

External Projects This program retains mechanical shop and optics shop expertise in NOAO. The FY19 plan

is nearly entirely based on external funding sources.

OVERVIEW

11

Table 2.1 Key — FY 2019 NOAO Budget Allocation Summary

NOAO Core Infrastructure This program includes an above–base funding set of activities to be accomplished in

FY19 using carry-forward funds from NOAO’s prior Cooperative Agreement.

AURA Support & Services This program includes costs for AURA oversight committee meetings/travel and certain

unallowable (on contract funds) expenses.

US ELT Program This program includes effort to organize and deliver a program of Key Science Programs

for the Decadal Survey for US federal participation in GMT and TMT as well as

development of a US ELT program.

Center Operation Services

KP Mountain Operations The program includes all the support services provided by NOAO to all tenant

observatories on Kitt Peak (including Mayall and WIYN).

Kitt Peak Visitor Center This program operates the public visitors program on Kitt Peak.

Education and Public Outreach This program contains the NOAO North and South education and public outreach

programs, public affairs, and graphic arts.

Facilities - Arizona This includes all Arizona facility support to NOAO programs and tenants (AURA, LSST,

others) in Tucson and on Kitt Peak.

Information Technology - Arizona This includes all Arizona basic network support to NOAO programs and tenants (AURA,

LSST, others) in Tucson and on Kitt Peak. NOAO desktop computing support is included

here as well.

Facilities - Chile This includes all Chile facility support to NOAO programs and tenants (AURA, Gemini,

LSST, SOAR, others) in La Serena and on Cerros Tololo and Pachón.

Information Technology - Chile This includes all Chile network support to NOAO programs and tenants (AURA, Gemini,

LSST, SOAR, others) in La Serena and on Cerros Tololo and Pachón. NOAO desktop

computing support is included here as well.

NOAO POP19

12

The following Table 2.2 and its key summarizes program revenue—non-NSF base or

supplemental funding—received for each program.

Table 2.2 Program Revenue Received for Each Program

NOAO Program FY 2019 Other Revenue



CTIO Associate Director’s Office

500,000

NOAO-S Associate Director's Office Revenue from NOAO F&A recovery 350,000

NOAO-S Safety Revenue from NOAO F&A recovery 80,000

NS Science Staff Support Revenue from NOAO F&A recovery 70,000

SOAR Telescope Operations

704,405

SOAR Telescope Maintenance Contribution to SOAR from SOAR corporate funds 386,175

SOAR Telescope Improvements Contribution to SOAR from SOAR corporate funds 318,230

Engineering & Technical Services

436,068

LSST_work NOAO labor recharged to LSST for work on LSST construction projects

436,068

Small Telescopes

558,516

SMARTS Operations Direct Costs Consortium funds to support SMARTS operations by CTIO staff 495,369

SMARTS Operations with Indirects Revenue from NOAO F&A recovery on SMARTS costs 63,147

Kitt Peak National Observatory

Mayall

3,781,209

DESI Operations DOE-funded operations for Mayall via LBNL 3,781,209

WIYN

1,513,272

WIYN Administrative Operations WIYN partner contributions 447,789

WIYN Science Operations WIYN partner contributions 611,011

NN-EXPLORE NASA contributions 454,472

MSO Subtotal 7,493,470


Data Management Operations

86,371

DESI Data Systems DESI project contribution for DESI Data Management Support at NOAO

86,371

Community Development

138,064

La Serena School for Data Science NSF supplemental funds for Data Science program in La Serena. For historical reasons, this is treated as program revenue instead of supplemental funding. But it is a regular supplement.

103,219

Lauer (New Horizons) NASA support for New Horizons mission activity 34,845

CSDC Subtotal 224,435

Center Operations Services

Facilities - Chile

5,142,027

Facilities Operations General Overhead Tenant contributions for facilities (includes NOAO payments to facilities). Includes share fee, lodging, meals, and transportation.

630,968

Infrastructure on mountains and in La Serena Tenant contributions for facilities (includes NOAO payments to facilities). Includes share fee, lodging, meals, and transportation.

1,867,801

Services on mountains and in La Serena Tenant contributions for facilities (includes NOAO payments to facilities). Includes share fee, lodging, meals, and transportation.

2,543,258

NOAO-S LS Facilities & Utilities Revenue from NOAO F&A recovery 100,000

Facilities - Arizona

1,814,142

OVERVIEW

13

NOAO Program FY 2019 Other Revenue

Square-Foot Tenant Fees Contributions through square-foot space rental fee in Tucson for tenants (AURA, LSST, others).

700,000

Facilities Recovery from Outside Projects

133,900

General Mountain Ops Labor for work for tenants, utility cost recovery from tenants, data transport cost recovery, house rental, recovery

293,045

Basic Mountain Services Joint use fees to support mountain infrastructure and mountain lease payments for Tohono O'odham

269,017

Food & Lodging Per-use charges for lodging and meals on Kitt Peak 329,600

Vehicle Services Contributions through joint use shuttle fee for vehicle/transport use

88,580

Information Technology - Chile

597,325

LSST_work Recharge to LSST for NOAO labor support 10,205

AURA Network Backbone ZCP100001 Contributions for Internet connection managed by NOAO to Chilean research net, REUNA

580,233

AURA-O NCA370000 Contribution from AURA-O for desktop support 6,887

Information Technology - Arizona

351,207

CIS Operations Contributions through square foot space rental fee in Tucson for tenants (AURA, LSST, others)

351,207

Cerro Tololo Visitor Center

16,667

Kitt Peak Visitor Center Gift shop sales and night program fees 914,406

Education and Public Outreach

61,144

Photo Lab Contributions through square-foot space rental fee in Tucson for tenants (AURA, LSST, others)

43,000

Educational Outreach STEAM grant with Univ. of Alaska 18,144

COS Subtotal 8,896,918

NOAO CORE

NOAO Director's Office

422,371

NOAO Director's Office NOAO F&A recovery 372,371

Tucson Library Contributions through square-foot space rental fee in Tucson for tenants (AURA, LSST, others)

50,000

External Projects

421,291

NOAO-N Instrument Shop Operations Labor recharge to LSST and other outside groups 120,320

NOAO-N Optics Shop Operations Labor recharge to LSST and other outside groups 105,237

Design & Analysis Group Contracts Contributions for work on advanced development of secondary mirrors with KBSI (Korea), work for LSST, GMT, TMT

195,734

AURA Support & Services

10,000

AURA Unallowable AURA unencumbered funds for NSF unallowable expenses 10,000

NOAO Core Subtotal 853,662

FY 2019 TOTAL 17,468,485

2.3. Division of Effort—NOAO Scientific/Management Staff

Per the reporting requirements for the NOAO Program Operations Plan defined by

the NSF/AURA Cooperative Agreement effective 1 October 2016, the fractional

division of effort for each NOAO scientific staff member across FY18 budgeted

programs is shown in Table 2.3 on the following pages.

NOAO POP19

14

Scientific staff members and programs shown in Table 2.3 are those funded under

NSF funds allocated to the FY19 NOAO base budget. Programs and scientists funded

under external grants or non-AST/NSF sources also are included. The FTEs are shown

by program. Table 2.3 also includes technical, engineering, and other staff who are

either partially or totally funded by other funding as defined by the Cooperative

Agreement. Table 2.3 provides a breakdown of the sources of other funding by FTE.

Under AURA policy, astronomer-track scientists at NOAO are accorded 50%

personal research time; scientist-track staff are granted 20% research time. Scientists

and/or astronomers who perform administrative and management duties are granted

research time appropriate to their track (to a max of 50%). This personal science

research time is allocated to staff within each program as a maximum possible, based

on position, following fulfillment of the individual’s functional duties within the program.

Beside each name in parentheses are the letter abbreviations defined below to show

staff positions. Exceptions to the percentage allocated for personal science research

time and grant funding are noted in the table footnotes. The percentage of time accorded

by position follows:

Director, Deputy Director, and Associate Director (D): max of 20%

Head of Program (H): max of 20%

Full, Associate, and Assistant Astronomer (A): max of 50%

Senior, Observatory, Full, Associate, and Assistant Scientist (S): max of 20%

Postdocs and Goldberg Fellows (P): max of 100%

OVERVIEW

15

Table 2.3. FY19 Fractional Division by Budgeted Program of Effort of NOAO Scientific Staff and

Key Management and of Technical, Engineering, and Other Staff with Non-Base Funding

Name Title RSH CTIO KPNO CSDC EPO NDO USELTP Infrastructure Other Total

Abbott, Timothy Observatory Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Allen, Lori E Director, KPNO 0.20 0.80 1.00

Bolton, Adam S Assoc Director NSSDC 0.20 0.80 1.00

Briceno Avila, Cesar Associate Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Cartier, Regis A Research Associate 0.50 0.50 1.00

Dey, Arjun Astronomer/Tenure 0.50 0.50 1.00

Dickinson, Mark E Assoc Astronomer/Tenure 0.40 0.60 1.00

Elias, Jonathan H Director, SOAR 1.00 1.00

Everett, Mark E Assistant Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Heathcote, Stephen R Director, CTIO 0.10 0.90 1.00

Hinkle, Kenneth H Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Joyce, Richard R Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Juneau, Stephanie Associate Astronomer 1.00 1.00

Lauer, Tod R Astronomer/Tenure 0.40 0.40 0.20 1.00

Lee, Chien-Hsiu Assistant Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Li, Dan Assistant Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Liu, Wilson Assistant Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Martinez-Vazquez, Clara E Post Doc Research Assoc 0.50 0.50 1.00

Matheson, Thomas D Head of Program-Time Dom 0.50 0.50 1.00

Najita, Joan R NOAO Chief Scientist 0.50 0.15 0.35 1.00

Nidever, David Associate Scientist 1.00 1.00

Nikutta, Robert Assistant Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Norman, Dara J Assoc Deputy Dir, CSDC 0.20 0.70 0.10 1.00

Olsen, Knut Head of Program CSC 0.50 0.50 1.00

Points, Sean D Scientist 0.10 0.90 1.00

Pompea, Stephen M Head of Program EPO 0.20 0.80 1.00

Rajagopal, Jayadev Associate Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Ridgway, Stephen T Astronomer/Tenure 0.40 0.30 0.15 0.85

Ridgway, Susan E Associate Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Saha, Abhijit Astronomer/Tenure 0.50 0.50 1.00

Silva, David Director, NOAO 0.10 0.40 0.50 1.00

Smith, Verne V Head of Program USNGO 0.30 0.70 1.00

Soraisam, Monika D Post Doc Research Assoc 1.00 1.00

Sprayberry, David DESI KPNO Site Director 1.00 1.00

Stanghellini, Letizia Astronomer/Tenure 0.50 0.50 1.00

Tokovinin, Andrey Astronomer/Tenure 0.45 0.55 1.00

Valdes, Francisco G Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

van der Bliek, Nicole S Deputy Director, CTIO 0.60* 0.40 0.40

Vivas, Anna K Associate Astronomer 0.50 0.50 1.00

Walker, Alistair R Astronomer/Tenure 0.20 0.80 1.00

Walker, Constance Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

Weaver, Benjamin Associate Scientist 0.25 0.75 1.00

Zenteno, Alfredo Andres Assistant Scientist 0.20 0.80 1.00

10.55 8.45 6.30 8.35 1.75 1.00 1.10 3.00 1.75 42.25

*60% research reflects a sabbatical for van der Bliek.

NOAO POP19

16

2.4. Organization and Key Management

The top-level NOAO organization chart for FY19 is shown in the figure below. Top-level

programs are shown in the second column and major sub-activities are shown in the

third column. Names of NOAO leadership team and key program managers are shown

in parentheses.

Kitt Peak NationalObservatory

(Allen)

NOAO Director(Silva)

KP Associate Director's Office (Allen)

Mayall (Allen)

WIYN (Allen)

Associate Director's Office (Allen)Blanco Telescope Operations (Heathcote)

SOAR Telescope Operations (Heathcote)

Small Telescopes (Heathcote)

Engineering & Technical Services (Tighe)

CTIO Associate Director's Office (Heathcote)

Time Allocation Committee (V. Smith)

National Gemini Office (Stanghellini)

Community Science Development

Associate Director's Office (Allen)Core Infrastructure

AURA Support

NOAO Director's Office (Silva)

CTIO Inter-American Observatory(Heathcote)

Community Science and Data Center

(Bolton)

NOAO Core(Silva)

External Projects


(MSO)


(Norman)


(Bolton)

CSDC Associate Director's Office

(Bolton)

Associate Director's Office (Allen)Information Technology (Grandi; Hughes)

Safety, Health, Environment (Lavoie; M. Silva)

Facilities (R. Smith; Sanhueza)


Communications, Outreach, Education (Pompea)

Data Lab (Olsen)

Time Domain Services (Matheson)

Data Management Operations (McManus)

17

3 Mid-Scale Observatories

3.1. Kitt Peak National Observatory

Program Overview

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) operates the Mayall 4m telescope and is a

partner in the operation of the WIYN Observatory (3.5m and 0.9m telescopes). KPNO

provides infrastructure for approximately 20 tenant telescopes operated by institutions

from around the world, including the University of Arizona and the National Radio

Astronomy Observatory (Very Long Baseline Array) (Table 3.1). In FY2019, the KPNO

Associate Director’s Office (ADO) will support the installation, commissioning, and

operation of both the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI, at the Mayall 4m)

and the NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler Spectroscopy (NEID, at

the WIYN 3.5m). These program efforts are described below under sections 3.1.1 and

3.1.2, respectively.

3.1.1. KP Associate Director’s Office

Program Overview

The ADO also supports observatory planning and operations; outreach to

government agencies (city, county, state, and federal); relations with the Tohono

O’odham Nation, tenant observatories, and instrumentation and operations partners;

and coordination with other facilities within MSO.

The ADO consists of the associate director for Kitt Peak, an administrative

assistant, the KPNO safety manager, the DESI scientist, and 15% of the US NGO /

TAC lead. It also contains a half-time position for a site protection scientist, for which

a search is underway.

Milestones

FY2019

WBS Element Activity Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

KP Associate Director’s

Office

Hiring Kitt Peak Site Protection Scientist 1

Hiring Sr. Engineer for WIYN 2

Ongoing communication and relationship

building with Tohono O’odham leaders

3

Milestones:

1. Selection and confirmation of part-time (50%) Kitt Peak

Site Protection Scientist with interest and ability to

engage with local public officials and developers to

mitigate light pollution threats to KPNO

2. Selection and confirmation of experienced Sr. Engineer

(mechanical, electrical, systems) capable of leading the

technical operation, maintenance, and improvement of

the WIYN telescope, instruments, and enclosure

Deliverables:

1. Onboarding of part-time (50%) new Kitt Peak Site

Protection Scientist

2. Onboarding of new Sr. Engineer (mechanical,

electrical, systems) for WIYN

3. Meeting notes from communication and

relationship-building events

NOAO POP19

18

3. Annual meeting with Chairman and bi-annual meeting

with Shuk Toak District Council to provide updates on

observatory activities, announce new visitor programs,

and take questions

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

KP Associate Director's Office 3.4 538,123 101,650 639,773 - 639,773

Director's Office 2.7 404,131 75,988 480,118 480,118

ADO Scientist Research Time 0.7 133,993 13,319 147,311 147,311

Tohono O'odham Outreach 5,662 5,662 5,662

KP Site Protection 6,681 6,681 6,681

Total: 3.4 538,123 101,650 639,773 - 639,773


KP Associate Director's Office

FY 2019 Program Budget Summary

Program Elements

Director’s Office

This program element includes the payroll and non-payroll expenses to support

management of Kitt Peak science, technical, and support activities. Administrative

support is included.

ADO Scientist Research Time

Each NOAO scientific staff member is allocated some fraction of time for scientific and/or

technical research, professional development activities, and external service (e.g.,

membership on committees whose activities benefit the astronomical community). That

time is collected here for those staff members who charge functional time to the ADO.

Tohono O’odham Outreach

This program element supports outreach efforts from the ADO to the Tohono O’odham

Nation in support of educational activities involving tribal members.

KP Site Protection

This program element includes a modest allocation of resources to cover consulting

expenses for dark sky preservation. The consultant is charged with compiling and

tracking information on outdoor lighting codes and sign codes in counties and

municipalities surrounding Kitt Peak, as well as information on proposed state-wide

legislation that would adversely affect dark skies over Arizona. This is a shared-cost

activity in cooperation with other Arizona observatories.

3.1.2. Mayall

Program Overview

The Department of Energy (DOE) is constructing the Dark Energy Spectroscopic

MID-SCALE OBSERVATORIES

19

Instrument (DESI), with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) as the lead

institution for the project. DESI is designed specifically for the Mayall telescope, and

once commissioned it will carry out a five-year survey of 14,000 square degrees of the

northern sky, obtaining about 35 million redshifts of galaxies and QSOs out to z ~ 3.5.

The goal of the survey is to constrain the properties of dark energy through the Baryon

Acoustic Oscillation technique. From FY19 through FY24, DOE is committed to paying

the entire operating cost of the Mayall telescope through an interagency Memorandum

of Agreement (MOA) with the NSF. As part of that MOA, DESI will be the only instrument

on the Mayall until the end of the DESI survey.

During FY19, the Mayall program will complete the installation of the DESI

hardware and resume nighttime operations for DESI commissioning. Based on the

present project schedule, it is expected that DESI installation will be complete during

August 2019 and that DESI commissioning will be complete approximately at the

end of calendar year 2019. Because of the details of DESI project budgeting per

DOE guidelines, FY19 is budgeted within the DESI project as the first year of

operations. To keep the Mayall accounting aligned with the DOE/DESI funding,

there is only one formal program element within the Mayall program: DESI

Operations. This program element covers the entire payroll, non-payroll, and indirect

costs of Mayall activities for the year. All funding for this program element is derived

from DOE through a pass-through contract between LBNL and AURA.

Milestones

FY2019


Mayall

Install DESI Commissioning Instrument 1

Operate DESI Commissioning Instrument 2

Install DESI focal plane 3

Install DESI spectrographs 4

DESI system commissioning 5

Milestones:

1. Successfully install the DESI Commissioning

Instrument on the Mayall telescope and DESI prime

focus corrector, December 15.

2. Carry out on-sky testing of the DESI prime focus

corrector and hexapod using the Commissioning

Instrument, February 15.

3. Successfully install the DESI focal plane fiber

positioning system and the associated fiber cables,

June 15.

4. Successfully install all ten DESI spectrographs, August

31.

5. Initiate on-sky testing and commissioning of the full

DESI instrument, September 1.

Deliverables:

Installed Commissioning Instrument

Report identifying tests from DESI commissioning

plan that were completed with the Commissioning

Instrument

Installed DESI focal plane fiber positioning

system, with cables in cable wraps and fiber

outputs ready for connection to spectrographs

Ten DESI spectrographs fully installed and

connected to optical fiber outputs

First light with the completed DESI instrument

system showing recorded spectra of astronomical

objects

NOAO POP19

20

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Work Packages Funded by DOE through the

Pass-Through Contract with LBNL 25.7 2,592,945 1,188,264 3,781,209 3,781,209 -

DESI Operations 25.7 2,592,945 1,188,264 3,781,209 3,781,209 -

Total: 25.7 2,592,945 1,188,264 3,781,209 3,781,209 -


Mayall


Program Elements

DESI Operations

The Mayall program contains only one element, DESI Operations. This program element

covers all the payroll, non-payroll, and indirect costs of carrying out all the DESI support

work in FY19, including completion of hardware installation and nighttime operations

support. While this element is called “DESI Operations” for consistency with DOE

accounting rules, it includes both development activities (completion of DESI installation)

and operations activities (commissioning, i.e., on-sky nighttime testing of the complex

instrument).

3.1.2.1. Operations

The DESI operations activity within this program element covers all the costs of daytime

support, nighttime operations, and engineering and technical work for completion of

DESI on-sky commissioning. This activity begins upon completion of the DESI

installation. Milestone 5 should be achieved shortly after this phase of the work begins.

3.1.2.2. Development

The DESI development activity within this program element covers all the NOAO costs

of receiving, testing, and installing the DESI hardware delivered during FY19. This

activity begins during FY18 and continues into FY19. It is expected to be completed in

June 2019. Milestones 1–4 are included within this phase of the work.

3.1.2.3. Maintenance and Renewal

There are no maintenance and renewal activities within the Mayall program for FY19,

beyond routine preventive maintenance tasks included with the operations activity (on-

sky commissioning) in this program element. Because of the relatively short duration of

this activity during the latter months of FY19, these routine maintenance tasks are

expected to be minimal.


21

3.1.3. WIYN

Program Overview

Operations for the WIYN 3.5m telescope are defined by the terms of the consortium

agreement. The costs shown represent the entire WIYN budget, including contributions

from the WIYN Observatory partners. Also included are expenses for NOAO

participation in WIYN Consortium activities such as Board and Science Advisory

Committee meetings.

A joint NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research (NN-EXPLORE) program

for the advancement of exoplanet-related research is a major component of the

WIYN program. The cornerstone of NN-EXPLORE will be the Extreme Precision

Doppler Spectrometer, to be installed at WIYN in late 2018–early 2019 and to start

operations in 2019. NASA selected a team at the Pennsylvania State University

(PSU) to build the spectrometer, now called NEID (NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet

Investigations with Doppler Spectroscopy). KPNO staff and management are

working with NASA, NSF, and PSU to

design, fabricate, and install two main

subsystems at WIYN necessary to

operate NEID. These are the fiber-optics

feed (mounted on the telescope and

called the NEID Port Adaptor) to the

spectrometer and the enclosure to house

it (referred to as the NEID Facility

Modifications) on the WIYN Observatory

ground floor. While NEID is being built,

community observers engaged in

exoplanet research are using WIYN with

its existing instrumentation through the

NN-EXPLORE Guest Observer (GO)

program, supported by WIYN scientific

and technical staff.

WIYN general operations and management is funded jointly by the NSF and the

WIYN partners. Activities related specifically to the NN-EXPLORE program,

including NEID and development and support of the NN-EXPLORE GO program,

are funded by NASA.

Milestones

FY2019


WIYN

Complete facility environmental stability

monitoring (w/o instrument) 1

Install port adapter on telescope and

perform basic connectivity tests 2

Complete on-sky verification and

commissioning of port adapter 3

Figure 1. Facility enclosure with interior finish completed as of late June 2018. Temperature control system

testing has been initiated. (Credit: R. Christensen/WIYN)

NOAO POP19

22

Spectrometer operational readiness review

(ORR) 4

Complete Phase 3 queue development

(improved scheduler and observations

editor)

5

Detailed design for new mirror covers to

mitigate wind shake 6

Milestones:

1. Successfully demonstrate facility temperature stability

over an extended period prior to arrival of

spectrometer.

2. Receive port adapter from University of Wisconsin and

install on telescope. Perform basic hardware, telemetry

tests, and initial alignment.

3. Complete on-sky verification and commissioning of port

adapter.

4. Support instrument ORR with necessary performance

data/plans, etc., ready for port adapter and

spectrograph to move into operations phase.

5. Complete Phase 3 queue development to include

support for multiple programs, proposal planning, and

improved scheduler and observations editor

6. Complete mirror cover detailed design. Existing mirror

covers contribute to wind shake and corresponding loss

of image quality at WIYN. Redesigned covers with less

wind-loading area will mitigate this problem.

Deliverables:

1. Facility performance report

2. Installed and aligned port adapter

3. Commissioning report

4. Approval from ORR to move into operations

5. Functional Phase 3 queue with specified

functionality

6. Mirror cover detailed design

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

WIYN Operations 10.1 858,317 687,946 1,546,264 1,058,800 - 487,464

WIYN Administrative Operations 0.5 43,216 404,573 447,789 447,789 - -

WIYN Science Operations 9.6 815,101 283,373 1,098,474 611,011 - 487,463

Technical Operations 6.8 631,893 171,769 803,662 454,472 - 349,190

WIYN Technical Operations 3.3 310,861 38,328 349,190 - 349,190

NN-EXPLORE 3.5 321,031 133,441 454,472 454,472 - -

Science Research 1.0 111,748 27,599 139,346 - - 139,346

Science Research 1.0 111,748 27,599 139,346 - 139,346

Total: 17.9 1,601,957 887,314 2,489,272 1,513,272 976,000


WIYN


Program Elements

WIYN Administrative Operations

This program element includes costs associated with administrative support of WIYN,

including logistical support for visiting observers, scientists, and engineers; tracking of

expenditures; scheduling of activities; and coordination with other divisions of NOAO.

WIYN Science Operations

This program element includes all of the costs directly associated with the operation of

the WIYN 3.5m telescope for science. Scientific staff support of visiting observers,

instrument maintenance and support, nighttime operations, instrument on-sky testing,


23

monitoring, evaluation, and troubleshooting are all covered by this element. Personnel

include instrument scientists, telescope operators, and electronic technicians.

WIYN Technical Operations

This program element includes all of the costs directly related to the routine maintenance

of the WIYN telescope, as well as major and minor telescope modifications. Regular

monitoring and evaluation of telescope performance (including but not limited to the

main drive systems and pointing and tracking performance) are important parts of this

element. Scientific, engineering, and technical staff contribute to this element.

NN-EXPLORE

This element includes all costs directly associated with developing, installing, and

commissioning the NEID spectrometer and part of the cost for scientific staff support of

the GO program. The major NEID components are the design, fabrication, and

integration of the fiber feed to be mounted on the WIYN telescope (called the NEID Port

Adaptor) and the spectrometer enclosure (termed NEID Facility Modifications) to be

situated on the ground floor of the observatory. Scientific, engineering, and technical

staff contribute to this program element. The design and fabrication of the fiber feed and

facility modifications are to be carried out on external contracts.

Science Research

Each scientific staff member is allocated some fraction of time for scientific and/or

technical research, professional development activities, and external service (e.g.,

membership on committees whose activities benefit the astronomical community). That

time is collected here for those staff members who charge functional time to WIYN.

3.1.3.1. Operations

This program element includes all of the costs directly associated with the operation of

the WIYN 3.5m telescope for science. It includes administrative and scientific staff

support of visiting observers, instrument maintenance and support, nighttime operations,

instrument on-sky testing, monitoring, evaluation and troubleshooting. Personnel include

instrument scientists, telescope operators, and electronic technicians. Each scientific

staff member is allocated some fraction of time for scientific and/or technical research,

professional development activities, and external service (e.g., membership on

committees whose activities benefit the astronomical community). That time is recorded

here for those staff members who charge functional time to WIYN.


This element includes all costs directly associated with developing, installing, and

commissioning the NEID spectrometer and part of the cost for scientific staff support of

the GO program. The major NEID components are the design, fabrication, and

integration of the fiber feed to be mounted on the WIYN telescope (called the NEID Port

Adaptor) and the spectrometer enclosure (termed NEID Facility Modifications) to be

situated on the ground floor of the observatory. Scientific, engineering, and technical

staff contribute to this program element. The design and fabrication of the fiber feed and

facility modifications are to be carried out on external contracts.

NOAO POP19

24


This program element includes all of the costs directly related to the routine maintenance

of the WIYN telescope, as well as major and minor telescope modifications. Regular

monitoring and evaluation of telescope performance (including but not limited to the

main drive systems and pointing and tracking performance) are important parts of this

element. Scientific, engineering, and technical staff contribute to this element.

3.1.3.4. Tenant Observatories

All telescopes on KPNO are considered tenants for purposes of contributing to the

mountain-wide infrastructure. Following the NSF portfolio review of 2012 and NSF

divestment of telescopes and subsequent new non-NSF partnerships, even the

Mayall and WIYN can be considered tenants. In any case, there are 17 tenant

facilities listed in the table below (Table 3.1).

These programs are given access to the established and maintained

infrastructure on Kitt Peak in exchange for payment of the corresponding Facilities

Operations Joint Use fees. They can also call on operational and technical support

from the KPMO and mountain engineering groups to deal with minor maintenance

issues at their facilities, for which they pay on a full-cost-recovery basis. This support

effort is provided on an as-available basis. Several of these telescopes are robotic;

most serve their own communities and do not provide open-access time to the US

community.

Table 3.1. Tenant telescopes and consortia memberships currently in operation on Kitt

Peak (listed by facility)

Telescope Project

Description30

Lead Institution Consortium Members

Mayall 4m / DESI Dark Energy

Spectroscopic Survey

DOE DESI

WIYN 3.5m / NEID RVs of exoplanet host

stars; PI science

WIYN partners

/NSF/NASA

NOAO, NASA, U.

Indiana, U. Wisconsin, U.

Missouri, Purdue

2.1m Imaging of transients Caltech Caltech

1.3m “RCT” Remote observations

of objects of interest

to consortium

members

Western

Kentucky

University

WKU, Planetary Science

Institute, South Carolina

State U., Villanova

SARA 0.9m Student research Florida Institute

of Technology

FIT (FL), East Tennessee

State University (TN),

Florida International

University (FL), Valdosta

State University (GA),

Clemson University (SC),

Ball State University (IN),

Agnes Scott College

(GA), The University of

Alabama (AL), Valparaiso


25

Telescope Project

Description30

Lead Institution Consortium Members

University (IN), Butler

University (IN), Texas

A&M University-

Commerce (TX), Embry-

Riddle Aeronautical

University, and the

Instituto de Astrofisica de

Canarias, Florida Gulf

Coast University, U.

Delaware, and Mt. Cuba

Obs.

WIYN 0.9m Student research Indiana University,

University of Wisconsin-

Madison, University of

Wisconsin-Stevens Point,

University of Wisconsin-

Whitewater, San

Francisco State

University, Austin Peay

State University (TN),

Carthage College (WI),

Five College Astronomy

Department (MA),

Rochester Institute of

Technology, Sejong

University, South Korea

MDM 1.3m, 2.4m PI science, student

training

Columbia, Dartmouth,

Ohio State U., Ohio U.,

U. Michigan

Bok 2.3m PI science, student

training

UA Steward

Observatory

Spacewatch 1.8m,

0.9m

NEA follow-up UA Lunar &

Planetary Lab

ARO 12m PI science, student

training

UA Steward

Observatory

NRAO VLBA NRAO

Burrell Schmidt Deep imaging Case Western

Reserve U.

KPVC 0.5m, 2 ×

0.4m

Public outreach Kitt Peak Visitor

Center

3.2. Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

The mission of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) is to provide open

access to the southern skies on federal and non-federal mid-scale telescopes. To this

end, CTIO operates the Blanco 4m telescope on Cerro Tololo and the SOAR 4.1m

telescope on Cerro Pachón. CTIO is also a partner in, and provides support, on a cost-

recovery basis to, the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System

NOAO POP19

26

(SMARTS) consortium, which operates the 0.9m, 1.0m, 1.3m, and 1.5m telescopes on

Cerro Tololo. In addition, CTIO serves as host for 11 tenant facilities operating a total of

more than 20 telescopes of various apertures.

For programmatic purposes, CTIO activities are separated into five main

program elements: the CTIO Associate Director’s Office, Blanco Operations, SOAR

Operations, Small Telescope Operations, and Engineering and Technical Services.

3.2.1. CTIO Associate Director’s Office

Program Overview

The CTIO Associate Director’s Office (ADO-S) coordinates all activities of the Mid-Scale

Observatory program in Chile, including those on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, and at

the base facility in La Serena. The ADO-S includes the associate director for CTIO and

the staff providing administrative support for Mid-Scale Observatories operations in

Chile. It also includes activities that support scientific staff research and improve the

scientific environment at CTIO, including mentoring and in-house career development

activities, support for scientific colloquia by visiting astronomers, and operation of the

Olin Eggen Library in La Serena.

The expansion of the La Serena headquarters complex required to serve current

and future needs created by the ramp-up of LSST operations will continue to be a

major activity in FY19. Rather than construct a separate stand-alone building,

AURA, LSST, and NOAO are executing a joint project, including both remodeling of

existing space and new construction, to provide the office and laboratory space

needed to house their combined staff. The new facilities include a modern petabyte-

scale data center, one of the largest in South America, to accommodate the Chile

node of the LSST data archive, together with shared computing and network

hardware serving all the programs in Chile. FY19 will see completion of the new

construction and its occupation, in part, by the CTIO Associate Director’s Office and

scientific staff. It will also see the establishment and commissioning of new remote

observing and support centers for the Blanco and SOAR telescopes.

Milestones

There are no milestones associated with this program.


27

Budget Summary

Program Elements FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NS-ADO 1.0 46,559 57,766 104,324 - 104,324

Visitor Support 1.0 46,559 57,766 104,324 104,324

Director's Office 2.6 343,953 234,967 578,920 446,667 132,253

NOAO-S Associate Director's Office 1.5 276,903 89,530 366,433 350,000 16,433

NOAO-S Safety 0.7 29,867 59,599 89,466 80,000 9,466

Library 27,485 27,485 27,485

Visitor Center 0.4 12,259 20,562 32,820 16,667 16,154

Site Protection 35,314 35,314 35,314

Scientist Research South 0.1 24,925 2,478 27,402 27,402

NS Facilities Direct Support - - 388,561 388,561 100,000 288,561

NOAO-S LS Facilities & Utilities 187,448 187,448 100,000 87,448

LS Building Maintenance 71,054 71,054 71,054

La Serena Vehicle Fleet 130,059 130,059 130,059

NS Academic Affairs 0.4 15,761 176,664 192,425 70,000 122,425

NS Science Staff Support 0.4 15,761 97,508 113,269 70,000 43,269

SPRF South 79,157 79,157 79,157

Total: 4.0 406,272 857,959 1,264,231 616,667 647,564

CTIO Associate Director’s Office



Program Elements

Visitor Support

The CTIO User Support Office provides visiting observers, at all telescopes in Chile to

which astronomers have access through NOAO, with pre– and post–observing run

logistics support including assistance with international travel, dormitory, and meal

arrangements. This program element includes travel costs for graduate students doing

approved thesis research and funding to cover costs for Chilean observers, per the

AURA agreement with the Chilean community.

NOAO-S Associate Director’s Office

This program element includes all labor, non-labor, and indirect costs for the associate

director for CTIO and the staff who provide administrative support for all Mid-Scale

Observatory operations in Chile.

Library

This program element covers all costs for the Olin Eggen Library in La Serena

(acquisitions, periodicals), which is a shared resource for all operations in Chile.

Visitor Center

This program element covers all operating costs for the visitor center on Cerro Tololo,

which provides an introductory talk and tour of the Blanco 4m and SMARTS 1.5m

telescopes for the general public, free of charge. Costs include partial salary and shuttle

NOAO POP19

28

transport costs for the tour guides. Non-base revenue comes from payment to recover

the additional cost of special tours, mostly organized for cruise ship companies.

Site Protection

This program element covers the costs of efforts to educate the public and local

government on the impacts of light pollution, as well as support for the enforcement and

improvement of government rules and regulations regarding light pollution. This is

primarily achieved through NOAO’s contribution to the Oficina de Protección de la

Calidad del Cielo del Norte de Chile (OPCC), an organization created to protect the night

skies of northern Chile, with participation and funding from all the major observatories in

Chile.

Scientist Research South

Each NOAO scientific staff member is allocated some fraction of time that includes

scientific and/or technical research, professional development activities, and external

service (e.g., membership on committees whose activities benefit the astronomical

community). That time is collected here proportionally for those staff who charge time to

the CTIO Associate Director’s Office.

NOAO-S LS Facilities & Utilities

This program element includes the cost of metered utilities, including electricity,

telephone, natural gas, and water, for the La Serena offices, laboratories, and

workshops.

LS Building Maintenance

This program element covers the cost of maintenance and minor modification work for

the La Serena offices, laboratories, and workshops. This work is carried out by Facilities

or through subcontracts managed by them.

La Serena Vehicle Fleet

This program element covers the cost of maintaining and operating the light vehicles

used by the La Serena–based staff. Increasingly, vehicles are being leased rather than

purchased, with full maintenance and repair costs covered by the contract because this

has proven to be more cost-effective for vehicles that see heavy use on the mountain

roads. Maintenance and repair costs for purchased vehicles are also included here.

These costs will decrease as these older vehicles reach the end of their useful life and

are disposed of.

NS Science Staff Support

This program element supports a variety of academic affairs activities in Chile including

a colloquium series, scientific visitors, page charges, office supplies, etc. It also includes

international travel costs and registration fees to attend conferences and scientific

meetings in representation of the observatory carried out as part of a staff member’s

functional duties. The costs of recruitment and relocation for new members of the

scientific staff are also included here.


29

SPRF

Individual research support funds are allocated to each CTIO scientific staff member. For

FY19, full-time astronomer-track and scientist-track staff at CTIO are allocated $6,000

per person.

3.2.2. Blanco Telescope Operations

Program Overview

This program comprises all activities required for the scientific and technical operation

and maintenance of the Victor M. Blanco 4m telescope on Cerro Tololo. It also includes

projects to improve the telescope and enhance its instrumentation in order to maintain

the vitality and scientific productivity of this facility.

The primary instrument on the Blanco telescope is the Dark Energy Camera

(DECam), a high-performance, 520-megapixel CCD imager mounted at the prime

focus with a 3-square-degree field of view. DECam was designed and built with

funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) to carry out the Dark Energy Survey

(DES); this also entailed a major upgrade of the telescope and its supporting

infrastructure. This five-year survey, covering 5000 square degrees of the South

Galactic Cap in five filters (griyZ), is designed to measure the dark energy equation

of state parameter, using four complementary techniques: galaxy cluster counts,

weak lensing, angular power spectrum, and type Ia supernovae.

In parallel with DES, Blanco and DECam have been used to carry out a broad

range of community science programs with targets ranging from Near-Earth Objects

(NEOs), including asteroids with potentially hazardous Earth-crossing orbits, to

phenomena at cosmological distances probing the origin of the universe. A few of

these are small PI programs, but several are major surveys in their own right. In

particular, the DECam Legacy Survey (DECaLS) aims to provide the optical (grz)

imaging needed for target selection covering the southern 2/3 of the footprint to be

observed with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in readiness for its

start of operations on the Mayall telescope.

Data collection for both DES and DECaLS will be completed during the 2018B

semester (August 2018–January 2019). However, DECam will remain available to

the community until at least 2022 under the terms of the agreement with DOE.

Several studies2 have identified Blanco+DECam as a key resource for follow-up of

LSST discoveries, suggesting it will remain an important and productive component

of the US OIR system well into the LSST era. Further, the recent successful use of

DECam to locate and study the optical counterpart of GW170817, a binary neutron

star merger discovered as a gravitational wave event by LIGO/VIRGO,

demonstrates that Blanco+DECam will play a key role in localizing gravitational

wave events as an essential first step to their follow-up with Blanco and at other

facilities, making it an important tool for the emerging field of multi-messenger

astronomy.

Blanco is also equipped with the Cerro Tololo Ohio State Multi-Object

2 Najita et al., Maximizing Science in the LSST Era: A Community-Based Study of Needed US Capabilities, 2016.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.01661

NOAO POP19

30

Spectrograph (COMOS), a modern, high-efficiency spectrograph that was built using

funds from NSF’s Renewing Small Telescope for Astronomical Research (ReSTAR)

program. Since its completion and commissioning, this instrument has seen

significant demand but relatively little use because of competition from DECam and

DES scheduling constrains; it is mounted at the f/8 focus requiring a top-end change

to switch between DECam and COSMOS. However, we anticipate that use will

increase now that DES is complete since demand for moderate-resolution

spectroscopy remains high.

Milestones

FY2019


Blanco Telescope

Operations

Season 5.5 of DES 1

Develop generic PAN interface 2 3

Evaluate upper shutter drive mechanism 4

Design Blanco shutter emergency brake 5

Milestones:

Complete season 5.5 of DES, which runs from mid-

August 2018 through early Jan 2019.

Complete the hardware and software design for the

generic PAN interface and hold a design review.

Fabricate and test initial prototype interface module.

Complete evaluation of the drive mechanism for the

upper shutter of the Blanco dome, develop a plan for its

refurbishment/replacement, and hold a design review.

Complete development of the preliminary design for the

upgrade of the Blanco shutter brake system and hold a

design review.

Deliverables:

Completed data-taking phase of DES

Design review

Test report on first prototype

Design review report

Design review report

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Blanco Telescope Operations 27.8 2,374,231 1,943,258 4,317,488 - 4,317,488

TelOps Home 1.4 84,619 763,535 848,154 848,154

Blanco Telescope Operations 4.8 314,185 684,865 999,050 999,050

Blanco Telescope Maintenance 13.0 890,456 283,312 1,173,769 1,173,769

Blanco Telescope Improvements 3.9 335,219 113,687 448,906 448,906

Site Monitoring 0.2 24,945 4,807 29,752 29,752

Blanco Science Staff Support 4.4 724,806 93,051 817,858 817,858

CTIO Scientist Research 2.5 386,862 44,600 431,462 - 431,462

Science Research South 2.5 386,862 44,600 431,462 431,462

Total: 30.3 2,761,093 1,987,857 4,748,950 - 4,748,950


Blanco Telescope Operations



31

Program Elements

TelOps Home

This program element is the “home account” for the Telescope Operations (TelOps)

group based on Cerro Tololo. Under NOAO, and during the transition, this group

provides telescope operations staff for Blanco, SOAR, and the small telescopes.

Following the transition to NCOA, parts of the group will remain in MSO and parts will

transfer to SOS or EOS programs.

Budgeted labor costs include that part of the time of the TelOps manager spent on

managing the group plus the time of an administrative assistant. Non-labor costs include

meals, lodging, and shuttle transportation for all members of the TelOps group, fuel and

maintenance costs of group vehicles, and miscellaneous supplies and services. The

time of the NS safety engineer expended on activities on Tololo and safety supplies

(personal protective equipment and foul weather gear) for the TelOps staff are also

included.

Blanco Telescope Operations

This program element includes all costs associated with nighttime operation of the

Blanco 4m telescope and its instruments. Budgeted labor costs include the effort of

telescope operators and observer support staff. Non-labor costs include supplies,

services, and utilities (notably electric power) required for operation of the Blanco

telescope and facility.

Blanco Telescope Maintenance

This program element captures all costs associated with regular preventative and

corrective maintenance of the Blanco 4m telescope and its instruments. Budgeted labor

costs include the effort of mountain electronics staff and telescope mechanics drawn

from the TelOps group and engineering and technical support drawn from the NS

Engineering and Technical Services (ETS) and NS Computer Infrastructure Services

(CIS) groups. Non-labor costs include the services, consumables spare parts, and

maintenance contracts required for maintenance of the telescope and facility.

Blanco Telescope Improvements

This program element captures all costs of projects to improve the performance of the

Blanco 4m telescope and enhance the capabilities of its instrument suite. Labor charges

are primarily for engineering and fabrication effort by the NS Engineering and Technical

Services (ETS) and NS Computer Infrastructure Services (CIS) groups. Non-labor costs

include components, materials, and contracted services.

Site Monitoring

This program element includes all costs for the operation and maintenance of site-

monitoring equipment including weather stations, seeing monitors, all-sky cameras, and

atmospheric transmission monitors. Support for activities on both Cerro Tololo and Cerro

Pachón is captured here.

Blanco Science Staff Support

This program element includes all costs associated with scientific staff support of the

Blanco telescope. Budgeted labor costs include the effort of the telescope scientist, who

NOAO POP19

32

has overall responsibility for scientific oversight and planning of activities related to the

telescope; the instrument scientists responsible for each of the major instruments; and

the other members of the scientific staff who provide support to visiting astronomers

before, during, and after their observing run. Non-labor costs include meals and lodging

on Cerro Tololo and shuttle transportation for the scientific staff when performing support

duties.

Science Research South




community). That time is collected here proportionally for those staff members who

charge functional time to Blanco Telescope Operations.

3.2.2.1. Operations

Blanco activities are centered on the support of visiting investigators during the

preparation and execution of their observing program. Most investigators travel to Chile

to carry out their observations at the telescope, but a growing minority observe remotely

from the remote observing room at NOAO headquarters in Tucson or similar remote

observing centers set up at their home institution.

The vast majority of Blanco telescope time during the 2018B semester (August

2018 to January 2019) will be devoted to completing data collection for the two

major surveys, DES and DECaLS, with only a few nights being used for other

science programs. With these surveys complete, significantly more time will become

available for general community programs. Consequently, a call for survey

proposals has been issued for new programs commencing in the 2019A or 2019B

semesters. Considering DECam’s preeminence as a survey instrument, at least

20% of the time on Blanco will be allocated to survey programs, more if justified by

demand. At the same time, the third LIGO/Virgo campaign is expected to start in

around January 2019, which has already produced a significant uptick in Target of

Opportunity proposals aimed at using Blanco+DECam to localize discoveries.

To ensure the continued optimum operation of the telescopes and its

instruments, technical and engineering (T&A) nights spaced regularly during the

year are used to monitor performance (Delivered Image Quality, pointing accuracy,

filter transmission) and to obtain calibration data (e.g., “star flats”). A longer 10-night

shutdown is scheduled every six months to service the DECam cooling system and

cover other preventative or corrective maintenance tasks.

3.2.2.2. Development, Maintenance, and Renewal

A major focus of activity during FY19 will be efforts to ensure that DECam continues

to operate and be maintainable for the next decade. During the course of DES, the

instrument builders at Fermilab have been responsible for many aspects of the

instrument’s maintenance, while training and transferring knowledge to the CTIO

staff, who are now largely self-sufficient in most areas. One area of continuing

concern is the Liquid Nitrogen circulation cooling system, which continues to require

frequent maintenance. Efforts at Fermilab continue to identify an improved design or


33

better materials for the bearings in the LN2 circulation pump to decrease the

frequency with which the pump must be swapped out and refurbished from the

current 6 months to the originally expected 12 months. Work will also continue to

develop an improved seal design for the junctions between some segments of the

cooling line that frequently develop vacuum leaks. These continued in-kind efforts

form part of the compensation package agreed on with DES for extension of the

survey for an additional season. In the meantime, telescope shutdowns will continue

to be scheduled at six monthly intervals to swap out the pump and carry out other

corrective and preventive maintenance tasks that cannot be performed with the

system running.

During FY19, NS ETS engineers will develop a generic PAN interface and

associated software for DECam. This will replace the obsolescent proprietary

hardware interface used to communicate between the Monsoon crates at Prime

Focus (the DHEs) and the acquisition computers (PANs) in the computer room.

Although there is an adequate stock of spares for the current hardware for

immediate needs, the new interface development will ensure that DECam CCD

controllers can be supported and upgraded for the foreseeable future.

The cooling system for the Blanco primary mirror will be the subject of redesign.

Properly matching the temperature of the mirror to the nighttime air temperature has

been shown to be critical for achieving good DIQ. The present cooling system,

which blows chilled air across and around the mirror, achieves this objective but

needs to be reworked to eliminate contamination of the mirror surface with airborne

dust and oil. An additional chiller also needs to be added so that the set point

temperature for the glycol used to refrigerate the mirror and dome air is independent

of that for cooling the hydrostatic bearing. This will allow cooling of the mirror to

lower temperatures in winter without overcooling the bearing oil, which increases its

viscosity, leading to telescope drive problems.

The Blanco dome will be another focus of maintenance and improvement efforts

during FY19. The gearbox for the upper shutter drive mechanism will be evaluated

to determine if it needs to be replaced, as was done during a similar upgrade of the

Mayall 4m telescope shutter, and a design study will be completed for improvements

to the emergency brake system for the dome shutter, capitalizing on experience

gained at the Australian Astronomical Observatory during an upgrade of its similar

shutter. Work will also continue on the dome azimuth rotation mechanism, including

completing the alignment of the dome bogies to reduce the frequency of bearing

failures, repairing a damage wheel, and implementing diagnostic measurements and

regular preventative maintenance for the bogies and dome drives.

3.2.3. SOAR Telescope Operations

Program Overview

The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) operates the SOAR 4.1m

telescope on Cerro Pachón on behalf of the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR)

consortium. NOAO is a partner in the SOAR consortium; the other members are the

nation of Brazil, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), and Michigan

NOAO POP19

34

State University (MSU). NOAO contributes the effort needed for operation and routine

maintenance of the telescope and its instruments. This effort is primarily provided by the

mountain-based Telescope Operations (TelOps) group and by the scientific staff, with a

small amount of additional engineering and technical support provided by the La

Serena–based Engineering and Technical Services (NS ETS) and Computer

Infrastructure Services (NS CIS) groups. The value of this effort, calculated on a full-

cost-recovery basis, represents NOAO’s base-funded contribution to the SOAR

consortium under the terms of the SOAR agreement. In exchange, NOAO obtains 30%

of the time on SOAR for use by the US open-access community. CTIO also provides

effort for repair and improvement projects, paid for on a full-cost-recovery basis using

SOAR consortium funds.

The current SOAR agreement will end in 2020 when equity is achieved between

NOAO’s contributions to operations and the capital contributions for SOAR

construction made by the other partners. This will require a rebalancing of partner

contributions to fund ongoing operation and possibly consequent adjustment in

resulting time shares. Each SOAR partner will have to decide if they wish to

continue in the consortium and at what level, and it may be necessary to seek new

partners to fill any resulting funding gap. In particular, NSF has indicated that there

will be a need for an independent review to assess whether they should continue to

fund involvement in SOAR through NOAO on behalf of the US astronomical

community.

A number of community studies have shown that SOAR’s multiple “hot”

instruments, flexible observing modes, and colocation with LSST on Cerro Pachón

mean it could play an important future role in time-domain follow-up of LSST

discoveries in particular. Indeed, the report from the National Academies of

Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommended SOAR be a component of a

federally funded follow-up network.3 SOAR’s recent successful involvement in the

study of the optical counterpart of GW170817, a binary neutron star merger

discovered as a gravitational wave event by LIGO/VIRGO, demonstrates that

SOAR’s time-domain role could extend beyond LSST follow-up into the emerging

field of multi-messenger astronomy. As discussed further in Section 3.2.3.2, NOAO,

SOAR, and Las Cumbres Observatory are actively developing SOAR’s capabilities

in this direction as part of a prototype US time-domain system.

Milestones

FY2019


SOAR Telescope

Operations

SOAR coating shutdown 1

Install and commission TS4 on SOAR 2 3

Initial demonstration of LSST follow-up

capability on SOAR 4

3 See Elmegreen et al. 2015, “Optimizing the U.S. OIR Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System,” https://www.nap.edu/catalog/21722/optimizing-the-us-ground-based-optical-and-infrared-astronomy-system.

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/21722/optimizing-the-us-ground-based-optical-and-infrared-astronomy-system

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/21722/optimizing-the-us-ground-based-optical-and-infrared-astronomy-system


35

Milestones:

Completed SOAR coating shutdown. This will at least

include recoating M2 and M3 and upgrading the CCD

cameras of the CWFS. If reliable deposition of a good-

quality aluminum coating in the Gemini coating plant

has been demonstrated by 10/18, it will also include

coating of M1.

Completed adaption and installation of TS4 on SOAR.

Completed commissioning and testing of TS4 on SOAR

Completed steps needed to carry out a demonstration

observing run in which a schedule is generated from

one or more NOAO proposals using the LCO

scheduler, scripted observations are carried out using

the Goodman spectrograph, and pipeline-reduced data

are delivered. Not everything need be as automated as

expected for the final system, and there will always be

a human telescope operator and observer.

Deliverables:

Telescope returned to science operation with

newly coated M2 and M3 and if possible M1

TS4 opto-mechanical modification finished and

instrument installed on telescope

TS4 commissioned and tested sufficiently to

support offering it for use in 2019B semester

Successful execution of single-night

demonstration run

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Activities supporting SOAR Telescope

Operations covered by NOAO's contribution

per the SOAR agreement

16.1 1,196,233 903,826 2,100,059 386,175 1,713,884

SOAR Directorate 2.0 278,645 138,848 417,493 417,493

SOAR Operations 10.0 600,760 620,536 1,221,296 1,221,296

SOAR Telescope Maintenance 3.6 276,476 140,431 416,907 386,175 30,732

AEON 0.5 40,352 4,011 44,363 44,363

SOAR Science Support 2.1 283,847 91,905 375,752 - 375,752

SOAR Telescope Scientist 1.0 128,218 55,159 183,377 183,377

SOAR Science Support by NS Scientific Staff 1.1 155,629 36,746 192,375 192,375

Sci Staff Research Time 1.0 130,103 12,932 143,035 - 143,035

Science Research South 1.0 130,103 12,932 143,035 143,035

Activities paid for with SOAR corporate

(Non-NSF) funds 4.3 318,230 - 318,230 318,230 -

SOAR Telescope Improvements 4.3 318,230 - 318,230 318,230 -

Total: 23.4 1,928,413 1,008,664 2,937,076 704,405 2,232,671


SOAR Telescope Operations


Program Elements

SOAR Directorate

This program element includes labor costs for the SOAR director and administrative

assistant, and the associated NS FO census fees. All other costs associated with the

SOAR Directorate are paid for with SOAR consortium funds.

SOAR Operations

This program element includes costs, primarily for labor, incurred by NOAO in nighttime

operation of the SOAR 4.1m telescope and its instruments. Budgeted labor costs include

the effort of telescope operators and observer support staff. Labor also includes effort to

support AEON (Astronomy Event Observatory Network), a collaboration with Las

NOAO POP19

36

Cumbres and Gemini to develop a dynamically scheduled follow-up network with SOAR

as one node. The only non-payroll expense included is the NS FO “mountain share fee,”

which recovers the cost of maintaining shared infrastructure on Cerro Pachón such as

access roads and power lines and providing emergency medical service. All other non-

labor costs for operation of the SOAR telescope, including utilities, consumables,

supplies, and equipment, are paid for with SOAR consortium funds.

SOAR Telescope Maintenance

This program element includes costs associated with regular preventative and corrective

maintenance of the SOAR 4.1m telescope and its instruments. Budgeted labor costs

include the effort of the mountain electronics staff and telescope mechanics that make

up the SOAR day crew and engineering and technical support drawn from the NOAO

South Engineering and Technical Services (ETS) and NS Computer Infrastructure

Services (CIS) groups. All non-labor costs, including consumables, components,

materials, and contracted services used for maintenance, are paid for with SOAR

consortium funds.

SOAR Telescope Scientist

This program element includes costs associated with the SOAR telescope scientist, the

value of which, calculated on a full-cost-recovery basis, forms part of NOAO’s

contribution under the SOAR agreement. Budgeted labor costs cover the functional and

research time of the telescope scientist. Non-labor costs are the NS FO census fee and

per-use charges for meals, lodging, and shuttle transportation required for performance

of telescope scientist duties.

SOAR Telescope Science Support by NS Scientific Staff

This program element captures costs associated with support provided to the SOAR

telescope by members of the CTIO scientific staff. Labor costs include the functional

time of scientific staff used to (a) support NOAO users of the SOAR telescope and (b)

meet NOAO’s commitment to provide scientist effort under the terms of the SOAR

agreement. The latter includes the effort of the staff who serve as instrument scientists

for those instruments for which NOAO has responsibility. This package also includes the

time of the CTIO associate director, and of scientific staff, spent on SOAR governance

(membership on SOAR Board and Science Advisory Committee).

Science Research South





charge functional time to SOAR.

SOAR Telescope Improvements

This program element tracks costs associated with projects to improve the performance

of the SOAR 4.1m telescope and its instruments requested by and coordinated with the

SOAR director and paid for on a full-cost-recovery basis from SOAR consortium funds.

SOAR relies upon the NS ETS group to execute significant upgrade projects and to


37

support the installation, modification, and commissioning of instrumentation and other

systems that are delivered by other SOAR partners.

3.2.3.1. Operations

SOAR operations activities are centered on the support of visiting investigators during

the preparation and execution of their observing program. SOAR operates in classical

mode with investigators taking their own data; however, the majority do so through

remote observation from their home institutions. The university partners, UNC-CH and

MSU, have built dedicated remote observing rooms for the use of their communities, and

there are several such centers at various locations in Brazil. Remote observing at SOAR

simply requires a computer, preferably with multiple large monitors, a good Internet

connection, and a means to communicate with the telescope operators by video or audio

conferencing. Consequently, a growing fraction of NOAO and Chilean users observe

from their home institutions.

By design SOAR can carry multiple “hot” instruments, and it is possible to switch

from one to another in a few minutes during the night if that is required by the

observing program. The most frequently used instrument is the Goodman optical

spectrograph, which accounts for around 60% of use across the whole partnership,

with the SAM ground layer AO imager and SOAR Optical Imager competing for

second place with around 15% of use each. The SOAR Integral Field Unit

Spectrograph (SIFS) came into service in campaign mode during FY18 and is

expected to be entered into regular operation during FY19. Two new instruments will

be added during FY19: the Astronomical Research using the Cornell InfraRed

Imaging Spectrograph (ARCoIRIS) will move from the Blanco telescope to SOAR

and in the process will recover its original shorter name of TripleSpec4 (TS4); and

the SOAR Telescope Echelle Spectrograph (STELES) is expected to be installed

and commissioned during the course of the year.

To ensure the continued optimum operation of the telescopes and its extended

instrument suite, technical and engineering (T&A) nights are scheduled monthly to

monitor performance (Delivered Image Quality, pointing accuracy, throughput) and

to test minor improvements and new modes of operation of the instruments. Longer

T&A runs are scheduled as needed to commission new instruments or observing

modes.


In partnership with Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO), NOAO and the SOAR consortium

will work during FY19 to develop and deploy a demonstration time-domain observing

capability on the SOAR telescope. LCO staff will work to extend their scheduling tools to,

in effect, incorporate SOAR as a component of the LCO global telescope network. Work

will be done at SOAR and at UNC-CH to extend existing scripting tools so that

“observations” commanded by the scheduler can be executed with the Goodman

spectrograph semi-automatically; a human telescope operator and service observer will

still be involved, but the process will be automated and streamlined so that their task will

primarily be supervisory. Work is also being done to extend the data reduction pipeline

already under development at SOAR to automatically deliver processed data soon after

the observation is completed. The initial demonstration will be confined to observing with

NOAO POP19

38

a limited number of modes of the Goodman spectrograph; this will later be extended to

more modes and other instruments at SOAR but will always be restricted to a well-

defined subset of frequently used configurations. Subsequent phases of the overall

project will extend use of the LCO scheduler to drive time-domain observations at the

Blanco and Gemini telescopes.

Two new instruments are expected to become available on SOAR during FY19.

It is anticipated that STELES will be installed on the telescope in December 2018,

immediately following the aluminizing run, with commissioning and SV testing taking

place during FY19-Q2 and -Q3. The work to relocate the Astronomical Research

using the Cornell InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (ARCoIRIS; to be renamed TS4)

from the Blanco telescope to SOAR should also be completed in the same time

frame. The team from Cornell, who originally built the instrument, will implement the

modifications of the internal opto-mechanics, while changes to the mechanical

telescope interface will be carried out in the CTIO machine shop, both tasks being

completed by the end of FY19-Q2 period. Installation at SOAR and recommissioning

will then occur during Q3. It is anticipated that both instruments will be offered

starting with the 2019B semester. Following on from the successful prototyping

completed in FY18, the facility guide cameras for both Nasmyth foci will be modified

so they can be used for low-order wavefront sensing during the course of FY19-Q3

and -Q4, allowing closed loop control of focus and astigmatism. At the same time,

the software will be upgraded to allow semi-automatic selection and acquisition of

guide stars. Together these changes will improve observing efficiency and are also

important steps in streamlining observations in preparation for time-domain follow-

up.


The primary maintenance activity at SOAR during FY19 will be the recoating of the

primary, secondary, and tertiary mirrors scheduled for November 2018. This was

originally scheduled to happen a year earlier. However, it proved impossible to readjust

the parameters of the Gemini coating plant, configured since 2007 to deposit protected

silver coatings, to successfully deposit bare aluminum instead. Test coatings all had

poor blue reflectivity thought to be due to contamination, so a new coating would be no

better than the old coating which was deposited in 2009 and has the same problem.

Work has continued to understand and resolve the problem, with progress made, but a

successful test had not been completed when work had to stop to concentrate on the

coating of the Blanco primary mirror. The decision has been taken that if a successful

coating test has not been carried out before November a shorter shutdown will still take

place in order to renew the coatings on the SOAR secondary and tertiary mirrors

(performed in the evaporative coating plant on Cerro Tololo) since this will recover a

large fraction of the lost reflectivity. This will allow coating of the SOAR primary to be

further delayed to allow more radical changes of the Gemini plant or until the new LSST

coating plant is commissioned.

The facility calibration wavefront sensor will also be upgraded during the

aluminizing shutdown, with the installation of two new CCD cameras replacing the

old units, which are obsolescent and have no spares.


39

3.2.4. NOAO South Engineering and Technical Services

Program Overview

The NOAO South Engineering and Technical Services (NS ETS) group contributes

engineering expertise and precision mechanical and electronic design and fabrication

services spanning the full range of engineering disciplines, on an as-needed basis, to

the other divisions of NOAO South. This depth and breadth of technical experience

underpin preventative and corrective maintenance activities for the Blanco and SOAR

telescopes and allow the development of small- and medium-scale projects to improve

these telescopes. The group also participates in the design, fabrication, and installation

of new instruments for SOAR and Blanco and helps maintain and enhance them once in

operation. NS ETS increasingly provides engineering and technical support to the NS

Facilities Operations division. A small but steady level of effort is also sold, on a full-cost-

recovery basis, to Gemini, the SMARTS consortium, and other tenant facilities to support

their activities, and a significant and growing amount of effort is going to LSST project

activities. It is anticipated that following the transition to NCOA, NS ETS will form a

significant part of the core of NCOA EOS.

The NS ETS staff is divided into four groups: computer applications, mechanics,

electronics, and optics. NS ETS is based in La Serena, where facilities include a

well-equipped modern machine shop, electronics and optics laboratories, and a

clean room for work on detectors and small opto-mechanical assemblies. NS ETS

staff regularly travel to the telescopes as needed where they work closely with the

Telescope Operations (TelOps) group. The internal Advisory Committee on

Technical Resources (ACTR) provides scientific oversight for NS ETS and advises

the associate director for NOAO South on the prioritization of their efforts.

The bulk of the effort of the NS-ETS staff is employed for operational,

maintenance, and improvement activities for the Blanco and SOAR telescopes and

is described and accounted for under the corresponding program elements.

During FY19, NS ETS staff will also make significant contributions to the LSST

construction project. ETS software engineers will develop and implement the

telescope control system for the auxiliary calibration telescope, and mechanical and

electronics engineers will contribute to modifications and improvements to the

contractor-supplied controls and drives for that telescope and its dome. Software

engineers are also involved in the development and integration of the site seeing

monitor. ETS electronics staff will also complete the construction and test of the

control system for the LSST mirror lift, and the CTIO machine shop is slated to

fabricate many miscellaneous parts, fixtures, and fittings that will be required for the

mirror lift, coating plant auxiliary telescope, site seeing monitor, and dome. It is

anticipated that the ETS optical engineering staff will also begin preparatory work for

the integration alignment and test of the telescope optical system towards the end of

the year.

Milestones

ETS are responsible for execution of many of the milestones listed in Sections 3.2.2

(Blanco Telescope Operations) and 3.2.3 (SOAR Telescope Operations). There are no

NOAO POP19

40

separate milestones associated with this program.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NS-ETS 4.2 396,642 39,426 436,069 436,068 -

LSST_work 4.2 396,642 39,426 436,069 436,068 -

Engineering & Technical Services 2.9 267,910 346,912 614,823 - 614,823

ETS General Operations NC5200000 2.9 267,910 346,912 614,823 614,823

Total: 7.1 664,553 386,339 1,050,891 436,068 614,823

Engineering & Technical Services



Program Elements

LSST Work

This element contains budgeted effort by NOAO South engineering staff to support

LSST construction.

ETS General Operations NC5200000

This program elements includes

all costs associated with management of the engineering and technical groups as

well as the maintenance of the NS ETS working environment and operations.

This includes time spent on management of the group by the head of program for

ETS and the group leads of the computer applications, mechanics, electronics,

and optics groups;

management and maintenance of laboratories, including the optics lab, the

detector lab, and clean room;

management of the instrument shop;

the effort for general documentation, as well as maintenance and cleaning of

ETS equipment;

general laboratory supplies and materials;

software licenses and limited computer upgrades; and

training for the NS ETS staff and recruitment costs.

3.2.5. Small Telescopes

Program Overview

CTIO provides operational, technical, and logistical support to the small telescopes and

other tenant facilities on Cerro Tololo.

The Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System (SMARTS)

consortium operates the 0.9m, 1.3m, and 1.5m telescopes on Cerro Tololo. NOAO

is a member of this consortium, and as such receives 15% of the time on these

telescopes to administer on behalf of the US astronomical community. Starting with


41

the 2019A semester, an additional 80 nights per year will be available on the 1.5m

telescope as an extension of the NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research

(NN-EXPLORE) program funded by NASA and administered by NOAO.

In addition, CTIO serves as host for 11 tenant facilities operating a total of more

than 20 telescopes of various apertures as listed in Table 3.2. These programs are

given access to the established and maintained infrastructure on Cerro Tololo in

exchange for payment of the corresponding Facilities Operations share fee. They

can also call on operational and technical support from the CTIO TelOps and ETS

groups to deal with minor maintenance issues at their facilities, for which they pay

on a full-cost-recovery basis. This support effort is provided on an as-available

basis, and in aggregate is less than 1 FTE spread over several individual staff. The

majority of these telescopes are fully robotic; only the KASI 1.6m telescope has

operations staff permanently onsite. Most of these programs serve their own

communities and do not provide open-access time to the US community. The

exception is Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO), which makes time available to the US

community at large under the terms of an agreement with NSF funded through

NSF/AST’s Mid-Scale Innovations Program (MSIP); NOAO administers this time on

behalf of the US community. All the telescopes, large and small, operating on the

AURA property in Chile provide 10% of their telescope time to the Chilean

astronomical county as host nation.

Table 3.2. CTIO Tenant Facilities

Abbreviation Organization Telescope(s) Website

ALO Andes Lidar Observatory;

U. Illinois, Embry-Riddle

Aeronautical University

lidar system http://lidar.erau.edu/

Curtis-Schmidt University of Michigan 0.6m/0.9m https://lsa.umich.edu/astro

GONG Global Oscillation Network

Group, National Solar

Observatory

2.8cm https://gong.nso.edu/

KTMNet Korea Astronomy and

Space Science Institute

1.6m https://www.kasi.re.kr/eng/pa

geView/88

LCO Las Cumbres Observatory 3 × 1.0m,

2 × 0.4m,

ASA-SN

https://lco.global

PROMPT Panchromatic Robotic

Optical Monitoring and

Polarimetry Telescopes;

UNC-CH, Astro Optik,

National Astronomical

Research Institute of

Thailand

0.8m,

2 × 0.6m,

3 × 0.4m,

evryscope

https://skynet.unc.edu/

SARA The Southeastern

Association for Research

in Astronomy consortium

SARA 0.6m http://saraobservatory.org/

http://lidar.erau.edu/

https://lsa.umich.edu/astro

https://gong.nso.edu/

https://www.kasi.re.kr/eng/pageView/88

https://www.kasi.re.kr/eng/pageView/88

https://lco.global/

https://skynet.unc.edu/

http://saraobservatory.org/

NOAO POP19

42

Abbreviation Organization Telescope(s) Website

SMARTS Small & Moderate

Aperture Research

Telescope System

SMARTS 1.5m,

1.3m, 0.9m

http://www.astro.yale.edu/sm

arts

SOAR Southern Astrophysical

Research Telescope

4.1m http://www.ctio.noao.edu/soa

r/

T80-South IAG USP Brazil

0.826m http://www.splus.iag.usp.

br/en/t80s-telescope/

URAT USNO Robotic Astrometric

Telescope

1.0m (being

installed)

http://ad.usno.navy.mil/ urat/

WHAM Wisconsin H-alpha

mapper; Department of

Astronomy, University of

Wisconsin-Madison

0.6m http://www.astro.wisc.edu/w

ham-site/

Yale 1.0m Astronomical Research

Institute

1.0m http://www.astro-

research.org/

Milestones

There are no milestones for this program.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

SMARTS Operations Direct Costs 3.0 129,655 365,714 495,369 495,369 -

SMARTS Operations with Indirects 1.1 63,147 - 63,147 63,147 -

Total: 4.1 192,801 365,714 558,515 558,515 -


Small Telescopes


Program Elements

SMARTS Operations Direct Costs

This program element includes all costs associated with the operation of the SMARTS

telescopes. Budgeted labor costs include the effort of the telescope operators / service

observers who operate the telescopes. Non-labor costs include meals, lodging, and

transport for the operators and the Facilities Operations “mountain share fee,” which

recovers the cost of maintaining shared infrastructure, utilities, and cryogens. All these

costs are fully recovered from the SMARTS consortium.

Scientific support for NOAO visiting astronomers using the SMARTS telescopes is

covered by base funds.

SMARTS Operations with Indirects

This program element covers fully burdened labor recharge for the small amount of effort

expended by the CTIO TelOps and ETS staff to support the diagnosis and repair of

http://www.astro.yale.edu/smarts

http://www.astro.yale.edu/smarts

http://www.ctio.noao.edu/soar/

http://www.ctio.noao.edu/soar/

http://www.splus.iag.usp.br/en/t80s-telescope/

http://www.splus.iag.usp.br/en/t80s-telescope/


43

problems and routine maintenance of the SMARTS telescopes and their instrumentation.

All these costs are fully recovered from the SMARTS consortium.

3.2.5.1. Operations

The SMARTS 1.5m and 1.3m telescopes are operated in queue/service mode by three

telescope operators. The 1.3m currently operates full time and the 1.5m up to 2/3 of the

time. The 0.9m operates up to 2/3 of the time and runs in visitor mode with the

scheduled observer responsible for operation of the telescope with help and guidance

form CTIO observer support personnel.

The KASI 1.6m is operated by on-site staff from KASI who work on rotating

deployments in Chile. All the other small tenant facilities are fully robotic.


Limitations on the available funding within the SMARTS consortium preclude significant

development effort at this time. Development of the other small tenant facilities is a

matter for their owner operators.

During FY19-Q1, USNO expect to exchange the astrographic camera used for

the URAT survey with a new 1.0m aperture telescope to carry out a new program.

The CTIO TelOps group will provide logistical and on-site technical support for the

removal of the astrograph and installation of the new telescope.

In a collaborative effort with SMARTS, the Astronomical Research Institute (ARI)

plan to automate and instrument the SMARTS 1.5m telescope to carry out a

program to discover and track Near-Earth Objects during the part of the time on that

telescope not currently scheduled. This effort is dependent on the success of a

funding request submitted to NASA. This follows on from ARI’s successful, NASA-

funded upgrade of the Yale 1.0m, which is now fully robotic and dedicated to the

same mission. NASA will also fund additional operating nights on the SMARTS 1.5m

starting in the 2019A semester as an extension of the NASA-NSF Exoplanet

Observational Research (NN-EXPLORE) program.


CTIO TelOps staff, with support when necessary from NS ETS, are responsible for

problem resolution and routine corrective and preventive maintenance of the SMARTS

telescopes. This includes repair and maintenance of mechanical and electrical/electronic

systems and periodic cleaning of optical systems. Similar services are provided on

request to the other small tenant facilities to the extent resources are available. Such

services range from power-cycling comatose computers to major maintenance of dome

drive mechanisms.

3.3. External Projects

The external projects group retains key capability in the NOAO optics and Tucson

machine shop as well as high-level engineering for telescope advanced secondary

mirrors. The group is committed to majority external funding (non-NOAO base) for

FY19, primarily for LSST activities but also several smaller jobs.

NOAO POP19

44

Milestones


Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NOAO External Project Technical Support 3.0 382,217 67,523 449,741 421,292 28,449

NOAO-N Instrument Shop Operations 1.0 94,475 39,133 133,608 120,320 13,287

NOAO-N Optics Shop Operations 1.0 102,618 17,781 120,399 105,237 15,162

Design & Analysis Group Contracts 1.0 185,125 10,609 195,734 195,734 -

Total: 3.0 382,217 67,523 449,741 421,292 28,449


External Projects


Program Elements

NOAO-N Instrument Shop Operations

The NOAO North instrument shop retains capability to execute a host of precision

machining and fabrication jobs. In FY19 the planned effort includes mainly support for

LSST.

NOAO-N Optics Shop Operations

This element provides support for the NOAO optics shop. Mainly support for LSST and

modest support for WIYN and other small jobs.

Design & Analysis Group Contracts

This element contains activity supporting external engineering design and development

for large telescope secondary mirrors and other engineering support.

45

4 Community Science and Data Center

The Community Science and Data Center (CSDC) develops and operates a wide range

of science-enabling services both upstream and downstream from the mountaintop

observing operations of NOAO telescopes and other OIR observing facilities. CSDC

activities are encompassed within two major (and interconnected) mission pillars:

Support for data-intensive astronomy research by a broad-based user community

Community access, advocacy, and optimization for the US OIR astronomy system

The following sections describe the various CSDC program activities and FY19

initiatives as currently organized under these two mission areas and the CSDC Director’s

Office.

4.1. CSDC Associate Director’s Office

Program Overview

The CSDC Director’s Office (CDO) coordinates and manages all activities within the

six component programs of the CSDC. The CDO includes a full-time director for

CSDC, a deputy director for CSDC at 50%, a full-time program/project manager, and

a full-time administrative coordinator.

The primary responsibilities of the CDO are to

set, maintain, and communicate strategic vision and priorities for CSDC;

provide line management and support to CSDC group leaders;

establish and maintain a positive, professional, equitable, and inclusive work

environment for all CSDC staff;

ensure successful, science-driven, user-focused operation of the CSDC

program; and

provide primary representation and accountability for all CSDC program

activities to the NOAO Directorate, AURA Corporate, cognizant oversight and

review committees, NSF, OIR system partners, and the astronomical

community.

lead the development of plans, proposals, reports, presentations, and review

materials for the CSDC program.

develop and track the annual CSDC budget.

carry out ongoing staffing and budget optimization within the CSDC program.

identify and promote significant opportunities for coordination between

different CSDC activities.

maintain high-level awareness of major scientific and technological trends

relevant to the CSDC program.

identify and promote opportunities for outward-facing, program-level

coordination between the major components of NOAO and later NCOA as

appropriate.

NOAO POP19

46

In addition, several specific program activities will be pursued at the CDO level

during FY19, as described below.

OIR System Optimization for the LSST Era — With the support of a supplemental

funding award from the NSF, CSDC is pursuing a number of OIR system optimization

initiatives in preparation for the LSST era. The priorities for these initiatives have been

established by the OIR System Report of Elmegreen et al. (2015) and subsequent

guidance from NSF to NOAO. Major areas of effort are

scalability and pre-LSST deployment of the ANTARES event broker;

development and coordination of time-domain follow-up observing

infrastructure;

support for the NOAO Data Lab as an LSST precursor science platform;

support for hosting of major OIR survey datasets complementary to LSST;

and

development of an “LSST Community Science Center” concept within CSDC.

Significant hiring activity in support of this OIR system optimization effort was

completed in FY18, and the initiatives are expected to be fully staffed for FY19. Specific

FY19 activities in each area are described in the sections below.

A full-time CSDC program/project manager (PM) has been hired to support the

planning and execution of these initiatives and to ensure that they are properly

coordinated within the broader CSDC and NOAO programs. The CSDC PM will also

contribute directly to the preparation for the Comprehensive Review of CSDC that is

currently planned for FY20-Q1, by capturing and documenting the flow-down from the

strategic initiatives of NOAO’s 2015 Strategic Plan through CSDC mission requirements

to specific functional requirements of current CSDC program activities.

CSDC in the NCOA Era — The restructuring of NOAO, Gemini, and LSST

Operations within a single organization (NCOA, assuming NSF approval) represents a

unique opportunity and mandate for the CSDC program. Many of the CSDC program

elements have great potential for “front-end” synergy and integration with other NCOA

program activities (as contrasted with the “back-end” integration already planned through

shared services and a matrixed workforce). These possibilities, if realized, can build

NCOA into a national community resource that is greater than the sum of its parts, not

just a vehicle for operational efficiency. Some of the most salient areas of potential

collaboration are

technology and user-experience alignment between the CSDC Data Lab and

the LSST Science Platform;

coordination between Gemini and Data Lab in hosting of high-level science

products;

integration between the PI-oriented data archive systems of CSDC/MSO and

Gemini;

vertical integration between LSST alert production and ANTARES event

brokering;

integration of CSDC, MSO, and Gemini within a coordinated time-domain

follow-up observing system;

coordination and tool sharing between CSDC and Gemini efforts to upgrade

observing-proposal submission systems;

COMMUNITY SCIENCE AND DATA CENTER

47

coordinated user support systems (such as helpdesk, etc.) across NCOA

programs; and

data-processing software collaboration across NCOA programs.

In recognition of the importance of community-based software to modern OIR

astronomy, CDO will also host a meeting of the Astropy Project Coordination Committee

at NOAO headquarters in December 2018. This meeting will be co-sponsored by NOAO,

LSST, and Gemini and will include participation by representatives of all AURA

Programs. A planned outcome of this meeting is the development of a model for ongoing

AURA NSF-funded centers institutional engagement with Astropy and other community-

based software initiatives.

In some of the above areas, initial conversations and concepts are already being

developed, while in other areas the possibilities remain speculative. A major CDO

activity for FY19 will be to develop the concepts in all these areas further, in consultation

with staff of the other NOAO, Gemini, and LSST programs. A strategic vision and

preliminary integration roadmap will be developed, prioritizing the activities of greatest

value and feasibility. This content will be incorporated in the Comprehensive Proposal to

be submitted in late FY19.

External Engagement for Data-Intensive Astronomy — Many aspects of modern

data-intensive astronomy are not unique to CSDC. A major CDO priority for FY19 will be

ongoing engagement with the broader community of scientists and technologists on

topics of common interest in this area.

The most significant effort in FY19 will be CDO participation (in collaboration with

LSST and STScI colleagues) in the organization of a series of AURA workshops funded

by the Kavli Foundation. Provisionally titled “Terabytes to Science,” these workshops will

focus on further developing the technical and operational requirements for national user

facilities such as NOAO, Gemini, LSST, and STScI to make data-intensive and survey-

scale astronomy accessible to a broad user base in the future, in the same spirit as

these organizations have already made OIR “PI observing” broadly accessible. This

activity may also be coordinated with other AURA-driven initiatives to provide input to the

2020 Decadal Survey in this area.

In recognition of the importance of community-based software to modern OIR

astronomy, CDO will also host a meeting of the Astropy Project Coordination Committee

in December 2018. This meeting will be co-sponsored by LSST and Gemini and will

include participation by representatives of all AURA Programs. A planned outcome of

this meeting is the development of a model for ongoing AURA NSF Center institutional

engagement with Astropy and other community-based software initiatives.

Milestones

FY2019


CSDC Director’s Office

Astropy Project coordination meeting 1

CSDC strategic vision 2

CSDC-wide requirements flowdown 3

Milestones: Deliverables:

NOAO POP19

48

1. Host meeting of the Astropy Project Coordinating

Committee, in collaboration with other AURA Programs

2. Strategic vision for CSDC within NCOA, including key

connections to other NCOA programs, and outline of

implementation roadmap

3. Systematic mapping of flowdown from NOAO 2015

Strategic Plan initiatives to CSDC functional

requirements and program activities

1. Summary report of next steps for NOAO

engagement with Astropy Project

2. "CSDC 2020–2025" text for inclusion in

comprehensive proposal

3. CSDC requirements flowdown document in

support of comprehensive review

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF Supplemental

CSDC Director's Office Packages 4.3 575,916 102,981 678,898 - 412,294 266,603

CSDC Director's Office 1.9 262,460 66,876 329,336 328,345 991

OIR System Optimization Management 2.0 237,097 28,515 265,612 - - 265,612

CSDC-DO Scientific Research 0.4 76,359 7,590 83,949 83,949

Total: 4.3 575,916 102,981 678,898 - 412,294 266,603


CSDC Associate Director's Office


4.2. Community Science Program

CSDC’s Community Science Program (CSP) encompasses activities that support

US astronomical user community access to the resources of the OIR system, as well

as activities supporting the development of new open-access OIR system

capabilities. These activities are currently contained within the Time Allocation

Committee (TAC) program, the US National Gemini Office (NGO), and a Community

Science Development program that is currently oriented towards enabling

community science with LSST. Leadership, management, and coordination of the

CSP portfolio is currently delegated to the deputy director for CSDC.

Milestones

FY2019


Community Science

Program

2019 Survey TAC 1

2019A TAC Operations 2

2019B TAC Operations 3

US NGO 2019 AAS Mini-workshop 4

2019B US NGO work package 5

2020A US NGO work package 6

Wide-field spectroscopic roadmap 7

LSST Community Science website 8

La Serena School for Data Science 9

Milestones:

1. Convene Survey TAC for proposed programs

commencing in 2019A or 2019B

2. Final schedule of approved regular observing programs

for 2019A by 15 December 2018

3. Final schedule of approved regular observing programs

for 2019B by 15 June 2019

Deliverables:

1. Recommendation for approved survey programs

to NOAO Directorate

2. Email communication of final proposal status to

all PIs

3. Email communication of final proposal status to

all PIs


49

4. Organization of a topical mini-workshop on “The

Resurgence of High-Resolution Spectroscopy at

Gemini” at January 2019 AAS meeting

5. Determination of US NGO support tasks for 2019B, as

negotiated in Gemini OpsWG

6. Determination of US NGO support tasks for 2020A, as

negotiated in Gemini OpsWG

7. Development of a community-based wide-field survey

spectroscopy roadmap for submission to the 2020

Decadal Survey

8. Development of public website describing CSDC and

partner activities in support of LSST community science

9. Hold 2019 La Serena School for Data Science

4. Posting of presentations on NGO web page

5. Written document of agreed-upon activities

6. Written document of agreed-upon activities

7. Final whitepaper(s) or reports

8. Public website release

9. Successful completion of school program

4.2.1. Time Allocation Committee

Program Overview

Open-access observing time on federal and non-federal OIR system telescopes is

allocated by CSDC through the telescope allocation process. Proposals are solicited

twice per year through a Call for Proposals issued on March 1 and September 1.

The September call covers observing time from February 1 to July 31 of a given

year (the “A semester”), while the March call covers observing time from August 1 of

that year to January 31 of the following year (the “B semester”). All of the information

needed to plan and propose for observing programs can be found on the web and in

a self-contained, downloadable PDF file with active links to relevant websites and

documents. CSDC manages the proposal submission process and keeps the

information up-to-date based on evolving telescope-plus-instrument combinations

that are available for open access during a given semester.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

TAC Support 2.2 260,979 148,964 409,944 - 409,944

TAC 2.2 260,979 148,964 409,944 409,944


TAC Scientific Research 0.3 58,133 5,778 63,911 63,911

Total: 2.5 319,112 154,743 473,855 - 473,855



Time Allocation Committee

Program Elements

Regular Time Allocation Committee

Submitted regular PI observing proposals are reviewed by a Telescope Allocation

Committee (TAC), which is convened by CSDC and consists of eight science-based

panels: three Extragalactic, three Galactic, one Solar System, and one NASA-WIYN.

The NASA-WIYN panel was added in 2015B in conjunction with the NASA-NSF

Exoplanet Observational Research (NN-EXPLORE) program. The TAC panels meet

over a one-week period twice a year at NOAO headquarters in Tucson, Arizona (usually

in early May and at the end of October or early November) to rank-order the proposals

NOAO POP19

50

on the basis of scientific justification and technical/experimental feasibility. The rankings

of each panel are merged and discussed by a Merging TAC, which provides final

recommendations to the NOAO director. Once approved by the director, the ranked

proposals are forwarded to their respective observatories for scheduling. Schedules are

finalized by December 15 for the A semester and June 15 for the B semester. The

proposers are notified after the schedules have been finalized. In FY19, TAC program

staff will issue two regular Calls for Proposals (CfP): one for semester 2019B (on 1

March 2019) and one for semester 2020A (on 1 September 2019).

Continuous evolution of the TAC panel membership will continue in FY19. Panelists

typically serve for a term of three years (six semesters), with approximately one-third of

the panel makeup rotating off in any given year. New panelist recruitment in FY19 will

prioritize expertise in time-domain astronomy (in connection with Las Cumbres

Observatory access, below), optical interferometry (in support of CHARA access,

below), and precision radial-velocity spectroscopy (in connection with the NEID

instrument, set for delivery to the WIYN telescope in FY18-Q3 under the NN-EXPLORE

program, above).

Survey Time Allocation Committee

In addition to the regular A- and B-semester proposals described above, CSDC issues a

Call for Survey Proposals on KPNO and CTIO facilities with an approximate historical

frequency of once per year and convenes a Survey panel to review these proposals.

Survey programs are characterized by larger time allocations, longer execution terms

(up to three years), definition of unique samples, and delivery of datasets with significant

archival research value. Memoranda of Understanding are negotiated with the proposing

teams of all approved Survey programs to ensure the timely completion of the project

and the public availability of data products or other community benefits. Traditionally, up

to 20% of time on KPNO and CTIO telescopes has been made available for allocation to

surveys. NOAO did not issue a Call for Survey Proposals in the last several years, due

primarily to the significant commitment of available survey time to the Dark Energy

Survey (DES), the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS), the Mayall z-Band

Legacy Survey (MzLS), and other Survey programs.

With the conclusion of DES and DECaLS and the corresponding significant increase

in available community time on the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on CTIO’s 4m Blanco

telescope, CSDC has issued a Call for Survey Proposals for programs commencing in

the 2019A or 2019B semesters. Depending on demand, more than 20% of the time on

DECam may be allocated to survey programs, in consideration of DECam’s

preeminence as a survey instrument. A Survey TAC will be convened in FY19-Q1 to

evaluate proposals and make recommendations for time allocation.

Gemini LPTAC

In addition to the Regular and Survey TACs, CSDC manages, on behalf of the Gemini

Observatory, a Gemini Large and Long Program Time Allocation Committee (LPTAC)

panel that reviews proposals submitted to Gemini for programs that either are for larger

amounts of time than normally requested or that span a longer length of time (up to six

semesters). Participating Gemini partners (currently, the US and Canada) offer up to

20% of their Gemini telescope time to be placed in this large-program pool. The


51

convened LPTAC panel that reviews these proposals consists of six members from the

US community and two from Canada. This CSDC-managed committee sends a science-

ranked list of proposals back to Gemini for possible scheduling. In FY19, CSDC will

convene and manage a Gemini LPTAC in late April 2019 for programs beginning in

semester 2019B.

Allocation of Non-federal OIR System Resources

Through the TAC program, CSDC allocates NSF-funded open-access time on non-

federal facilities within the US OIR system. This involves liaison work with the relevant

partner organizations on capabilities and scheduling, maintaining information on

available opportunities and disseminating it to the US community in conjunction with the

Call for Proposals and ensuring that the makeup of the TAC panels is balanced

appropriately to evaluate proposals for these non-federal facilities. CSDC currently

allocates NSF MSIP-funded time on the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) global

telescope network and on the CHARA interferometric array, NSF TSIP-funded time on

the Large Binocular Telescope, and exchange-based time on the 3.9m Anglo-Australian

Telescope (AAT). Open-access time on the LCO network offers unique capabilities for

flexible real-time scheduling of observations and is a cornerstone of CSDC’s

collaborative efforts to implement an integrated time-domain follow-up system for the

LSST era (see TDS section).

TAC Modernization and Process Improvement

In addition to the regular operational activities described above, the TAC program

encompasses development activities for the continuous improvement of the NOAO time

allocation process. For FY19, technical development will focus on modernization of the

TAC proposal submission and information-processing system, and will be led by Data

Management Operations staff in collaboration with TAC program staff (see DMO section

below). TAC process development will be led by TAC program staff in collaboration with

the CSDC Director’s Office and will focus on new approaches to quantify and minimize

unconscious bias in proposal evaluation, as well as on characterizing the process and

policy changes necessary to accommodate an increasing number of time-domain

science proposals.

4.2.2. National Gemini Office

Program Overview

Through the NOAO time allocation process, the US community has NSF-funded

access to approximately 150 nights per year on each of the twin 8.2m Gemini

telescopes. The staff of the US National Gemini Office (NGO) support US Gemini

users in the various phases of science program planning and execution in

coordination with Gemini Observatory staff and advocate for the interests of the US

Gemini user community within the operational activities of Gemini as an international

partnership. NGO activities are encompassed within the program elements

described below.

NOAO POP19

52

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

US Gemini Support Office 2.0 311,980 75,054 387,034 - 387,034

US NGO 2.0 311,980 75,054 387,034 387,034

Scientific Research 0.7 123,345 12,260 135,605 - 135,605

US NGO Scientific Research 0.7 123,345 12,260 135,605 135,605

Total: 2.7 435,324 87,314 522,639 - 522,639


US National Gemini Office


Program Elements

US Gemini Support Office

As part of each semester’s overall TAC process, NGO staff support the NOAO TAC

panels and Merging TAC in addressing Gemini-related issues, represent the interests of

US TAC-approved programs, and liaise with Gemini to draft the final observing schedule

at the International Telescope Allocation Committee (ITAC) level.

Gemini Operations Coordination

NGO staff represent US community interests at the semi-annual meetings of the Gemini

Operations Working Group (OpsWG), which brings together representatives of the

Gemini Observatory and the international partner communities. For FY19, these

meetings will be held February 2019 (for 19B) and August 2019 (for 20A). OpsWG

meetings address instrument scheduling, the call for proposals, ITAC process

scheduling, and many other operation issues for each coming semester.

Gemini Community Support

NGO staff provide support to users through the Gemini proposal process, triage all US

Helpdesk requests, and liaise with Gemini instrument scientists for problem-solving

activities. NGO staff are furthermore responsible for specific six-month work packages to

support the Gemini community in planning observations and reducing Gemini data,

which are developed in discussion with Gemini Observatory staff and agreed upon at the

OpsWG meetings. Typical work packages include data reduction manuals, cookbooks

for specific Gemini instruments, data reduction examples, question & answer forums,

and organization and support for Gemini-specific workshops or meetings. In FY19, NGO

staff will organize a splinter meeting at the 2019 AAS winter meeting focusing on the

theme of “The Resurgence of High-Resolution Spectroscopy at Gemini.”

US Gemini Communication

NGO staff regularly inform the US community of new Gemini-related software or data

reduction procedures and keep the US community informed about Gemini opportunities

and new observing capabilities through the NOAO Currents e-newsletter, and direct

email messages. All NGO activities are publicized and supported though the US NGO

web page, which is updated frequently.


53

US NGO Development for NCOA

During FY19, NGO staff will work in collaboration with CSDC Director’s Office staff and

Gemini Observatory staff to develop a strategic plan for the evolution of the US NGO in

the era of NCOA, with CSDC and Gemini Observatory under the same organizational

umbrella. This effort will be framed around optimization of the operational aspects of

NGO-Gemini coordination within the NCOA matrix, while preserving the independent US

user-community advocacy role of the NGO within CSDC. This effort will further develop

concepts for leveraging CSDC’s data-intensive astronomy initiatives for the benefit of

Gemini and its international user community and will identify any potential commonalities

between advocacy roles for the US user community with respect to Gemini, MSO, and

LSST. The results of this work will be incorporated into the Comprehensive Proposal.

4.2.3. Community Development

Program Overview

The Community Science Development program within CSDC focuses on the

strategic development of new resources for the US OIR system user community. For

FY19, the primary focus will be on initiatives to maximize community science with

LSST. The prioritization of this activity is supported by guidance and OIR

Supplement funding from NSF and informed by the advice of an LSST Community

Science Center (LCSC) Working Group convened by CSDC in FY17. The activity in

this area is in addition to the Data Lab and Time Domain Services programs within

CSDC, which are also pursuing development initiatives with a significant LSST

community-science focus.

The LCSC was charged to engage in a study process and produce a written report

articulating (1) the goals, requirements, and aspirations for community science with

LSST (and perhaps other contemporary surveys), and (2) the priorities for support and

infrastructure that CSDC should provide to enable this science to be pursued by all

LSST data-rights holders without regard to institutional or collaborative affiliation. The

LCSC WG members made several recommendations, which are summarized in order of

decreasing priority as follows:

1. Improve communication with the community about details of LSST planning and

operations.

2. Support the community in the paradigm shift to big-data science through provision of

tools, services, and training.

3. Help to build and support an LSST follow-up network, especially for time-domain

follow-up, but also keeping static-source follow-up in mind.

4. Provide planning and advocacy for LSST follow-up facilities.

5. Advocate for “archival” research grants and computational grants for LSST

investigators, especially grants that target underserved and growth parts of the

community (e.g., smaller universities, graduate thesis work, etc.).

Activities in support of Recommendations 1, 2, and 4 are described below. Further

activity in support of Recommendation 2 is provided through CSDC’s Data Lab program.

Activity in support of Recommendation 4 is being pursued under the auspices of CSDC’s

Time Domain Services program. Advocacy in line with Recommendation 5 will be

NOAO POP19

54

conducted where appropriate, although any actual funding of small grants would be

beyond the mission scope of the CSDC program.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

Community Science Center 1.2 215,738 160,778 376,516 138,064 198,726 39,726

Community Science Development 0.6 111,204 11,054 122,257 122,109 148

CSD OIR System Optimization Supplemental 39,578 39,578 - 39,578

CSD Scientific Research 0.4 69,690 6,927 76,617 76,617

La Serena School for Data Science 103,219 103,219 103,219

Lauer (New Horizons) 0.2 34,845 34,845 34,845

Total: 1.2 215,738 160,778 376,516 138,064 198,726 39,726


Community Development


Program Elements

LSST Communication and Coordination

The primary recommendation of CSDC’s LSST Community Science Center Working

Group was to improve communication with the community about the details of LSST

planning and operations. During FY18, CSDC staff engaged with personnel from the

LSST Project and the LSST Corporation to address this recommendation in a

coordinated and collaborative manner. CSDC staff are participating in an LSST working

group to redesign the LSST “For Scientists” web pages to make them clearer and user

friendly. CSDC staff are involved in LSST’s Data Management Stack club, to write

Jupyter notebooks that will support the community in use of the LSST Stack for science.

These FY18 activities are expected to continue in FY19.

CSDC staff are also working to coordinate LSST Community Science

Development activities with the “Enabling Science” (or “Investing in Discovery”)

funding and fundraising initiatives of the LSST Corporation. Through at least the end

of calendar year 2018, this will be pursued primarily in the context of NOAO’s

institutional membership in LSST Corp.; the forum for continuing engagement in

2019 and beyond is currently under discussion.

CSDC staff plan to develop and release a public web page in FY19 describing the

various CSDC activities in support of LSST community science.

Advocacy for Wide-Field Spectroscopy in the LSST Era

CSDC staff are engaged in community organization and advocacy in support of wide-

field spectroscopic survey facilities of the future, which have been recognized as one of

the most significant unmet needs for maximizing the science potential of LSST. Much of

this effort is expected to be coordinated with the development of white papers for

submission to the upcoming 2020 Decadal Survey and to build on the efforts of two

NOAO-sponsored Decadal Survey science workshops in FY18.

Specific topical areas of CSDC focus are as follows:


55

1. Development of an NOAO/CSDC role in public access and long-term archiving for

data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, up through and including its proposed fifth

phase (SDSS-V)

2. Development and coordination of a community-based wide-field spectroscopy

roadmap for the 2020s

3. Coordination of the conceptual development of a “DESI-II” phase to use the Dark

Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) on the KPNO Mayall telescope after the

conclusion of the initial DESI experiment

4. Coordination and representation of US community interests in the proposed

Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE)

La Serena School for Data Science

The La Serena School for Data Science (LSSDS) is an intensive, hands-on overview

course covering modern data-science tools and techniques over 10 days in August at

the AURA campus in La Serena, Chile. NSF funding through an LSSDS-specific grant

supports organizational activities as well as participation by US-based students.

Complementary funding from Chilean government sources (CONICYT, CORFO)

provides additional organizational support and enables participation by Chilean students.

The school curriculum is targeted at advanced undergraduates and early graduate

students (both astronomy and non-astronomy) and is administered by a scientific

organizing committee and core faculty of international experts, with the support of a local

organizing committee in Chile. FY19 will be the third year of five in the current funding

term of the LSSDS. Lessons learned from the FY18 LSSDS will be incorporated into

planning for the FY19 session.

4.3. Data-Intensive Astronomy

Many of the forefront research opportunities in modern OIR astronomy research are

characterized by a continuous increase in the volume, velocity, and complexity of

data. CSDC’s Data Intensive Astronomy program develops and operates systems

and services to allow a broad community user base to realize these opportunities.

These program activities are currently organized into the Data Lab, Time Domain

Services, and Data Management Operations groups. Overall leadership,

management, and coordination of the Data Intensive Astronomy program within

CSDC is currently provided by the CSDC Director.

FY2019



Data Lab operational improvement 1

Data Lab dataset expansion 2

Data Lab development prioritization 3

Data Lab spectral visualization 4

ANTARES requirements and scope

refinement 5

ANTARES code review 6

ANTARES ZTF ingest 7

ANTARES user interface implementation 8

NOAO POP19

56

Astro Event Obs Net (AEON) planning 9

CSDC configuration management 10

TAC software system modernization 11

Science Data Archive replacement 12

Community Pipeline development 13

Milestones:

1. Improvement of operational robustness of Data Lab

system and reduction of need for manual intervention in

routine operations

2. Incorporation of LSST simulations and new Legacy

Survey data release

3. Implementation of practices for increasing community

feedback and cross-AURA Program collaboration

within Data Lab development

4. Development and deployment of tools for survey-scale

spectroscopic data visualization and analysis within

Data Lab

5. Definition of ANTARES software system scope via

functional requirements, with flow-down to subsystem

requirements

6. Comprehensive review of ANTARES code base to

establish uniform standards and identify development

needs

7. Definition and regularization of the tools and

procedures for ingest of ZTF alerts into the ANTARES

system

8. Initial implementation of a science user interface to the

ANTARES system

9. Definition of project scope, functional requirements,

roles and responsibilities, major interfaces, operations

concept, and high-level project schedule for time-

domain follow-up system

10. Development of a Configuration Management plan for

CSDC computer systems

11. Development of new TAC software system to replace

current obsolescent system

12. Delivery of the first version of a replacement system for

the Science Data Archive (SDA), based on FY18

prototype and subsequent user testing

13. Determine requirements for Community Pipeline

portability

Deliverables:

1. Commissioning of specified improvements in

production system

2. Public release of new datasets

3. Description of user feedback mechanisms and

LSST DM technology-alignment plans

4. Tested and documented tools released to general

Data Lab users

5. Requirements documents reviewed and accepted

by CSDC management

6. Document detailing findings of code review and

recommendations

7. Completed software routines and associated

documentation

8. Public release of interface, with documentation

9. Foundational documents describing milestone

elements

10. Delivery of CM plan from DMO Systems

Administrator to CSDC Director

11. Prototype observing proposal–submission

software elements commissioned within DMO

software systems framework

12. Release of new SDA system for public use

13. Written report on porting CP to new hardware:

issues encountered, root causes, and derived

requirements for future development

4.3.1. Data Lab

Program Overview

Data Lab is NOAO-CSDC’s program to enable efficient exploration and analysis of the

large public survey datasets now being generated by the KPNO-Mayall, CTIO-Blanco,

and other wide-field telescopes, with particular emphasis on DECam-based catalogs and

images. The Data Lab program is motivated by the twin goals of maximizing the

community science return on public NOAO survey data and preparing the community for

data-intensive astronomy with LSST.

The high-level functional requirements of Data Lab are the following:

Connect scientists to high-value catalogs from NOAO and external sources

(e.g., SDSS, GAIA) and NOAO-based images linked to catalog objects.


57

Enable scientists to discover the public data that they need for their science.

Empower scientists to develop intuition through interaction with selected

catalog and image sets.

Allow scientists to automate their analysis, to enable discovery and inference

in large datasets.

In support of these requirements, Data Lab is being developed and operated as a

flexible and interoperable platform for astronomical community users to implement a

diverse set of access methods, tools, analyses, and workflows. To the greatest extent

possible, Data Lab is employing existing protocols (e.g., Table Access Protocol, Simple

Image Access) and technologies (e.g., Jupyter notebooks, Docker containers). The

services available through Data Lab allow users to perform their analysis “close to the

data” (that is, on the servers co-located with the catalogs and images), while also

allowing transfer of data and results to their local hardware at any point during the

process. The Data Lab released its second system version to the public in June 2018.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

Data Lab 4.6 647,483 183,623 831,105 - 775,610 55,495

Data Lab 4.3 618,692 157,124 775,816 775,610 206

Data Lab OIR System Optimization 0.3 28,790 26,499 55,289 - - 55,289


Data Lab Scientific Research 0.7 110,998 11,033 122,032 122,032

Total: 5.3 758,481 194,656 953,137 - 897,642 55,495


Data Lab


Program Elements

Data Lab Management, Operations, and Outreach

For FY19, Data Lab staff will continue to support the user community through operation

of the currently released Data Lab platform. Data Lab staff will perform multiple

demonstrations and tutorials at NOAO headquarters and other selected venues to

increase community awareness of Data Lab capabilities. Data Lab management will

continue to update and track operational and development priorities, with a primary

focus on the five major Data Lab development priorities for FY19 as described below.

Improving Data Lab Operational Robustness

Since the initial release of Data Lab in June 2017, Data Lab staff have split their work

between user support services and the development of new capabilities. Data Lab staff

have evaluated the most common manual services provided for user support and have

selected several for automation upgrades in FY19. This will increase the robustness of

the system by removing the human element and will free up time for more work on new

capabilities and datasets. Work in the area of operational robustness includes the

replacement of the Jupyter Notebook server with a JupyterLab environment, the

development and implementation of a synchronization protocol for VOSpace registries,

NOAO POP19

58

the creation of file services via a public VOSpace link, and the automation of metadata

database updates to support the image cutout service.

Expansion of Datasets

Data Lab continuously strives to incorporate new and important datasets into the

database and services. For FY19, Data Lab staff have identified two key new datasets to

incorporate: LSST Simulation datasets and at least one new Legacy Survey data

release. Infrastructure preparation activities are also needed prior to incorporation and

release of an update to the in-house NOAO Source Catalog (NSC). NSC DR1 was

based purely on aperture photometry, which suffers from increased noise and

incompleteness for faint and crowded sources. A goal for FY19 is therefore to adapt the

NSC pipeline to include PSF-fitting photometry, which will provide significant better

depth and accuracy for point sources. The upgraded pipeline will be used to create a

new NSC for release in FY20.

Development of Community Input and Collaboration Process

A key part of the CSDC mission is to support the needs of the larger scientific

community. As such, Data Lab staff will prioritize the collection of data and metrics from

the community to gauge the usefulness of Data Lab products and services. In the past,

Data Lab has requested feedback from the user community following demonstrations

and tutorials. However, actual feedback has been very limited. Therefore, in FY19 the

Data Lab will initiate a user feedback group and develop best practices for getting

feedback from that group. Supporting the needs of the community also requires

engagement and collaboration, as appropriate, with external groups that are developing

systems of similar purpose to that of the Data Lab. Data Lab staff will engage more

deeply in FY19 with the LSST Data Management group as a key external partner, with

particular focus on LSST’s Science Platform effort. Data Lab staff will work with LSST

DM staff to maximize technology alignment and minimize duplication of effort, subject to

the respective requirements of Data Lab and LSST. This effort will also be coordinated

with CSDC Director’s Office staff as part of the development of a technology roadmap

for inclusion in the Comprehensive Proposal.

Development and Implementation of Spectral Visualization Tool

This effort enables visualization of spectral data in Data Lab, which will involve the

development and deployment of appropriate tools. In keeping with the overall mission of

Data Lab, this effort will focus in particular on survey-scale datasets such as those

delivered by SDSS and DESI. Data Lab program staff will first develop the requirements

for a Data Lab spectral analysis and visualization tool and subsequently evaluate

whether currently available open-source tools will fulfill these requirements. Following

this evaluation, either a new tool will be developed or a current tool will be incorporated

and expanded. Provisionally, this effort is focused on the incorporation and expansion of

a tool known as Inspector that has been developed within the DESI Collaboration.

4.3.2. Time Domain Services

Program Overview


59

The Time Domain Services (TDS) group supports time-domain astronomy research

by the US astronomical community. The major focus of the group is the

development of the Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events

System (ANTARES), an “event broker” that will process alerts from LSST and other

time-domain surveys. ANTARES is designed to add value to the alert streams of

these surveys by allowing user-defined filters to select events of interest according

to the variability history at the location of the alert, association of the alert with major

astronomical catalogs, and matching of the alert against known or predicted features

of interest in its light-curve or other observables. While the main goal of ANTARES

is to enable automated real-time filtering of alerts at LSST scale for rapid follow-up

of rare or interesting events, it is also anticipated to provide an alert history database

for offline time-domain research.

The TDS group also supports development of other time-domain infrastructure for

resource allocation and follow-up observations throughout the US OIR system, in

partnership with other groups and organizations.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

ANTARES 2.6 352,091 88,868 440,959 - 78,423 362,536

ANTARES 0.5 90,132 15,556 105,687 78,423 27,264

ANTARES OIR Supplemental 2.1 261,959 73,313 335,272 - - 335,272

Time Domain Services 0.8 158,148 37,158 195,307 - 195,307 -

Time Domain Services Program 0.8 158,148 37,158 195,307 195,307

Science Research 1.5 260,518 25,896 286,414 - 286,414 -

TDS Scientific Research 1.3 236,944 23,552 260,496 260,496

ANTARES Supplemental Scientific Research 0.2 23,574 2,343 25,918 - 25,918

Total: 4.8 770,757 151,922 922,679 - 560,144 362,536



Time Domain Services

Program Elements

TDS Program Management

Overall management of the TDS program is provided by a TDS program head,

supported by the CSDC director and CSDC project manager.

ANTARES Core System Development

With OIR Supplement support, the ANTARES project began to transition the core

software codebase in FY18 from an academic prototype to a formally engineered,

requirements-driven system. This transition was enabled by the addition of project

manager and software systems engineer effort during FY18-Q3. The goal of this effort is

to ensure that the science-driven goals and functional requirements embodied by the

ANTARES prototype are translated into a performant, stable, scalable, and sustainable

system suitable for operations at the scale of ZTF and LSST and that the core system is

NOAO POP19

60

engineered to support ongoing deployment of new features and filters as driven by

science use cases.

The major activities of this effort during FY19 will be the following: formal

requirements development and consolidation, core system scope definition, flow-down of

functional requirements to subsystems, coding standards identification, comprehensive

code review (by NOAO astronomers and software engineers in collaboration with U. of

Arizona computer scientists) to identify major components where additional development

is needed, LSST-oriented scalability and life-cycle assessment, and overall project

planning. These activities will enable the priority-driven management and development

of the ANTARES core system during FY19.

The result of this effort at the end of FY19 will be an ANTARES core software system

with a stable architecture and a defined set of inputs, outputs, and internal interfaces.

This will allow for the agile implementation of features and filtering capabilities in a

manner that is responsive to the astronomical user community and for the scaling of the

platform in the future to accommodate progressively larger input data streams.

ANTARES Scientific Application Development

In parallel with core system development, user-oriented scientific development for

ANTARES will continue in FY19. This activity is facilitated by the addition of OIR

Supplement-funded scientific staff as of FY18-Q4, as well as by the allocation of user-

interface development effort from the Data Management Operations group. The main

activities in this area for FY19 are expansion of the scientific use cases driving

ANTARES development and operations priorities, development and initial roll-out of an

ANTARES science user interface, definition of ANTARES output form and content,

ongoing development and curation of the AstroObject catalog associated with the

ANTARES system, implementation of science-user feedback mechanisms to inform

future development and operations, and definition of ANTARES scientific performance

metrics.

ANTARES Early Operations

An initial user-facing instance of ANTARES will be commissioned in FY19 to provide

brokering services for the alert stream of the ZTF project. This activity will leverage the

OIR Supplement-funded efforts above and is expected to be further supported by an

award from the Heising-Simons Foundation during FY18-Q4. The goals of this Early

Operations effort are to enable community science with ZTF, to establish a user-

community connection to the services provided by the ANTARES system and the TDS

group, and to inform ANTARES development and operations with real-world brokering

experience in the pre-LSST era. A baseline deliverable of this effort will be a

documented set of ingest routines and assumptions for the connection of the ZTF

stream to the ANTARES system.

Time-Domain Follow-up System Development

During FY19, TDS staff will continue to work in collaboration with scientists and

engineers from Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO), SOAR, and Gemini to implement an

integrated end-to-end capability for time-domain follow-up observing on NOAO and other

AURA facilities (e.g., Gemini). Major FY19 development activities will include definition


61

of project scope and partner responsibilities, as well as specification of major interfaces

between alert producers (such as ZTF and LSST), alert brokers (such as ANTARES),

“Target and Observation Management” systems (TOMs) facilitating the definition and

execution of time-domain science programs, and follow-up observing facilities (such as

SOAR and Gemini). CSDC staff will provide project-management and project-science

support to the overall planning and integration of this distributed system; detailed

management of non-CSDC elements will be provided by the respective responsible

partner groups (LCO, SOAR, Gemini).

4.3.3. Data Management Operations

Program Overview

Data Management Operations (DMO) is responsible for developing, operating, and

maintaining software and IT infrastructure for capture, transport, reduction,

distribution, and long-term preservation of telescope data, primarily in support of

observing programs at KPNO and CTIO mountaintops for NOAO-operated and

partner telescopes.

DMO maintains its own operational compute and storage systems at Arizona/Chile

facilities to enable data flow between multiple telescope/instrument systems and the

Science Data Archive (SDA). To maintain uptime and performance, hardware systems

are proactively renewed on approximately five-year cycles. During FY19, DMO staff will

travel to Chile to perform routine systems maintenance and to relocate equipment to the

new La Serena Data Center (currently under construction).

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

Data Management Operations 6.3 858,746 488,830 1,347,576 86,371 993,406 267,799

DMO Management & Operations 4.6 642,415 314,739 957,154 956,656 498

DMO OIR Supplemental 0.8 96,533 170,768 267,301 - - 267,301

DMO Scientific Research 0.2 33,427 3,323 36,750 36,750

DESI Data Systems 0.8 86,371 - 86,371 86,371 -

Total: 6.3 858,746 488,830 1,347,576 86,371 993,406 267,799


Data Management Operations


Program Elements

DMO Management and Operations

DMO staff operate the SDA to provide PI and archival-researcher access to data from

NOAO-MSO telescopes. Data are typically proprietary to the proposing team for 18

months and publicly available subsequently. DMO staff operate and maintain the

Telescope Automated Data Archiver (TADA) system to regularize and validate data from

heterogeneous telescopes and instruments into a uniform SDA schema. DMO staff also

provide data reduction services for MSO wide-field imaging instruments (principally

NOAO POP19

62

DECam), providing PIs and survey teams with science-quality images with instrumental

signatures removed. DMO management is provided by a DMO program head, supported

by CSDC Director’s Office staff. The DMO program head coordinates DMO operations

and development activities and also provides expertise and consulting on astronomical

data management technology to other groups within CSDC. Major DMO development

activities for FY19 are described below.

Science Data Archive Replacement System, Version 1

In FY18, DMO developed a prototype replacement for the Science Data Archive (SDA)

system. The SDA is the principal access point for public and proprietary image data from

NOAO and partner telescopes. The system serves holdings from 2003 to present,

comprising over 3 Petabytes of data (when uncompressed) to the scientific community.

In a typical month, the SDA distributes 100,000 files (roughly 15 Terabytes) to 2000

unique users around the globe.

The prototype effort addressed both front-end (user-experience) and back-end

(database schema) components of the system. In FY19, DMO will advance from the

prototype to a first public release version of the updated system. To prepare for the

public release, DMO will evaluate the prototype system performance and reliability to

identify any issues to address in the public release version. The team will also work with

astronomers to identify and implement features needed by the community to maximize

the use of the archive. The effort will include a new single-sign-on authentication system

to be shared with the modernized TAC interfaces (below).

DMO will create a plan for the initial release of the replacement SDA system by

prioritizing the features identified in the evaluation process. The team will execute the

priorities and feature development identified in the plan and release the initial version in

the summer of 2019.

Configuration Management Plan for CSDC Hardware

Configuration management will enable the DMO team to efficiently deliver and manage a

consistent and reproducible software stack to a wide range of computer systems across

CSDC, including compute, database, and storage subsystems. Without configuration

management, software products are installed and configured manually, which can lead

to small defects that can cause large variance in systems performance and reliability.

This process will start with the onboarding of a new system administrator (SA). This

individual will work primarily as a DMO staff member but will also support other teams

within CSDC. During the onboarding process, the new SA will develop a familiarity with

the scope of the task within CSDC, as well as an understanding of current DMO

configuration-management methods and best practices. The SA will then present a

comprehensive design and implementation plan to the CSDC director.

Modernization of TAC Hardware and Software

Modernization of the Time Allocation Committee (TAC) process is a cross-cutting activity

within CSDC. While TAC program staff focus on the evaluation processes and

procedures, DMO staff will focus on modernizing the database and user applications that

support the end-to-end TAC process. This effort will include an evaluation of how the

TAC system currently runs and the identification of system requirements for


63

performance, reliability, and security. (The current TAC software system is over a

decade old and exhibits significant fragility as a result of deferred maintenance and

general obsolescence.) A requirements document will be created by DMO staff and

reviewed by TAC staff and the CSDC Director’s Office, so that all parties understand

project scope and priorities. DMO staff will then create a modularized prototype to

deliver on the highest-priority modernization requirements and establish a stable

platform for further development efforts.

DECam Community Pipeline Future Development Requirements

The DECam Community Pipeline (CP) is currently used to provide PIs with processed

images (calibrations applied and instrumental signatures removed) on the timescale of

one week post-observation. The CP is currently operating on end-of-life hardware. As

the software implementation is highly dependent on the hardware configuration, and the

hardware configuration is no longer maintainable, DMO will use hardware procured in

FY18 to set up a replacement system in parallel. Once the hardware is assembled, the

CP software will be installed and evaluated with existing raw datasets. As the data is

processed on the new hardware, DMO will compile a list of issues associated with

operating the software on a new hardware configuration. A root-cause analysis of all

issues will be performed and used to develop a requirements document to drive future

CP development and deployment.

64

5 NOAO Core

5.1. NOAO Director’s Office

Program Overview

The NOAO Director’s Office (NDO) provides high-level leadership, management,

and budgetary control for the ensemble NOAO program. It is the main programmatic

interface between NSF, AURA, and the rest of the NOAO management team. NDO

is responsible for the production and delivery of NSF-required reports such as the

Program Operations Plan and the Long Range Plan. NDO is also responsible for

NOAO-wide programs such as broadening participation and the NOAO Users

Committee. Finally, NDO manages and develops high-level partnerships with

projects, observatories, and organizations such as the Gemini Observatory, Giant

Magellan Telescope Observatory, LSST Corporation, and Thirty Meter Telescope

International Observatory.

The NDO is led by the NOAO director and supported by an administrative assistant,

a program manager, and a full-time librarian / publications coordinator. When

appropriate, various NOAO scientists are assigned part-time to the NDO to execute

specific functions (e.g., academic affairs, diversity advocacy, scientific staff promotion,

and tenure reviews).

During FY19, the NDO team will lead or participate in a number of specific activities,

including LSST operations development, 2020 Decadal Survey input development,

NOAO program management process improvements, and further development of the

plan for the National Center for Optical-Infrared Astronomy (NCOA) containing the

program elements of Gemini, LSST, and NOAO in the LSST era.

Milestones

FY2019


NOAO Director’s Office

Deliver Program Operating Plan Progress

Report (POPPR) for FY18 1

Deliver FY20 Program Operating Plan

(POP) 2

Deliver AURA Management Report for

NOAO 3

Milestones:

1. Deliver POP PR18 as required by NSF under the terms

of its Cooperative Agreement with AURA for the

management and operations of NOAO, 1 December

2018

2. Deliver FY20 Program Operating Plan (POP) as

required by the NSF under terms of its Cooperative

Agreement with AURA for the management and

operations of NOAO.

Deliverables:

1. POP PR 2018 Document

2. POP 2020 Document

3. Management Report 2019 document

NOAO CORE

65

3. Deliver FY19 AURA management report for NOAO as

required by the NSF under terms of its Cooperative

Agreement with AURA for the management and

operations of NOAO.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

NOAO Director's Office 6.3 966,277 1,605,113 2,571,390 422,371 1,629,940 519,079

NOAO Director's Office 4.6 673,773 1,348,769 2,022,541 372,371 1,131,091 519,079

Tucson Library 0.5 39,973 67,012 106,985 50,000 56,985

NDO Science Research 0.7 133,222 13,242 146,464 146,464

Diversity Program 0.3 49,860 9,574 59,433 59,433

Academic Affairs 0.4 69,449 35,689 105,138 105,138

SPRF North 130,829 130,829 130,829

Total: 6.3 966,277 1,605,113 2,571,390 422,371 1,629,940 519,079


NOAO Director's Office

Program Elements

Director’s Office

The NOAO Director’s Office coordinates all high-level program planning and execution.

Reporting to NSF and AURA is the responsibility of this office. The office consists of the

director, program manager, and NDO administrative assistant. Several other people

provide part-time support for specific functions, e.g., production of reports required by

the NSF. This work package includes a portion of the overhead for NOAO management

of grant recipients.

Tucson Library

This element covers funding for the Tucson library (librarian, acquisitions, periodicals,

and one conference trip). Also included are the indirect revenue contributions from

Tucson building tenant square foot fee (office space rents) for operation of the library.

NDO Science Research





charge functional time to NDO.

Diversity Program

This program has three key focal points: 1) mission goals, which are those related to

external stakeholders and community impact, particularly in support of underrepresented

individuals throughout the STEM educational pipeline; 2) goals that improve internal

processes and policies; and 3) goals that improve workplace culture. Two NOAO

scientific staff (Diversity Advocates) support this program part-time, supported by other

NOAO staff as required. Funding is provided for attending AURA meetings, conferences,

and professional meetings of underrepresented groups.

NOAO POP19

66

Academic Affairs

This program element supports a variety of academic affairs activities in Arizona,

including a colloquia series, scientific visitors, page charges, office supplies, etc. One

NOAO scientist is assigned to this program element to oversee this activity on behalf of

the director.

SPRF

Science Personal Research Fund. Individual research support funds allocated to each

NOAO scientific staff member. For FY19, full-time astronomer-track and scientist-track

staff at NOAO North are allocated $4,000 per person.

5.2. NOAO Core Infrastructure

Program Overview

The infrastructure program uses carry-forward funds from AURA’s prior cooperative

agreement, CA-0809409, to accomplish “brick and mortar” refurbishment and long-

term maintenance as well as scientific infrastructure begun under the prior CA but

not completed. The full infrastructure program is described in separate documents

laying out the timing and scope of activities that have been approved by NSF and

AURA.

Briefly, this program uses the carry-forward funds as a resource to enable

complementary effort throughout the NOAO program that makes the base program

described in this POP19 even more effective. In some cases, the infrastructure

renewal supports deferred maintenance in NOAO divisions (such as Blanco or Kitt

Peak Mountain Operations) as direct projects or activity to replace or refurbish an

otherwise integral operational system. For example, water tanks on Kitt Peak are

being refurbished as part of this plan. These tanks are a critical piece of the

operational system to collect, filter, and store water on Kitt Peak, a fundamental

service supplied to all tenants on the mountain (see section 3.4). On the other hand,

some resources in this infrastructure program are being used to hire scientists and

software experts to extend the reach of new data science capabilities. These

resources don’t replace base funding, but rather complement and add to tools and

systems that will make the data science infrastructure available even more powerful

than the base program alone would allow (see sections 4.4 and 4.5).

The complete program is designed for four years. Year one was FY16, and the

corresponding activities are described in the POP16. Years two through four are

designed for POP17, POP18, and POP19. The program for year four is outlined

below and concentrates mostly on science (see sections 4.4 and 4.5) and outreach

infrastructure (see section 3.4). The bulk of the “brick and mortar” programs were

part of the POP16 plan.

Milestones

Milestones related to NCE-funded programs are included in the appropriate programs

above.

NOAO CORE

67

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

NC-Infra 3.0 346,461 61,922 408,383 - - 408,384

Data Lab 2.0 265,170 31,488 296,658 296,658

ANTARES development 1.0 81,291 10,645 91,936 91,936

Nidever SPRF 4,398 4,398 4,398

Juneau SPRF 10,994 10,994 10,994

Soraisam SPRF 4,398 4,398 4,398

Total: 3.0 346,461 61,922 408,383 - - 408,384


NOAO Core Infrastructure

NOAO Core

Program Elements

Infrastructure Tucson

This element includes management and oversight of the effort for Data Management

Operations, Data Lab, and ANTARES development. Program-specific milestones are

tracked under the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC).

5.3. AURA Support & Services

Program Overview

In past years, indirect charges to cover AURA Central Administrative Services (CAS)

and Human Resources (HR) were described and budgeted in this program. The

charges cover the cost of CAS accounting and financial management, procurement,

payroll, logistics, and HR services. In FY18 and onward, the indirect charges are

distributed in each division/program/package. The same is true of the AURA

facilities and administrative (F&A) charges on new funds that support the AURA

Corporate office.

In FY19, CAS and HR indirect charges are combined into a single rate applied to

modified total direct cost (MTDC). This rate is 5.85%. The AURA F&A rate (applied

to all expenses less revenue and the CAS and HR charges) is 4.09%. The total

indirect charges on the FY19 spend plan are nearly $3M4.

This program includes the AURA management fee, certain direct charges to

support AURA oversight (committee meetings), and certain AURA services such as

Ultimate software licenses.

Milestones


4 Indirect rates as submitted to NSF per AURA CAS memo 07/27/2018.

NOAO POP19

68

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

AURA - - 215,929 215,929 10,000 205,929

AURA Management Fee 205,929 205,929 205,929

AURA Unallowable 10,000 10,000 10,000 -

AURA CAS - - 58,268 58,268 - 58,268

NMOC Travel Support 30,783 30,783 30,783

UltiPro 27,485 27,485 27,485

Total: - - 274,197 274,197 10,000 264,197


AURA Support & Services

Program Elements

AURA Management Fee

As specified in the cooperative agreement between NSF and AURA for the management

and operations of NOAO, AURA collects an annual management fee. These funds are

used for expenses that are unallowable under NSF program funds (e.g., staff events,

staff awards, certain meal expenses, capital improvements in Chile, and public

advertising). The funds are never used to purchase alcoholic beverages.

AURA Unallowable

AURA provides NOAO with a small amount of funding independent of the Cooperative

Agreement with NSF for certain unallowable expenses such as alcohol at committee

meeting dinners and to cover above per diem meals in certain cases.

NMOC Travel Support

The AURA convenes an oversight committee which meets twice a year to provide

financial and programmatic oversight of NOAO on behalf of the AURA Board. Funding

for those two meetings (mainly committee member travel support) is included in this

program element. This committee was formerly known as the AURA Observatory

Council. In FY19, in anticipation of NCOA, an NCOA Management Oversight Committee

(NMOC) will be convened. Whether or not NCOA is approved, the NMOC will be the

AURA oversight body in FY19.

UltiPro

This program element includes a direct charge ($25K) for a NOAO-specific site license

for the UltiPro software package used by AURA HR.

69

6 US Extremely Large Telescope Program

Program Overview

A new research frontier in astronomy and astrophysics will open in the mid-2020s

with the advent of ground-based extremely large optical-infrared telescopes (ELTs)

with primary mirrors in the 20m–40m range. US scientific leadership will be

significantly enhanced if the broad US community can take advantage of the power

of these new ELTs.

In that context, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) National Optical Astronomy

Observatory (NOAO), the Giant Magellan Telescope Organization (GMTO), and the

Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory (TIO) have embarked on the

development of a US Extremely Large Telescope (US-ELT) Program.

Our shared mission is to strengthen scientific leadership by the US community-at-

large through public access to extremely large telescopes in the Northern and Southern

Hemispheres. This two-hemisphere model will provide the US science community with

greater and more diverse research opportunities than can be achieved with a single

telescope.

Milestones

FY2019


US-ELT Program

Astro 2020: KSP workshop 1

Astro 2020: US-ELT Program concept

documents 2

Astro 2020: panel presentations 3

Development: initial concept documents for

development projects 4

Development: launch projects, if funding

permits 5

Milestones:

1. Orchestrate and complete a Key Science Program

(KSP) development workshop in Tucson.

2. Submit US ELT Program document package to Astro

2020 (exact dates to be determined by Astro 2020).

3. Present US ELT Program to Astro 2020 panels (exact

dates to be determined by Astro 2020).

4. Deliver initial concept documents for US ELT Program

development projects for instrument concept studies,

data systems, and science operations.

5. Launch development projects for instrument concept

studies and data systems if funding permits.

Deliverables:

1. Complete workshop.

2. Submit documents to Astro 2020.

3. Present US-ELT Program concept to Astro 2020

panel(s).

4. Deliver initial concept documents.

5. Launch development projects, if funding is

available.

NOAO POP19

70

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Funding,

NSF

Supplemental

USELTP Development 2.1 404,046 345,822 749,868 - 417,697 332,171

USELTP Development 1.6 309,657 336,440 646,097 313,926 332,171

Staff Research USELTP 0.5 94,389 9,382 103,771 103,771

Total: 2.1 404,046 345,822 749,868 - 417,697 332,171


US ELT Program

US Extremely Large Telescope Program

Program Elements

US ELT Program Office

Coordinate activities of NOAO, GMTO, and TIO. To that end, bi-weekly virtual meetings

will be conducted by NOAO with NSF, a GMTO-internal working group and a TIO-

internal working group. Every 4–6 weeks, face-to-face meetings attending by NOAO,

TIO, and GMTO representatives will be held in Pasadena. This office will also manage

NOAO-led community engagement activities including general emails, a website, and

other TBD methods.

Astro 2020 Project

Develop science-driven US ELT Program description package for delivery to the 2020

Decadal Survey of Astronomy & Astrophysics (hereafter, Astro 2020), an enterprise of

the National Academies for Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). The

centerpiece of this package is a number of exemplar Key Science Programs (KSPs)

developed by US community teams. Specific activities during FY19 include organizing

and executing a KSP development workshop for community scientists (Q1), creating and

delivering description package to Astro 2020 (Q2), and presenting the US ELT Program

concept to Astro 2020 panels (Q3). An US-ELT Program Advisory Committee (AC)

consisting of community-based scientists will provide advice and assist in these

activities.

US ELT Program Development

To maximize science return on federal investment, in coordination with TIO and GMTO,

develop and launch development projects for instruments consistent with the exemplar

KSPs, data management and archive systems, and NOAO-based science operations,

including time allocation and science collaboration support. Detailed concept description

documents will be developed during the first half of FY19. If funding is available, actual

development projects will be launched during the second half of FY19.

71

7 Center Operations Services

7.1. Facilities

7.1.1. Arizona

Program Overview

The NOAO North Central Facilities Operations (CFO) program provides support

services for the NOAO North divisions as well as administrative and limited technical

support for the Kitt Peak Mountain Operations group. The program support

encompasses all phases of building operation and maintenance, utilities,

telecommunications, vehicle fleet operations, and property management. This

support is provided to all occupants of the Tucson facilities, including DKIST, WIYN,

AURA Corporate, and LSST, with funding provided through a square-foot-rate

revenue process for non-NOAO base-funded programs. CFO also receives revenue

from Gemini for providing limited remote operations support for the Gemini-Hilo

building-access-control system. During FY19, CFO will continue to address

maintenance issues and building deficiencies inherent to the 55-plus-year-old

NOAO headquarters facility. Core systems will continue to be updated where

reasonable, and space renovations will focus on clean out of decommissioned areas

to accommodate program demands as well as improvements to the staff work space

areas. Staff will continue to provide limited technical support to the KP Mountain

Operations group in various areas.

Milestones

FY2019


Facilities Tucson

Replacement of domestic water system 1

Updating of central plant piping 2

Mechanical rooms lighting upgrades 3

Milestones:

1. Complete phase 1 replacement of the building

domestic cold and hot water piping systems

2. Complete design, planning, and refurbishment

documents to prepare for updating central plant piping

3. Completed review of lighting in the mechanical rooms

for lighting upgrades

Deliverables:

1. Domestic water available at point of use at

Tucson site

2. Upgraded chill water flow functional

3. Energy-efficient functional unit installed

NOAO POP19

72

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Central Facilities Operations 8.4 554,547 1,055,599 1,610,146 833,900 776,246

NOAO North Tucson Program Management and

Support Services3.8 247,148 295,559 542,707 542,707

NOAO North Tucson Utilities 0.4 28,693 442,499 471,193 471,193

NOAO North Tucson Safety and Security 0.5 30,881 119,616 150,498 150,498

NOAO North Tucson Vehicle Fleet 0.9 59,540 96,509 156,048 156,048

NOAO North Tucson Roads and Grounds 0.3 23,013 17,008 40,021 40,021

NOAO North Tucson Building Maintenance 2.2 136,047 53,192 189,239 189,239

NOAO North Building Modification 0.4 29,225 11,964 41,189 41,189

Facility Projects 19,250 19,250 19,250

Square-Foot Tenant Fees - - 700,000 (700,000)

Facilities Recovery from Outside Projects - - 133,900 (133,900)

Total: 8.4 554,547 1,055,599 1,610,146 833,900 776,246

Facilities - Arizona



Program Elements

The CFO program includes revenue through indirect payments for facility support from

various program occupants (DKIST, AURA Corporate, WIYN, and LSSTC). Also

included is a portion of the indirect revenue (general and administrative fees) received

for facilities support provided to grantees such as individual astronomers and other

consortia.

NOAO North Tucson Program Management and Support Services

This program element is the primary management support package, which incorporates

the primary staff administration effort, oversight of the telecommunications and call

accounting systems, minor facility engineering services, general support labor and

equipment, travel to other sites for support issues, subcontracted custodial services, and

other general administrative facility functions.

NOAO North Tucson Utilities

This program element includes various utility costs for the Tucson facility (electrical,

water, sewer, gas, trash, and recycling services) and record-keeping and reporting

requirements.

NOAO North Tucson Safety and Security

This program element includes contracted fire watch and off-hours security contracts,

regulatory and industrial waste removal fees and efforts, and miscellaneous building

access-control efforts.

NOAO North Tucson Vehicle Fleet

This program element includes operation and maintenance of the Tucson vehicle fleet

including fuel, maintenance, repairs, and replacements. High-mileage vehicles are

replaced with hybrids or other fuel-efficient vehicles to conserve and reduce fuel costs.

CENTER OPERATIONS SERVICES

73

NOAO North Tucson Roads and Grounds

This program element includes contracted landscaping and grounds maintenance

efforts.

NOAO North Tucson Building Maintenance

This program element includes all operations, maintenance, and repairs to the NOAO

North Tucson buildings and their infrastructure systems. This generally includes painting,

equipment repairs and replacement, roofing, energy conservation, internal

improvements, and relocation of offices.

NOAO North Building Modification

This program element includes minor building modifications, construction, demolition,

and remodels. Efforts are also targeted toward energy-efficiency improvements to the

facility.

Facility Projects

This program element includes major infrastructure renovation, replacement, and/or

improvement projects. In FY19, these projects include targeted building improvements to

meet occupant requirements and energy efficiency modifications to the facility. This area

also includes general updates and improvements to the conference and meeting room

spaces.

KP Mountain Operations

Program Overview

Kitt Peak Mountain Operations (KPMO) is responsible for operations, maintenance,

and support of the various systems that support activities outside the telescope

domes and tenant operations. This support encompasses roads and grounds

maintenance, water plant operations, sanitary/refuse systems,

electrical/telecommunication distribution, and maintenance of non-scientific-support

structures. It also includes operation of the kitchen/cafeteria services and lodging

facilities for visitors to the various telescopes. This support is provided to all

telescope facilities located on the mountain to enable their continued operations and

to the Kitt Peak Visitor Center. Revenue for this program is recovered from the

tenants through an observatory joint use fee (JUF) and is subsidized through NSF

base funding. Per-use revenues for food, lodging, and KPNO labor or equipment

supplied to support observatory/tenant personnel or visitors is also acquired.

Milestones

FY2019


KP Mountain Operations Road and parking lot repairs 1

Roof repairs 2

Milestones: Deliverables:

NOAO POP19

74

1. Complete necessary road and parking lot repairs

(chipping and resealing).

2. Complete repair and application of a roof coating to

extend life of two roofs (Kitchen, House 6).

1. Repaired road and parking lot

2. Extended life of two roofs

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

General Mountain Ops 5.7 336,585 534,301 870,887 293,045 577,841

Basic Mountain Services 1.7 115,839 153,704 269,543 269,017 525

Food & Lodging 5.3 238,592 235,443 474,035 329,600 144,435

Vehicle Services 0.9 48,562 103,435 151,997 88,580 63,417

Total: 13.5 739,577 1,026,884 1,766,461 980,243 786,218


KP Mountain Operations


Program Overview

General Mountain Ops

This program element includes costs for the majority of shared costs for operation of the

infrastructure and facilities located on the Kitt Peak mountaintop. This includes costs for

maintenance and general operations of non-telescope and non-tenant areas, mountain

security, roads and grounds, water plant, electrical system maintenance, data and

communication systems, and refuse removal. Costs for these activities in support of all

of the hosted observatories are recovered through shared fees or per-use charges paid

by the programs.

Basic Mountain Operations

This program element covers the primary costs associated with the basic operation of

the general mountain infrastructure systems and public facilities. This includes costs for

land sublease, general utilities, roads and grounds, maintenance and operation of public

areas, the mountain emergency response system, septic system, snow removal, main

generator backup power regulatory issues, cargo services, and refuse removal. Costs

for these activities in support of all of the hosted observatories are recovered primarily

through an observatory/tenant joint use fee (JUF) and per-use charges paid by the

programs.

Food & Lodging

This program element covers the cost of operating and maintaining a full-service

cafeteria-style eatery that provides meals to mountain staff as well as night observers,

scientific staff, engineers, and other visitors. These meals are provided around the clock.

The lodging program element includes costs for services that are provided to staff and

visitors of all mountaintop facilities. Both food and lodging costs are shared costs, or per-

use charges.


75

Vehicle Services

This program element includes costs of maintaining and operating the vehicles used by

Kitt Peak staff, including astronomers, and observers while on the mountain. In addition,

this includes the cost associated with the shuttle services provided to and from Kitt Peak

and Tucson.

7.1.2. Chile

Program Overview

The NOAO South Facilities Operations (NS FO) program is responsible for

operations, maintenance, and long-term stewardship of the physical infrastructure

shared by all programs hosted by AURA Observatory (AURA-O) in Chile, in La

Serena, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón. The program also provides and

oversees a set of services available to the programs, such as restaurant and hotel

services, medical emergency services, and security services. The activities of NS

FO support all of the programs hosted by AURA in Chile, including CTIO, SOAR,

Gemini and LSST. NS FO has direct performance and financial impact on the

execution of mission-critical activities of all of the observatories at the sites.

Costs are recovered through share charges, census charges, or per-use charges

paid by the programs. These fees are paid by all programs that make use of FO services

and are reflected as non-base revenue in this program element. In this respect CTIO is

no different from any other program. So, for example, the costs of services in support of

the Blanco telescope are expensed against base funds in the Blanco program element,

with corresponding credits reflected as non-base revenue in this program element.

The program’s mission is to provide cost-effective services to ensure safe and

uninterrupted science operation for the programs and tenants at the AURA-O sites in

Chile. The AURA-O property near Vicuña consists of 33,000 hectares of land with more

than 100 km of unpaved roads, including the main road (50 km), secondary roads

(approx. 10 km), and service roads (approx. 50 km). There are five large dormitory

buildings, five houses, and several other buildings serving as workshops, offices,

garage, and warehouses. In addition to maintaining the mountain roads and buildings,

NS FO maintains the infrastructure to provide electricity, gas, water, and the radio

communication on both mountaintops. This includes maintenance of more than 30 km of

23 kV power lines and maintenance of the Tololo power house. The water system

includes pumps, storage, potable water treatment, transportation, and sewage. NS FO

also provides restaurant, hotel and janitorial services, emergency medical services, and

guard services.

The AURA compound in La Serena consists of 13.52 hectares of land (the recinto),

which includes four office/laboratory buildings, two maintenance shop buildings, a

warehouse, and a dormitory facility for visitors. NS FO maintains the common

infrastructure on the AURA La Serena compound, which includes a water system with a

well, pump, storage tank, treatment, and distribution; sewage piping (for delivery to the

municipal sewer system); propane gas tanks and piping; electrical distribution,

transformers, and back-up generator; communications infrastructure; paved roads; and

landscaped areas.

NOAO POP19

76

Milestones

FY2019


Facilities - Chile

Project plan upgrade water supply electrical

system 1

Expansion of the kitchen and dining room

on Pachón 2

Inspection of water tanks on Tololo and

Pachón 3

Telemetry on electrical system 4

Install guard rails on road 5

Install protection cells on Tololo power

house 6

Renew posts along the MT power lines 7

Milestones:

1. Develop project plan to upgrade water supply electrical

system from well to Cerro Tololo.

2. Complete the expansion of the kitchen and dining room

facilities on Cerro Pachón.

3. Inspect water tanks on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón.

4. Install telemetry equipment on electrical system along

the MT power lines.

5. Install 1km of guard rails at critical areas on the main

road.

6. Complete upgrade project of Cerro Tololo power house

(install protection cells).

7. Complete renewal of at least 5 posts along the MT

power lines.

Deliverables:

1. Project plan

2. New kitchen and dining room complete and in full

operation

3. Inspection report

4. Telemetry system functioning and correctly

delivering data

5. Installation complete

6. Protection cells installed and power house back in

routine operations

7. New power line posts installed

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Facilities Operations General Overhead 4.5 248,515 271,867 293,116 630,968 (337,852)

Infrastructure on Mountains and in La

Serena 16.3 643,374 1,371,508 2,014,881 1,867,801 147,080

Services on Mountains and in La Serena 22.9 695,458 2,038,572 2,734,031 2,543,258 190,772

Total: 43.7 1,587,347 3,681,947 5,042,028 5,042,028 -

Facilities – Chile



Program Elements

Facilities Operations General Overhead

This program element covers general overhead for NS FO and management of the

program including business analytics. It also includes general management of mountain

operations, support by the NS safety manager, and funds for expected severance

payments during FY19.


77

Infrastructure on Mountains and in La Serena

This program element covers the shared costs of maintaining and operating all AURA-O

common infrastructures, both on the mountaintops and in the La Serena compound. It

includes road maintenance, power line maintenance, power generation, water and

sewage system maintenance, and communication and telephone system maintenance.

It also includes the garage and building maintenance and several upgrade and

maintenance projects.

Services on Mountains and in La Serena

This program elements covers the shared costs for all services provided to the programs

hosted by AURA-O in Chile. This includes the reception, security both on the La Serena

compound and on the mountain facilities, maintenance of the common areas on the La

Serena compound, hotel and restaurant services on the mountains, hotel services on the

La Serena compound, janitorial services on both locations, and emergency medical

services on the mountain facilities.

7.2. Information Technology

7.2.1. Arizona

Program Overview

The function of the Tucson IT support group (NOAO-North Computer Infrastructure

Services group) is to provide computer infrastructure support to NOAO and other AURA

programs in Tucson and on Kitt Peak and its tenants and collaborators in Arizona:

NSO/DKIST, University of Arizona, AAS-publications, and other organizations. Revenue

is generated through a square-foot rate to recover the cost of IT support for non-

NOAO base-funded programs.

The Tucson IT support group maintain the networks, provides a secure connection to

the Internet, provides essential services such as email and web services, and configures

and maintains staff and lab computers.

Milestones

FY2019

WBS Element Activities Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Information Technology - Arizona Development of NCOA IT

Infrastructure (Tucson-specific tasks) 1

Upgrade Tucson web filter 2

Milestones:

Tucson-specific tasks completed related to NCOA

IT infrastructure development: email, web services,

remote access, video conferencing, telephone

systems, etc.

Successful procurement, upgrading, and/or

replacement of Tucson web filter

Deliverables:

Report on completed tasks

Upgraded or replaced unit

NOAO POP19

78

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NOAO North Computer Infrastructure

Services5.0 567,020 289,639 856,658 351,207 505,451

CIS Operations 5.0 567,020 289,639 856,658 351,207 505,451

Total: 5.0 567,020 289,639 856,658 351,207 505,451

Information Technology – Arizona



Program Elements

CIS Operations

This program element includes

maintenance and improvement of the Tucson and Kitt Peak facility networks

and of a secure connection for the networks to the Internet;

maintenance and improvement of a secure software infrastructure providing

services to the NOAO Tucson and Kitt Peak facilities, including email, web,

and remote access;

configuration of and connection to the Tucson and Kitt Peak networks; and

support and maintenance of computers (including scientific workstations and

office computers) used in the Tucson facility.

Revenue includes indirect payments from NSO, LSST, WIYN, AAS-publications, and

other tenant organizations for computer infrastructure support.

7.2.2. Chile

Program Overview

The NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services (NS CIS) group provides

information technology (IT) support for NOAO personnel and facilities in Chile and

supports the backbone communications and network infrastructure for all AURA-O

facilities in Chile on a cost-recovery basis. Support is included for servers and the

desktop computers for all NOAO South staff. In support of all facilities, including

Gemini, SOAR, and the tenants, NS CIS provides the network infrastructure support

necessary to maintain reliable connectivity between the mountaintops (Cerro Tololo

and Cerro Pachón) and La Serena as well as between La Serena and the rest of the

world. The NS CIS group also provides IT support at cost for Las Campanas

Observatory and network support for NRAO/ALMA connectivity from Santiago to the

US mainland. This program element also includes payments (and cost recovery) for

Internet connectivity for NOAO South and all tenants.

A major activity during FY19 will be the relocation of all of the NOAO-S computer and

network equipment from the existing computer room to the new data center.

Construction of the new data center and its preparation for occupation with computer


79

equipment are expected to be completed during January 2019. Since the mountain to La

Serena network and associated computers are critical to all aspects of observatory

operations, its relocation must be accomplished in a way that minimizes service

interruptions. This will be accomplished by installing duplicate servers for all key

functions operating in parallel in the new and old locations. Advanced preparation for the

entire move was already carried out during the remodeling of the existing office building:

the network topology was changed, installing new routers in each section of the old

building to serve as data concentrators through which all computer equipment in that

section connect to the old computer room through a single fiber from each concentrator.

Migrating the connection for equipment in the old building is then “simply” a matter of

switching the fibers from the concentrators from the new to the old data center. Once the

critical infrastructure has been moved, less mission-critical computers can be moved

over a more extended period. It is however necessary to vacate the existing computer

room fairly quickly so that the building contractor can move in to convert the physical

space into the new main conference room. Since many NOAO staff will move to offices

in the new building, it will also be necessary to extend the appropriate NOAO-S VLANs

to the new office building.

Milestones

FY2019


Information Technology -

Chile Relocate computer center to BDC 1 2 3

Milestones:

1. Successful completion and readiness of new data

center

2. Successful relocation of key network interfaces and

computers

3. Successful relocation of computer center with all

computers and network equipment from the old

computer room to the new base facility data center

Deliverables:

1. New data center available for occupation

2. Relocated network interfaces and computers

3. Relocated computer center with working wired

connectivity in new LS building offices for NOAO

staff

NOAO POP19

80

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NS-CIS 0.8 42,121 1,014 43,135 10,205 32,930

BaseFacility 0.6 31,916 - 31,916 31,916

LSST_work 0.2 10,205 1,014 11,219 10,205 1,014

Computer Infrastructure Services 3.9 355,231 756,256 1,111,487 587,120 524,367

NOAO-S CIS home NCA390000 0.4 71,189 51,849 123,038 123,038

NOAO-S CIS general NCA391000 2.7 195,262 202,084 397,347 397,347

AURA Network Backbone ZCP100001 0.6 78,893 501,340 580,233 580,233 -

AURA-O NCA370000 0.2 9,886 983 10,869 6,887 3,983

Total: 4.6 397,351 757,271 1,154,622 597,325 557,297


Information Technology – Chile


Program Elements

NOAO-S CIS home NCA390000

This program element is the home account for the NS CIS group. It includes

management of the group, office and general supplies, meals and lodging for group

members working on the mountain, and travel and training costs for the group.

NOAO-S CIS general NCA391000

This program element covers all support for network and computer systems at NOAO

South in La Serena and on Cerro Tololo, including systems used by major projects such

as DES/DECam. This includes supplies and materials, maintenance contracts, and the

new equipment needed to support the ever-expanding network and computing needs of

all NOAO and SOAR activities in Chile.

AURA Network Backbone ZCP100001

This program element covers all activities related to the operations and maintenance of

the core network backbone for all of the AURA operations in Chile and includes network

support for the Las Campanas/Magellan observatories and NRAO/ALMA connectivity to

the US mainland. This backbone includes the network links from Cerro Pachón to Cerro

Tololo, from Cerro Tololo to La Serena (both via wholly owned and operated microwave

links), from La Serena to Santiago (via REUNA, the Chilean equivalent of the US

Internet2 educational and research network), and from Santiago to Miami (via

collaboration with Florida International University and AMPATH, including significant

support from NSF networking initiatives). During FY19, the traffic from the mountains to

La Serena will be transferred to the fiber optic link newly installed with funding from

LSST. The microwave equipment will, however, remain on hot standby as a backup. The

revenue of this program element includes the charges to cover the cost of network

services and the manpower required to maintain and operate this complex network while

supporting all of its users.


81

AURA-O NCA370000

The NS CIS group provides computer support for the office of the AURA-O director in La

Serena and the AURA-O office in Santiago, including maintenance and problem solving

for their internal network, support for their Internet connectivity (particularly their secure

link via a virtual private network [VPN] between La Serena and Santiago), and support

for their computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system. In addition, the NS

CIS group provides limited support for the part of AURA Central Administrative Services

(CAS) based in La Serena.

7.3. Safety, Health, Environment

7.3.1. Arizona

Program Overview

The NOAO North safety engineer is responsible for safety activities serving all staff

and installations at NOAO North. This includes KPNO scientific and administrative

staff and engineering and technical staff based in Tucson or on Kitt Peak.

The NOAO North safety engineer

carries out safety inductions for all new staff, students, and trainees and for

contractors at the start of any work to be done onsite and carries out or

coordinates general safety training for all staff;

works with the director and area managers to develop general safety policies and

procedures, emergency plans, etc., applicable to each work area;

collaborates with the engineering and technical staff or facilities staff in planning

any major activity, helping develop JHAs, critical lift plans, etc., and giving or

coordinating task-specific training as needed;

carries out regular safety inspections at all work sites, identifying hazards and

recommending steps to be taken to the area supervisor, responsible managers,

and directorate;

coordinates regular health screening of all staff exposed to specific risks (e.g.,

noise, hazardous chemicals);

investigates any and all work-related accidents and incidents, reporting to

responsible managers and directorate; and

selects and coordinates the purchase and distribution of appropriate EPP and

foul weather gear to all staff.

Major activities planned for FY19 include the completion of the DESI and NEID

installations at the Mayall and WIYN telescopes, respectively. As both projects involve

the integration of new hardware and instrumentation with existing telescopes, as well as

scientific and technical personnel (both in-house and contracted or visiting), continuing

participation and oversight by the NOAO North safety manager will be required. These

tasks will involve critical lifts and the handling of large optical elements.

The NOAO North safety engineer arranges and performs an annual walk-through

safety inspection of the telescope domes, labs, and shops on the mountain. However, in

NOAO POP19

82

FY19 both the Mayall and WIYN will undergo operations reviews for the start of DESI

and NEID, and those reviews will include safety at the two sites.

Milestones


Program Elements

NOAO North Safety

This program element is the core of the NOAO North Safety Program and serves as the

home account for the NOAO North safety engineer. Budgeted labor charges cover that

part of the safety engineer’s time spent on common program-wide safety activities and

planning, as well as the part-time support of an administrative assistant. Non-labor costs

include meals, lodging, shuttle transportation, safety clothing (EPP and foul weather

gear), and general supplies and materials used by the safety engineer. Costs associated

with safety support to the various projects and programs (EPP and foul weather gear,

safety supplies, etc.) are separately budgeted in the corresponding program element

(e.g., Mayall, WIYN).

Additional safety and security are encompassed under the Central Facilities budget.

This program element includes contracted fire watch (Kitt Peak) and off-hours security

(Tucson), contracts, regulatory and industrial waste removal fees and efforts, fire and

emergency evacuation drills, and miscellaneous building-access control efforts.

7.3.2. Chile

Program Overview

The NOAO South safety engineer is responsible for safety activities serving all staff

and installations at NOAO South. This includes CTIO scientific and administrative

staff, NS ETS and NS CIS engineering and technical staff based in La Serena,

TelOps staff on Cerro Tololo and at SOAR, and NS FO staff working at all locations.

The NS safety engineer

carries out safety inductions for all new staff, students, and trainees and for

contractors at the start of any work to be done on-site and carries out or

coordinates general safety training for all staff.

works with the director and area managers to develop general safety policies and

procedures, emergency plans, etc., applicable to each work area and works with

the other safety professionals at AURA Chile to develop site-wide policies and

procedures.

designs and carries out safety education and information campaigns on common

hazards in collaboration with the directorate and other safety professionals at

AURA Chile and with the Chilean Safety Association (ACHS).

collaborates with the engineering and technical staff or facilities staff in planning

any major activity, helping develop JHAs, critical lift plans, etc., and giving or

coordinating task-specific training as needed.


83

carries out regular safety inspections at all work sites, identifying hazards and

recommending steps to be taken to the area supervisor, responsible managers,

and directorate.

coordinates regular health screening of all staff exposed to specific risks (e.g.,

noise, hazardous chemicals).

investigates any and all work-related accidents and incidents, reporting to

responsible managers and directorate.

selects and coordinates the purchase and distribution of appropriate EPP and

foul weather gear to all staff.

supervises the in-house nurse and manages the contract for the operation of the

first aid clinic on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón.

monitors the results of regular in-house and external laboratory testing of the

water supply in La Serena and on both mountains.

A major activity planned for FY19-Q1 is the recoating of the primary, secondary, and

tertiary mirrors of the SOAR telescope. Safety planning for this activity, which involves

critical lifts of delicate and irreplaceable optical elements and large heavy telescope

components and work with hazardous chemicals, will be a major focus for safety

planning and will require the continuous supervision of the safety engineer during its

execution. Fortunately, planning for this exercise can build on the work done to prepare

for the recoating of the Blanco primary mirror, which was successfully completed in July

2018 without any safety problems or issues to report.

In FY19-Q4, as has been done in each of the last several years, the NOAO-S safety

engineer will arrange and carry out an external review of safety at NOAO-S, including a

full walk-through of selected installations by safety professionals invited from other

observatories in Chile.

Milestones


Program Elements

NOAO South Safety

This program element is the core of the NOAO South Safety Program and serves as the

home account for the NOAO South safety engineer. Budgeted labor charges cover that

part of the safety engineer’s time spent on common program-wide safety activities and

planning, as well as the part-time support of an administrative assistant. Non-labor costs

include the NS FO census fee for the safety engineer, meals, lodging, shuttle

transportation, safety clothing (EPP and foul weather gear), and general supplies and

materials used by the safety engineer. It also includes the cost of training for the safety

engineer including one trip per year to the US and two trips within Chile to participate in

training courses or safety-related conferences. Costs associated with safety support to

the various projects and programs (EPP and foul weather gear, safety supplies, etc.) are

separately budgeted in the corresponding program element.

NOAO POP19

84

7.4. Communications, Outreach, Education

7.4.1. Education and Public Outreach

7.4.1.1. Arizona

Program Overview

The FY19 Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program is designed to educate

and support diverse and often-underserved audiences as well as to attract members

of underrepresented groups to our field. The EPO group’s innovative and effective

programs address the development needs of the next generation of science,

technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals (including

professional astronomers) through programs that support undergraduate STEM

students, science outreach practitioners, teachers and museum educators, K-12

students, and the general public. NOAO uses the “Federal Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education 5-Year Strategic Plan” (2013) to

guide and inform the development of the programs used to achieve these high-level

deliverables. Our overall approach to these deliverables is congruent with the goals

of that plan.

The EPO program supports and provides leadership to the national astronomy

education “system” by identifying key needs and by forming strategic partnerships that

utilize NOAO’s areas of expertise, including its recognized experience in reaching

underserved and/or underrepresented groups. The program focuses on NOAO’s

research strengths in astronomical surveys and data, data tools, observational

astronomy, and technology. The NOAO EPO staff has expertise in key astronomy

education areas such as instructional materials development, teacher professional

development, optics and technology education, data-enabled science education, science

education in informal environments, and science-identity formation in girls. Using this

skill set and the skills sets of the larger NOAO staff, NOAO contributes to critical national

efforts to improve science literacy and to support the pipeline to careers in STEM. The

NOAO EPO programs use astronomy and related disciplines such as optics and

illumination engineering to encourage children to pursue science, math, computing,

engineering, and other technological careers.

EPO staff members have played national and international leadership roles in many

NSF-funded education and outreach projects. NOAO plays an active role in the

continued dissemination and educational use of the instructional materials (e.g., Quality

Lighting Teaching Kits) created in these programs. EPO is committing to providing

innovative educational programs for the Tohono O’odham Nation on whose property Kitt

Peak National Observatory is located. The EPO group in Chile plays an important

outreach role in IV Región de Coquimbo (Region IV), Chile, with a strong dark skies

education program and programs to train guides and educators in the municipal and

tourist observatories in Chilean towns around NOAO facilities.

NOAO North and South EPO programs place an additional emphasis on rural

populations. The EPO North group also has a well-respected outreach and internship

program using undergraduate students from the University of Arizona. The


85

undergraduates are trained in general outreach and on specific educational programs.

While graduates of this program have gone on to doctoral degrees in astronomy and

related science fields, the main intention of the program is to support the undergraduates

in their science and engineering-related studies. EPO has a strong role in the public

information area and is in charge of web, print, and exhibit materials to better educate

the astronomical community on NOAO’s role as the institution that guides the evolution

of the ground-based OIR system of telescopes in the US.

Milestones

FY2019


Education and Public

Outreach

Globe at Night citizen-science campaigns 1 1 1 1

NOAO Booth at winter AAS meeting 2

NOAO exhibit at Tucson Festival of Books 3

Project ASTRO spring and fall workshops 4

Teen Astronomy Cafés 5

Joint science education programs in Chile 6

Educational outreach plan for solar eclipse 7 7 7 7

Milestones:

1. Organize and deliver three global Globe at Night

citizen-science campaigns per quarter.

2. Design, build, and deploy the NOAO booth for the

winter American Astronomical Society meeting held in

Seattle, 6–10 January 2019.

3. Create, deploy, and staff an NOAO booth, exhibit, or

open house for the Tucson Festival of Books 2019 held

in Tucson, 1-3 March 2019.

4. Conduct a fall and spring professional development

workshop for Project ASTRO teachers and

astronomers.

5. Organize and deliver four Teen Astronomy Café

programs for high school students.

6. Coordinate and participate in at least three joint science

education programs with Chilean collaboration

institutions such as CEAZA, Universidad Santo Tomás,

Explora de CONICYT, or other equivalent collaborators

in the Region of Coquimbo.

7. Work with the regional organizing committee to

produce an expanded and coordinated educational

outreach program plan (including planning for the web

page, activities, and workshops) for the Chilean total

solar eclipses, which will occur in the Región de

Coquimbo 2 July 2019 and in the Región de La

Araucanía on 14 December 2020. Update the

educational and outreach plan each quarter and

provide an assessment after the 2 July 2019 eclipse.

Deliverables:

1. Confirmation of completed campaigns will be

reported to program head quarterly, along with

program participation metrics including method of

reporting (e.g., sky-quality meters) and country of

reporting.

2. The NOAO booth will be designed in a timely

manner before the meeting, set up before the

meeting, and taken down after the winter AAS

meeting.

3. An exhibit will be registered, created, and carried

out for the Tucson Festival of Books. Attractive

signage will be created to attract book fair

participants and staff, and volunteers will be

recruited to adequately staff the booth with

knowledgeable guides during the normal hours of

the book festival.

4. Program participants will receive workshop

training on educational collaboration,

observational astronomy, classroom astronomy

activities, and astronomy education program

design. The successful completion of fall and

spring Project ASTRO workshops will be reported

to the EPO program head.

5. The teen café program will recruit student

participants, a student leadership team, and

astronomy speakers to deliver computer-based

programs to a high school student audience.

6. Program goals, achievement summaries, and

metrics of participants will be reported to the EPO

program head.

7. Program plan will be produced and delivered to

the EPO department head. The web pages will be

made available to the public, and high-quality

educational eclipse activities will be planned and

conducted. A report each quarter to the EPO

NOAO POP19

86

program head will summarize the program

activities and include an updated plan.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NC-EPO - - 28,969 28,969 - 28,969

Chile Solar Eclipse & Einstein Schools Project 28,969 28,969 28,969

NC-EPO 9.2 878,078 272,026 1,150,104 61,144 1,088,960

Public Information 1.0 107,018 10,638 117,655 117,655

Photo Lab 0.9 89,745 16,506 106,251 43,000 63,251

Newsletter 0.3 23,296 6,713 30,009 30,009

Web Support 0.8 83,756 8,325 92,081 92,081

Educational Outreach 1.4 175,877 57,390 233,268 18,144 215,124

Dark Skies Education 0.3 39,968 9,140 49,108 49,108

Tohono O'odham Outreach 0.4 47,551 37,434 84,984 84,984

AAS Meeting Support 29,189 29,189 29,189

Science Research 0.4 62,933 6,256 69,189 69,189

CTIO Outreach 2.6 147,374 56,885 204,259 204,259

Teen Astronomy Cafe Program 0.7 57,499 9,673 67,172 67,172

EPO Student Mentoring 0.2 13,655 15,650 29,305 29,305

Project ASTRO 0.3 29,407 8,227 37,634 37,634

Total: 9.2 878,078 300,995 1,179,073 61,144 1,117,929

Communications, Outreach, Education


Education and Public Outreach

Program Elements

Chile Solar Eclipse & Einstein Schools Project

This program element supports the education efforts in Chile related to education around

the total solar eclipse. It also supports efforts to create the Einstein Schools program

highlighting the importance of gravity and gravitational lensing in astronomy.

Public Information

This program element covers partial payroll costs of the EPO program head and the

public affairs administrative coordinator who work on media activities (including those for

Kitt Peak), requests for use of NOAO imagery, and responses to public inquiries. The

program element also pays for other staff who assist with media activities as needed.

Photo Lab

This program element provides salary and equipment support for one FTE in the NOAO

Photo Imaging Lab. This operation furnishes high-quality graphics and image-production

services to all NOAO North staff on a daily basis, with great flexibility and ease of

access, while working at less than one-fifth of the commercial rate. The Photo Imaging

Lab also produces a variety of multimedia products, electronic newsletters, and other

tools to aid NOAO’s efforts to better engage the astronomical community.


87

Newsletter

This program element supports the production and distribution of the NOAO Newsletter,

including full in-house editorial production and graphic design.

Web Support

This program element covers payroll costs of the webmaster, who works on the NOAO

website, maintains and develops the popular NOAO Image Gallery, and may respond to

public inquiries. It also serves as the coordination point with similar offices at other

observatories and AURA centers. This program element reflects time spent by EPO staff

on high-priority NOAO organizational items such as the Currents e-newsletter and public

web pages.

Educational Outreach

This program element provides staff and supporting funds to prepare and conduct

NOAO’s non-grant-funded educational programs for teachers, museum and planetarium

educators, and students. It is the central source of non-salary support funds for the

general activities of NOAO EPO, such as travel and supplies. Major projects include the

flagship Project ASTRO program, support for meetings and conferences such as the

biannual AAS meetings, local and regional outreach in formal and informal science

education venues (such as the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum), and new brochures,

posters, and handout materials. It also includes partial support for the undergraduate

internship program.

Dark Skies Education

Dark Skies Education now incorporates the Globe at Night program and includes

increased efforts to protect observatory sites at both NOAO North and NOAO South. It

includes support for regional distribution of the very successful Dark Skies Teaching Kit

and the Quality Lighting Teaching kit (developed during IYA2009 and the IYL2015

respectively) and for training of teacher

and museum dark sky teaching

ambassadors. The program works with

the Cooper Center for Environmental

Learning in Tucson and a number of

nature centers in Chile as well as schools

in both the US and Chile.

Tohono O’odham Outreach

This program element builds on our

expanding relationship with the Tohono

O’odham through support of a variety of

formal and informal education programs

on the Nation. Examples include programs

at community and recreation centers and

schools, the Tohono O’odham Community

College, star parties, and professional development workshops for teachers. This

program element also supports all NOAO Tohono O’odham education efforts conducted

on Kitt Peak.

Figure 2. Children from the Sells Recreation Center test out their UV bracelets during a field trip on Kitt Peak. (Credit: J. Rose, NOAO/AURA/NSF)

NOAO POP19

88

AAS Meeting Support

This program element provides primary

support of the twice-yearly AAS meetings to

pay for booth space, Internet and electricity,

furniture and other exhibit space resources,

designing and printing backdrops, relevant

print jobs related to handouts, and exhibit

production and shipping costs.

Science Research

Each NOAO scientific staff member is

allocated a fraction of time that includes

scientific and/or technical research,

professional development activities, and

external service (e.g., membership on

committees whose activities benefit the

astronomical community). That time is

collected here for those staff members

whose home program is EPO.

Teen Astronomy Cafe Program

This program element supports NOAO’s effort

to connect teachers, museum educators,

classes, and out-of-school programs with

astronomical datasets and data tools.

EPO Student Mentoring

This program element is for our program to

hire, train, support, manage, and mentor

undergraduate students who do outreach work

in support of NOAO programs in Tucson and

the region.

Project ASTRO

This program element supports this very

successful and nationally recognized Arizona

implementation of a program started by the

Astronomical Society of the Pacific that

emphasizes teacher-scientist partnerships. The

program pairs Arizona teachers of grades 3-9 with volunteer amateur or professional

astronomers and engineers with an interest in astronomy. The goal is to build long-

lasting partnerships that enrich science education in schools. The program has

expanded into a regional program.

Figure 3. NOAO gathers at the 232nd AAS Meeting in Denver. (Credit: D. Silva, NOAO/AURA/NSF)

Figure 4. NOAO undergraduate interns point out objects in the night sky to local students at Cooper Center for Environmental Learning. (Credit:

NOAO/AURA/NSF)


89

7.4.1.2. Chile

Program Overview

The program overview described in Section 7.4.2.1 applies as well to Chile.

Programs emphasize the support of informal science education institutions such as

touristic observatories as well as the formal education systems and the training of

teachers. Programs are designed to build awareness of the importance of dark skies

and to improve the training of teachers working with young children.

Program Elements

CTIO Outreach

This program element includes the cost of CTIO EPO staff to conduct outreach in the

region of Coquimbo. The program element also includes support for the traveling

planetarium program, annual rental and gasoline costs for an AURA vehicle for official

local use, liaison activities to conduct training of the staff at the small observatories built

by municipalities near La Serena to attract local tourists, and miscellaneous non-payroll

support for outreach by CTIO staff. It also includes some support for undergraduate

student work as needed.

7.4.2. Kitt Peak Visitor Center

Program Overview

Serving about 50,000 visitors per year, the Kitt Peak Visitor Center (KPVC) runs the

museum and gift shop on the mountaintop and is the starting point for three docent-

led guided daytime tours for the public. Evening guests can choose from the Nightly

Observing Program (NOP), Dark Sky Discovery Program (DSD), Night of the

Marvelous Moon (NMM), Youth Group Overnight program (YGO), and the premier

Overnight Telescope Observing Program (OTOP).

The NOP is a beginner’s stargazing and telescope viewing program offered on a

nightly basis from September 1 to July15. The DSD is for intermediate-level enthusiasts

seeking more time viewing through the eyepiece and greater interaction with staff. Our

NMM program is similar in format and audience size limits to the DSD but focuses

heavily on the history, geology, and exploration of the Earth’s nearest neighbor. It is

offered on bright nights, when the moon is in a gibbous or full phase. The YGO program

is a camp-in-format astronomy program for organized youth groups, school groups, and

scout troops. The format and content is similar to a NOP, but the group remains on the

mountain, camping out indoors within the Visitor Center and departing after breakfast the

following morning. It is especially popular with Tohono O’odham schools.

The OTOP is an all-night individualized telescope viewing and/or imaging experience

tailored to the individual interests of the participant. This program attracts guests from

around the globe, many who plan their trips to the US around their highly anticipated

OTOP experience. The evening programs are supported by three telescopes in separate

enclosures ranging in aperture from 16 to 20 inches.

NOAO POP19

90

A variety of special daytime and evening public programs are offered throughout the

year, usually focused around one or more central themes. Throughout the year, we

produce special event programs centered on special or periodic astronomical events

such as lunar eclipses and meteor showers, as well as our popular astrophotography

workshops. Schools, youth groups, scout troops, and other special groups have several

individualized programs available to them that are presented by staff or docents. These

programs range in length from two hours to overnight programs. The KPVC program is

intended to take in fees and revenues that cover most of its operations costs.

We provide free daytime and evening programs to members of the Tohono O’odham

Nation. Schools from the reservation often reserve special daytime guided tour programs

while others opt to participate in one of the evening programs listed above.

The Visitor Center is responsible for exhibits on the mountain. We also maintain the

public viewing galleries within the 2.1m dome and the Mayall facility. We designed and

installed a complete set of new exhibits within the 2.1m telescope last year. We also

developed three outdoor exhibits describing the optical and radio observatories on the

west ridge and the physics behind color in the sky.

Milestones

FY2019


Kitt Peak Visitor Center

Recruit, train, certify, and deploy 15 new

docents. 1

Train all VC staff to promote and grow

membership program. 2

Research, write, design, print, and distribute

two membership newsletter. 3 3

Research, design, produce, install new

outdoor WIYN exhibit. 4

Selected VC staff will develop capability to

support filming requests. 5

Redevelop former food vendor shed near

VC patio to dual day/night telescope

enclosure; integrate into programs.

6

Reformat OTOPs to incorporate nighttime

imaging telescope inside redeveloped shed. 7

Milestones:

1. New volunteer & membership coordinator will add 15

new trained and certified volunteers to ranks of

docents.

2. Senior VC staff will train guides and day staff to

promote membership program to guests to boost

revenues from this program.

3. Produce and mail two editions of the membership

program newsletter to those enrolled in it.

4. Replace the aged existing outdoor exhibit with a new,

full-color, larger, updated WIYN exhibit panel with funds

already received by a donor.

5. Train at least 3 VC staff to support filming and media

visit requests in partnership with EPO staff and charge

appropriate fees to recover staffing and opportunity

costs.

Deliverables:

1. 15 or more new docents

2. Full staff cadre proficient in explaining the

program

3. Two editions of membership newsletter produced

and mailed to active members

4. New outdoor WIYN exhibit panel installed in

location of existing exhibit

5. Three VC staff competent in hosting film crews

6. Solar viewing for guests 50 feet from VC instead

of the present 4/10 of a mile

7. Deployment of more easily scheduled, higher-

capacity OTOP


91

6. Complete the planned redevelopment of the former

food shed into a roll-off roof enclosure for the 3 Razdow

solar telescopes and one or more donated nighttime

telescopes. Approximately 80% of docents will be

retrained on new set up of Razdow telescopes.

7. Reformat OTOP by retraining 60% of guides to conduct

all-night-eyepiece program while operating remote

imaging system installed on donated telescope housed

within redeveloped shed, allowing us to increase the

number of OTOPs scheduled by 20%.

Budget Summary

Program Element FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Visitor Center 10.5 557,226 461,271 1,018,496 914,406 104,090

Total: 10.5 557,226 461,271 1,018,496 914,406 104,090

Communications, Outreach, Education

Kitt Peak Visitor Center


Program Elements

Visitor Center

This single program element for the KPVC includes all staff, expenditures, and

revenues. It covers the tasks and responsibilities of the KPVC manager, the gift shop

staff, and the program guides.

92

8 Risk Register

In coordination with AURA Corporate, NOAO maintains a high-level risk register. Two

classes of risk have been defined:

Enterprise – strategic risks that are long-term, continuous, and/or may or may not have the

potential to damage AURA as a corporate entity.

Programmatic – risks that are connected to NOAO deliverables and/or activities as defined

in its annual program plans and/or five-year long-range plans.

In this section, the AURA/NOAO risk register as of 01 September 2018 is presented.

8.1. Methodology

Within each class, each risk is assigned a severity (S) and likelihood (L) rating in the

range of 1 – 5 as defined in the tables below.

Rating Severity (S) Likelihood (L)

1 Immeasurable Highly unlikely (≤ 5%)

2 Nuisance Rare (5 – 10%)

3 Medium Reasonable (10 – 25%)

4 Major High (25 – 50%)

5 Existential Near certain (> 50%)

Aggregate risk is defined as S × L, where the maximum value is 25. Normalized

aggregate risk is S × L normalized to a maximum value of 10, i.e., aggregate risk × 0.4.

Both risk classes are presented regularly to the AURA Observatory Council and

Board of Directors for review and discussion as appropriate.

8.2. Enterprise Risk

AURA has identified 25 high-level enterprise risks for NOAO that require continuous

monitoring and mitigation. Their risk scores and mitigation plans are reviewed on a

semi-annual basis. The table below summarizes all 25 enterprise-level risks, ranked

by their current (01 September FY18) aggregate scores.

Following the table, all high-risk items (aggregate ≥ 10) are discussed in more detail.

RISK REGISTER

93

ENTERPRISE RISK ITEM AGGREGATE

RISK NORM CHANGE

High risk

NOAO Facilities obsolescence 20 8.0

NOAO Funding reduction 20 8.0 Increased

NOAO Light pollution at mountain sites 12 4.8

NOAO Fire 12 4.8

Medium, low risk

NOAO Customer dissatisfaction 9 3.6

NOAO Financial exigency 8 3.2

NOAO Loss of key personnel to other programs 8 3.2

NOAO Loss of agency confidence 8 3.2

NOAO Accident and injury to personnel and assets 8 3.2

NOAO Retaining key personnel 8 3.2

NOAO Damage to assets 8 3.2

NOAO Earthquake/tsunami 6 2.4

NOAO Physical security 6 2.4

NOAO Loss of observing time 6 2.4

NOAO IT security 6 2.4

NOAO Cost/schedule overruns 6 2.4

NOAO Peso exchange rate fluctuation, foreign

inflation 6 2.4

NOAO Failure to maintain training 6 2.4

NOAO Succession planning 6 2.4

NOAO Disruption of federal government 6 2.4

NOAO Re-competition, FY20 5 2.0

NOAO Default 5 2.0

NOAO Burnout of key personnel 4 1.6

NOAO Degradation of workplace culture 3 1.2

NOAO Damage to public 3 1.2

NOAO POP19

94

Risk NOAO Funding reduction

Severity 5

Likelihood 4

Aggregate (S × L) 20

Norm Aggregate 8.0

Discussion Actual annual funding not guaranteed to be consistent with project

funding and is subject to internal NSF prioritization. New mandates for

non-program effort will force contraction of program. Includes possible

reallocation of NOAO program funds to NCOA transition activity.

Mitigation Maintain fluidity across FY boundaries; restrict non-labor expenditures

during early months of FY; restrict new hires in early months of fiscal

year.

Risk NOAO Light pollution at mountain sites

Severity 4

Likelihood 3


Norm Aggregate 4.8

Discussion Unmitigated increase in light pollution could lead to loss of ability to

remain competitive as sites for research.

Mitigation Advocate for light pollution control with local, county, and state

governmental agencies in concert with other interested parties.

Risk NOAO Fire

Severity 4

Likelihood 3


Norm Aggregate 4.8

Discussion NOAO must manage risks from internal fires in all facilities in all

locations. NOAO must also manage risks from external (“brush”) fires at

Kitt Peak and the AURA recinto in La Serena. NOAO facilities on Cerro

Risk NOAO Facilities obsolescence

Severity 4

Likelihood 5


Norm Aggregate 8.0

Discussion Without constant renewal, facilities will become obsolete, resulting in

funding reduction or elimination.

Mitigation Within NSF funding and programmatic guidance, maintain continuous

modernization program for scientific capabilities and infrastructure.

RISK REGISTER

95

Tololo and Cerro Pachón are not at risk from brush fires due to lack of

significant vegetation.

Mitigation Internal: fire alarms, fire suppression systems, etc., along with

availability of local fire companies

External (Arizona / Kitt Peak): brush clearing on regular basis, fire

response truck onsite, local fire responder (Tohono O’odham Nation)

8.3. Programmatic Risk

NOAO has identified 24 programmatic risks that require continuous monitoring and

mitigation. Their risk scores and mitigation plans are reviewed on a semi-annual

basis. The table below summarizes all 24 programmatic risks, ranked by their

current (01 September 2018) aggregate scores.

Following the table, all high-risk items (aggregate ≥ 10) are discussed in more detail.

PROGRAMMATIC RISK ITEM AGGREGATE

RISK NORM CHANGE

High risk

NOAO funding “transferred” to DKIST and LSST ops 20 8.0

KPNO tenant population declines, raising costs to NOAO 15 6.0

NOAO South Fac Ops do not meet customer satisfaction 12 4.8

NEID-related NOAO milestones not completed on time 16 6.4

Increased

NOAO funding “transferred” to grants program 12 4.8

NSF eliminates funding for SOAR 12 4.8

AURA fails Year 4 “comprehensive performance review” 10 4.0

AURA performs poorly during annual PEMP reviews 10 4.0

Medium, low risk

DECam refrigeration system maintenance issue unresolved 9 3.6

Major system failure at Blanco 8 3.2

Major system failure at Mayall 8 3.2

Major system failure at SOAR 8 3.2

Major system failure at WIYN 8 3.2

DESI: ops costs larger than planned 8 3.2

WIYN partnership fractures, WIYN non-viable 8 3.2

NOAO POP19

96

PROGRAMMATIC RISK ITEM AGGREGATE

RISK NORM CHANGE

CTIO tenant population declines, raising costs to NOAO 8 3.2

SOAR partnership fractures, SOAR non-viable 8 3.2

Main Tucson building maintenance costs climb 6 2.4

DESI: instrument delivery late to Mayall 6 2.4

Relationship with Chilean Union deteriorates badly 5 2.0

DESI: Mayall prep milestones not completed on time 4 1.6

Major system failure with DECam 4 1.6

NOAO does not perform well to program plan 3 1.2

KPNO Mountain Ops do not meet customer satisfaction 3 1.2

Risk NOAO funding “transferred” to DKIST and LSST ops

Severity 5

Likelihood 4


Norm Aggregate 8.0

Discussion NSF MPS AST has been flat-funded in purchasing power for the last

few years. Pressure is growing to maintain and/or increase percentage

of AST funding to grants while also accommodating new operations

costs for new facilities such as LSST and DKIST. If AST situation

remains a zero-sum game, transfers are likely from more mature

activities such as NOAO.

Mitigation No direct mitigation is possible. The best indirect mitigation is to

execute current program well and continue to provide services deemed

high priority by the research community.

Risk KPNO tenant population declines, raising costs to NOAO

Severity 5

Likelihood 3

Aggregate (S ×L) 15

Norm Aggregate 6.0

Discussion Current cost-sharing model assumes approximately $0.7M per year in revenue from non-NSF tenants, some of which are financially unstable. NOAO does not have the financial resources to cover these costs without damaging other aspects of its program. This increases risk that rising cost to remaining tenants will have adverse impact.

Mitigation Contain share costs so as not to inadvertently trigger tenant closures.

RISK REGISTER

97

Risk NOAO South Facilities Ops do not met customer satisfaction

Severity 3

Likelihood 4


Norm Aggregate 4.8

Discussion Over several years, NS FO customers have expressed dissatisfaction

with services received as well as lack of planning and reporting clarity.

Mitigation During FY16–17, NS FO focused on improvements on team skill mix,

service delivery, and planning/reporting clarity. The first two areas have

significantly improved; the completion of improvements in

planning/reporting will remain a high priority for FY19.

Risk NEID-related NOAO milestones not completed on time

Severity 4

Likelihood 4


Norm Aggregate 6.4

Discussion NOAO is responsible for WIYN facility preparation for installation and

operation of EPDS (now NEID). This effort is part of a NASA-funded

collaboration with Penn State and U. Wisconsin. Likelihood = 4

currently, since this project is in a challenging fabrication phase with the

commissioning phase foreseen to start in Q2 FY19.

Mitigation Work with our partners to develop a realistic project plan that can be

executed in time to install NEID in early calendar 2019 and to start

operations in 2019.

Risk NOAO funding “transferred” to grants program

Severity 4

Likelihood 3


Norm Aggregate 4.8




costs for new facilities such as DKIST and LSST. If AST situation


activities such as NOAO.

Mitigation No direct mitigation is possible. The best indirect mitigation is to

execute current program well and continue provide services deemed

high priority by the research community.

NOAO POP19

98

Risk NSF eliminates funding for SOAR

Severity 4

Likelihood 3


Norm Aggregate 4.8




costs for new facilities such as LSST and DKIST. If AST situation


activities with relatively lower research productivity such as SOAR.

Mitigation On the 3-year horizon, take measures to increase SOAR scientific

productivity. On the longer horizon, create high-value mission for SOAR

within the LSST ecosystem. NOAO is actively working with Gemini,

SOAR, and Las Cumbres Observatory to develop a comprehensive

LSST Follow Up Capability. NSF has shown interest/encouragement in

this development project.

Risk AURA fails Year 4 “comprehensive performance review”

Severity 5

Likelihood 2

Aggregate (S x L) 10

Norm Aggregate 4.0

Discussion AURA/NOAO will be reviewed in Year 4 (FY19) of the current CA.

Failing the review would trigger a CA re-competition.

Mitigation Work closely with NSF during annual reviews to prepare for and shape

Year 4 “comprehensive” review outcome.

Risk AURA performs poorly during annual PEMP reviews

Severity 5

Likelihood 2


Norm Aggregate 4.0

Discussion Per CA, AURA is required to submit an annual Management Report,

which will be reviewed by an external panel.

Mitigation Bind NSF expectations with PEMP, perform well, obtain high grades.

99

Appendix: Abbreviations

AAS — American Astronomical Society

AAT — Anglo-Australian Telescope

AC — advisory committee

ACHS — Asociación Chilena de Seguridad (Chilean Safety Association)

ACTR — Advisory Committee on Technical Resources (CTIO)

AD — Associate Director (NOAO)

ADO — Associate Director’s Office

ALMA — Atacama Large Millimeter Array

ANTARES — Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System

AST — Astronomical Sciences (Division of NSF)

AURA — Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy

AURA-CAS — AURA Central Administrative Services

AURA-O — AURA Observatory in Chile

CAS — Central Administrative Services (AURA department)

CCD — charge-coupled device

CEAZA — El Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas

CHARA — Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy

CIS — Computer Infrastructure Services

CONICYT — Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica / National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research in Chile

CORFO — Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile / Production Development Corporation (Chile)

CSDC — Community Science and Data Center

CTIO — Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

DECaLS — Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey

DECam — Dark Energy Camera

DES — Dark Energy Survey

DESI — Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

DIQ — delivered image quality

DMO — Data Management Operations

DOE — Department of Energy

DR — data release

ELT — extremely large telescope

EOS — Engineering Operations Services

NOAO POP19

100

EPO — Education and Public Outreach

EPP — emergency preparedness plan

ETS — Engineering & Technical Services

FO — Facilities Operations (NOAO-S)

FY — fiscal year

GMTO — Giant Magellan Telescope Organization

GO — guest observer

IT — information technology

ITAC — International Telescope Allocation Committee

JHA — Job Hazard Analysis

JUF — joint use fee

KP — Kitt Peak

KPI — key performance indicator

KPMO — Kitt Peak Mountain Operations

KPNO — Kitt Peak National Observatory

KPVC — Kitt Peak Visitor Center

KSP — Key Science Program

LS — La Serena

LBNL — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

LCO — Las Cumbres Observatory

LCSC — LSST Community Science Center

LPTAC — Large and Long Program Time Allocation Committee

LSSDS — La Serena School for Data Science

LSST — Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

MOA — Memorandum of Understanding

MSE — Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer

MSIP — Mid-Scale Innovations Program

MSO — Mid-Scale Observatories

MSU — Michigan State University

MzLS — Mosaic z-band Legacy Survey

NASA — National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASEM — National Academies for Science, Engineering, and Medicine

ABBREVIATIONS

101

NCOA — National Center for Optical-Infrared Astronomy

NCSA — National Center for Supercomputing Applications

NEID — NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler Spectroscopy

NEO — Near-Earth Object

NMOC — NCOA Management Oversight Council

NN-EXPLORE

— NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research program

NRAO — National Radio Astronomy Observatory

NS — NOAO South

NSC — NOAO Source Catalog

NSF — National Science Foundation

NSF AST — National Science Foundation, Division of Astronomical Sciences

OIR — optical infrared

ORR — operations readiness review

PEMP — Performance Evaluation and Measurement Plan

PI — principal investigator

PM — program/project manager

POP — program operations plan

PSF — point spread function

PSU — Pennsylvania State University

Q — quarter

ReSTAR — Renewing Small Telescopes for Astronomical Research

REUNA — Red Universitaria Nacional (National University Network; Chile)

S — South

SA — system administrator

SDA — Science Data Archive

SMARTS — Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System

SOAR — Southern Astrophysical Research (a 4.1m telescope)

SOS ——

Science Operations Services (NCOA)

SQL — Structured Query Language

STELES — SOAR Telescope Echelle Spectrograph

STEM — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

NOAO POP19

102

T&A — technical & engineering

TAC — Time Allocation Committee

TBD — to be determined

TDS — Time Domain Services

TelOps — Telescope Operations

TIO — Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory

TOM target and observation management

UNC-CH — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

US — United States of America

US-ELT — US Extremely Large Telescope

US NGO — US National Gemini Office

VLAN — virtual local area network

VPN — virtual private network

WG — working group

WIYN — Consortium consisting of the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, NOAO, and the University of Missouri (previously Yale University was a member)

ZTF — Zwicky Transient Facility

Documents

National Optical Astronomy Observatory - noao.edu · (KSP) by scientists based at US institutions and then submitting a subset to the NASEM 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics