contents · noao is the national center for ground-based, nighttime astronomy, operated by the...

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CONTENTS

Mission Summary ........................................................................................................................ 1

Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 2

1 Organization and Key Management for FY15 ....................................................................... 4

2 NOAO Divisions ........................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 NOAO South............................................................................................................. 5

2.1.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory .................................................... 5 2.1.2 NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services.......................................... 9 2.1.3 NOAO South Facilities Operations ............................................................. 11 2.1.4 NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services ......................................... 14

2.2 NOAO North........................................................................................................... 16 2.2.1 Kitt Peak National Observatory ................................................................... 17 2.2.2 NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services........................................ 20 2.2.3 NOAO North Central Facilities Operations ................................................ 23 2.2.4 NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services ......................................... 26

2.3 NOAO System Science Center ............................................................................... 27 2.3.1 System User Support ................................................................................... 28 2.3.2 Science Data Management .......................................................................... 30 2.3.3 System Community Development ............................................................... 34 2.3.4 Time Allocation Committee ........................................................................ 38

2.4 NOAO System Technology Center ......................................................................... 39

3 NOAO-Wide Programs .......................................................................................................... 42 3.1 Office of Science .................................................................................................... 42 3.2 Education and Public Outreach ............................................................................... 44 3.3 NOAO Director’s Office ......................................................................................... 48 3.4 Risk Management ................................................................................................... 51 3.5 AURA Fees and Services ........................................................................................ 52

4 FY15 Budget Summary .......................................................................................................... 54 4.1 Summary of FY15 Expenditures ............................................................................. 54 4.2 Sources of FY15 Revenue ...................................................................................... 58 4.3 Division of Effort—NOAO Scientific/Management Staff ...................................... 61

Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................... 69

NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

ANNUAL PROGRAM PLAN FY 2015

Submitted to the National Science Foundation

Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement AST-0950945

10 December 2014

NOAO ANNUAL PROGRAM PLAN FY 2015

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Cover Image Caption:

The cover image shows a color magnitude diagram (CMD) for the globular cluster M5 from images obtained with DECam. The cluster falls over a few central CCDs of the DECam imager and is sur-rounded by ambient foreground and background stars in the high Galactic latitude field. The CMD presented represents the entire DECam field, and features such as the vertical blue edge from halo turn-off stars can be clearly discerned. The photometry was performed using a variant of the DoPHOT program. The sharpness of the M5 CMD features, such as the width of the red giant branch, illustrates the photometric uniformity that can be attained using DECam.

The images of M5 were obtained to establish the intrinsic colors of RR Lyrae stars (M5 has over a hundred of them) as seen through the DECam passbands. This effort is part of a program enti-tled “A Deep Synoptic Study of the Galactic Bulge” (PI: A. Saha). Colors of fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars at minimum light are being used to unravel the reddening and extinction toward lines of sight containing very significant amounts of dust. Image credit: Abhijit Saha, NOAO/AURA/NSF. Cover credit: Pete Marenfeld, NOAO/AURA/NSF.

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MISSION SUMMARY

The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) is a US national research and development center for ground-based, nighttime optical and infrared astronomy. Its core mission is to provide ac-cess for all qualified professional researchers to state-of-the-art observational capabilities and data products. Through that access, NOAO enables world-leading research programs that address a broad range of modern astrophysical challenges from small bodies in the Solar System to the nature of dark matter and dark energy and how they have shaped the evolution of space-time since the Big Bang.

To communicate the excitement and opportunities of world-class scientific research and tech-nology development, NOAO operates a nationally recognized Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program. The NOAO EPO program strives to promote scientific literacy and inspire young people to become explorers in science and research-based technology, especially within groups that historical-ly have been underrepresented in the US physics and astronomy science enterprise.

NOAO is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA).


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Annual Program Plan (APP) for the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) covers Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15). This document is known hereafter as APP-15.

NOAO is the national center for ground-based, nighttime astronomy, operated by the Associa-tion of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF). FY15 is the last year of the current cooperative agreement between NSF and AURA for the management of NOAO. In response to NSF program solicitation 13-582, AURA submitted a proposal to manage NOAO during FY16–FY25. The decision to accept or reject the AURA proposal will be made during early FY15. APP-15 assumes that the current AURA management team will remain in place during the entirety of FY15, prepare NOAO for its restructured program for FY16 and beyond, and continue managing NOAO in FY16 and beyond.

NOAO is currently experiencing a dramatic transformation in response to changing NSF pro-grammatic and financial priorities and the ever-evolving scientific aspirations of the US astronomy and astrophysics community. Preparations and planning for that transformation were begun during FY14 in close cooperation with the NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences (NSF/AST), based on funding and programmatic directives described in NSF program solicitation 13-582 Management and Operation of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), and enhanced by various sup-plementary instructions and clarifications from the NSF/AST. During FY15, NOAO will complete planning as necessary and then execute those plans. The resultant program is known hereafter in this document as NOAO-2016.

A transformation status report with further details about the NOAO-2016 program is provided in a separate document. In APP-15, brief summaries of FY15 transformation activities and outcomes are provided at the start of each major section.

In parallel to the NOAO-2016 transformation process, NOAO will continue to provide the US community with access to a broad range of general-purpose research capabilities on 4-m and 8-m telescopes in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Several new, high-performance spectrographs have recently been deployed or will be deployed during FY15. NOAO is steadily adding access to high-value survey data sets, with data products from the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) coming to the fore, especially images and catalogs from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). From FY15 NSF base funding, NOAO plans to deliver and/or enable:

Completion of the transformation to the NOAO-2016 program.

Operation and maintenance of NOAO facilities in Tucson and on Kitt Peak (Mayall 4-m and WIYN 3.5-m telescopes).

Operation and maintenance of NOAO facilities in La Serena (including the AURA recinto—compound) and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón (Blanco 4-m and SOAR 4.1-m tele-scopes).

Community and DES usage of DECam at the Blanco 4-m telescope.

Completion of the commissioning of a new, medium-resolution, near-infrared spectrograph (TripleSpec4) for the Blanco 4-m telescope, acquired through a sub-award to Cornell Uni-versity (ReSTAR Phase 1).

Technical and management support/planning for the deployment of the Dark Energy Spec-troscopic Instrument (DESI) on the Mayall 4-m telescope.

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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Science data management services that are focused on immediate NOAO needs, including science operations of the DECam (Blanco 4-m), Mosaic 1.1 (Mayall 4-m), and NEWFIRM (Mayall 4-m) wide-field imagers.

Education and Public Outreach that focuses on critical, local activities and needs while maintaining a national (global) perspective through targeted, innovative programs.

Administrative and facility operations services necessary for an organization with more than 250 employees at two geographically distributed sites.

From FY15 (or earlier) NSF supplementary funding, NOAO plans to deliver and/or enable:

Annual Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs in Tucson and La Sere-na.

Completion of the construction of TripleSpec4 for the Blanco 4-m telescope through a sub-award to Cornell University (ReSTAR Phase 1).

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

Technical and facility operations support services for tenant and/or partner observatories on Kitt Peak, Cerro Tololo, Cerro Pachón, and Cerro Las Campanas.


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1 ORGANIZATION AND KEY MANAGEMENT FOR FY15

The top-level NOAO organization chart for FY15 is shown above. Circles are top-level programs. Boxes are major sub-activities. Activity managers are shown in parentheses. The top-level NOAO organization chart will be restructured for FY16.

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2 NOAO DIVISIONS

2.1 NOAO SOUTH

The NOAO South (NS) division is responsible for operations, maintenance, and development for all NOAO activities in Chile. For program manage-ment purposes, these activities are separated into the following subprograms: Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services NOAO South Facilities Operations NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services

Toward NOAO-2016

Compared to other NOAO divisions, NOAO South will remain relatively unchanged in FY16 and thereafter. LSST construction (and eventually operations) activity on Cerro Pachón will increase the scope of work for the NOAO South Facilities Operations department (section 2.1.3) offset by in-creased revenue from the LSST Project Office. During FY15 and FY16, a relatively small number of NOAO South personnel will transfer to LSST, requiring NOAO South to recruit and train replace-ments as necessary. The NOAO South Engineering and Technical Services group (section 2.1.2) will remain fully occupied indefinitely by maintenance and upgrade projects related to the SOAR 4.2-m and Blanco 4-m telescopes and their existing instrumentation suites. However, due to the elimination of the NOAO System Technology Center (section 2.4) in FY16, major in-house instrumentation de-velopment projects are not foreseen.

A key milestone in the next five years, the current SOAR partnership agreement, comes to a close at the end of FY18. At that point, the combination of construction and operations contributions of all SOAR partners will achieve agreed levels, leaving NOAO with a ~30% equity share in SOAR. To maintain that share in FY19 and beyond, NOAO annual contributions can be reduced from the FY18 level of $1.78M to $0.8M in FY19. In the response to NSF 13-358, AURA/NOAO proposed to split that ~$1M in savings 30/70 between NOAO South and NOAO System Science Center (to become the NOAO System Science and Data Center starting with FY16, see section 2.3). The latter investment would be focused primarily on the development and implementation of LSST community science capabilities and services, particularly in the areas related to the analysis of large object cata-logs (see section 2.3 for further details). However, the nature of the SOAR partnership and the level of NOAO’s involvement beyond FY18 are uncertain and subject to review and renegotiation during FY17 and FY18, with oversight from AURA and NSF.

Over the next decade, the NOAO South science program will continue to be a mix of general-purpose, open-access, small-team projects and more focused, big-team surveys such as DES. Fur-thermore, as LSST survey operations begin in the early 2020s, NOAO South facilities will be on the front line for LSST follow-up observations. In short, NOAO expects NOAO South to remain a center for high-impact research well into the 2020s.

2.1.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Program Overview

The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) operates the Blanco 4-m telescope on Cerro Tololo and the SOAR 4.1-m telescope on Cerro Pachón. NOAO is a 31-percent partner in the South-


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ern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) consortium. CTIO also is a partner in the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System (SMARTS) Consortium, which operates the 0.9-m, 1.0-m, 1.3-m, and 1.5-m telescopes on Cerro Tololo, with time shares that vary between 15–20% from telescope to telescope. CTIO serves as host for more than 10 other telescopes, including the University of Michi-gan 0.9-m Schmidt telescope, the GONG helioseismology station, the PROMPT gamma-ray burst fol-low-up telescope array, the Wisconsin H-alpha Mapper, the Southern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) 0.6-m telescope, three 1-m telescopes of the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGTN), the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network 1.6-m telescope and eight 0.4-m telescopes comprising the southern station of the MEarthproject. Technical expertise is provided at cost to Gemini Observatory, and there are a variety of collaborative efforts in a wide range of areas that include scientific, technical, administrative, and outreach activities.

An important activity for FY15 will be taking measures to “harden” the Blanco telescope facil-ity to insure robust operation, with minimum downtime for the next decade or more. This includes the development and implementation of a regular preventive maintenance plan for the telescope, its instruments, and key supporting infrastructure and covers maintenance of mechanical, electrical, electronic, computer hardware and software, regular checks of Delivered Image Quality, cleaning of the optics, and performance monitoring of detector systems. It also includes the progressive replace-ment and refurbishment of older critical components as funding permits and, where possible, build-ing in redundancy. Specific objectives for FY15 include refurbishing the aluminizing tank, mirror lift, and handling cart for the Cassegrain cage in preparation for aluminizing the primary mirror dur-ing FY16 (as described in section 2.1.2); upgrading the drive mechanism for the dome shutter capi-talizing on experience gained during a similar upgrade at the Mayall telescope; and addressing a number of weaknesses in the systems that provide back-up electrical power for Blanco and all the other telescopes on Cerro Tololo.

FY15 will see the second season of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The DES is scheduled for 99.5 nights in observing semester 2014B, from mid-August through 31 January 2015, with the re-maining 5.5 nights needed to complete the 105-night season to be scheduled in February 2015. The DES has a one-year proprietary period, so the first data (both raw and pipeline-reduced) obtained during the first DES season becomes available from the NOAO Science Archive (see section 2.3.2) on 1 September 2014, with all the data available by February 2015. To promote and support effective use of this important resource by the community, NOAO will augment the DECam section of the NOAO Data Handbook to include the handling of archival DES data, host a knowledge base, curate software developed by the community, and organize the “DECam Community Workshop 2015” to be held in Tucson during March 2015.

The moderate-resolution, near-IR spectrograph TripleSpec4 (TS4) is being built in close part-nership with the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University (see section 2.4). During the first quarter (Q1) of FY15, NOAO South scientists and engineers will visit Cornell to participate in the integration of the instrument and witness pre-shipment testing prior to the delivery of the instrument to Chile during the second quarter (Q2). It is anticipated that installation and commissioning on the telescope, followed by science verification testing, will occupy the second half of FY15 so that TS4 is ready for use by the community during FY16.

With the number of open-access nights at NOAO North decreasing and the need for follow-up of DES and DECam community surveys increasing, the SOAR telescope with its rich instrument suite is a key community resource. However, the scientific impact of SOAR as measured by (for ex-ample) numbers of papers per year and citation-based metrics remains disappointing. During FY15, measures will be implemented to increase observing efficiency at the telescope by reducing the time required to acquire targets and guide stars and by taking first steps toward the implementation of closed-loop control of the telescope focus and low-order aberrations. Post-run scientific support for NOAO users also will be strengthened by developing data reduction cookbooks, hosting online fo-rums for sharing community expertise, and by curating community-developed software tools.

NOAO DIVISIONS

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Milestones

Develop a program of regular preventative maintenance for the Blanco 4-m telescope and its key, supporting infrastructure, and implement it starting in Q2 of FY15.

Refurbish or replace the secondary backup generator, secondary frequency converter, and asso-ciated transfer switches in the Cerro Tololo powerhouse to ensure robust operation of this critical equipment for the next decade. Planning and prioritization will be carried out in Q1 of FY15 with procurement starting in Q2 as funding permits.

Support the second season of observations for the Dark Energy Survey (DES), which runs from mid-August 2014 through early February 2015. Hold a workshop in March 2015 to promote the effective use by the community of the images collected during the first DES season.

Prepare for the delivery of the TripleSpec4 (TS4) near-infrared spectrograph, in January 2015, and commission it on the Blanco 4-m telescope during Q3 and Q4 of FY15.

Develop during Q1 of FY15 conceptual designs and resource estimates for the steps needed to increase observing efficiency at the SOAR telescope, including improvement of the guide star selection software, addition of an acquisition camera to the Goodman Spectrograph, and imple-mentation of closed-loop control of focus and astigmatism, and propose them to the SOAR board for funding. It is anticipated that, given a favorable finding decision, one or two of these measures can be implemented during FY15, the others being carried over to FY16.

To strengthen post-run scientific support of users of the SOAR telescope, carry out a survey dur-ing Q1 of FY15 of previous users of NOAO time to determine what factors have limited their ability to publish quickly, and use this as the basis for planning and prioritization of improve-ments to be implemented during the remainder of the year.

Implement succession plans for key staff who will transition fully or on a shared basis to LSST. Recruitment to replace the transitioning staff will take place in Q1 of FY15 with cross training and knowledge transfer occurring over the remainder of the year.

Host the third annual La Serena School for Data Science during one week in August 2015 in collaboration with AURA, LSST, and Chilean institutional partners.

Budget Summary

Table 1 Summary of CTIO program budget

Cerro Tololo Inter-American

Observatory (CTIO) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Site Protection - - 32,000 32,000 - 32,000

Telescope Operations 42.65 3,455,571 2,039,362 5,494,933 833,113 4,661,820

Science Research 4.05 606,500 95,852 702,352 - 702,352

User Support 1.10 63,266 62,312 125,578 - 125,578

La Serena School for Data Science - - 45,000 45,000 45,000 -

Total 47.80 $4,125,337 $2,274,526 $6,399,863 $878,113 $5,521,750

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO)

FY 2015 Program Budget Summary

NOAO South (NS)


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Work Packages

Site Protection This work package covers the costs of efforts to educate the public and governments on the impacts of light pollution, as well as support for the enforcement and improvement of government rules and regulations regarding light pollution.

Telescope Operations This package includes all of the NOAO costs associated with the operations and maintenance of the CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope and partner (SOAR, SMARTS) telescopes and instruments. It also in-cludes the costs for site monitoring, e.g., weather stations, seeing monitors, etc. The costs and efforts for all operations and support staff, including technical and scientific support, are included. Scientific staff time includes that of the telescope scientists for the Blanco and SOAR telescopes with overall responsibility for scientific oversight and planning of activities at these facilities and that of the in-strument scientists responsible for each of the major instruments and scientific support of the users of those instrument before, during, and after an observing run. Telescope Operations staff is split be-tween operating Blanco, operating SOAR, and supporting SMARTS operations. The major portion of non-payroll expenses is for services provided by NOAO South Facilities Operations, including meals, lodging, transport, facility maintenance, and janitorial services. Utilities, fuels, and cryogens also are procured from NOAO South Facilities Operations, as well as miscellaneous electronic, me-chanical, and computer supplies. Telescope maintenance covers scheduled replacements and an al-lowance for mechanical failures, as well as purchasing of major spares.

For SOAR, this work package includes scientific staff equivalent to at least one scientist, as re-quired by the SOAR agreement. Telescope Operations and Engineering & Technical Services (ETS) support are included at the level required for normal telescope operations. Meals, rooms, and trans-portation for CTIO staff working on SOAR are included. Also covered is salary support for the SOAR director and administrative assistant, telescope fees, utilities, supplies, etc., as allocated by the SOAR director. These contributions are matched to the SOAR agreement, which specifies the mone-tary value of in-kind contributions that NOAO must provide to SOAR.

A small amount of support is provided for the SMARTS telescopes. Costs associated with ob-serving with SMARTS telescopes and technical support provided by CTIO for these telescopes are fully recovered from the SMARTS Consortium, while the scientific support for NOAO visiting as-tronomers is covered by base funds.

Science Research 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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to CTIO.

User Support This work package covers interface, scheduling, logistics, and assistance for visiting observers at all telescopes in Chile to which astronomers have access via NOAO. It includes travel costs for graduate students doing thesis research and funding to cover costs for Chilean observers, per the AURA agreement with the Chilean community. Recording and calculation of statistical data is also covered.

La Serena School for Data Science In September 2013, AURA was awarded supplemental funding to the NOAO cooperative agreement in the amount of $100,000 for the La Serena School for Data Science (LSSDS). The purpose of the supplemental funding is to support three one-week schools in Chile, in 2013, 2014, and 2015, to help train undergraduate and graduate students from Chile, the US, and other countries in the use of tools and techniques of Big Data in astronomy.

NOAO DIVISIONS

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LSSDS is hosted by NOAO in collaboration with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Project and AURA, together with various Chilean institutions. It consists of an intensive week of interdisciplinary lectures focused on applied tools for handling big astronomical data. Partic-ipants are instructed in how astronomical data are processed, accessed, and analyzed, including re-duction pipelines, databases, and scientific programming. The School will be taught by an interna-tional and interdisciplinary group of professors who use real data and examples to achieve a hands-on interactive experience. Participants work on team-based projects and are provided training and access to the National Laboratory for High Performance Computing located at the University of Chile’s Center for Mathematical Modeling.

The third La Serena School for Data Science will be held in La Serena, Chile, in August 2015. As in previous years, approximately 30 to 40 students will be selected to participate, roughly half of whom will be US undergraduates and early graduate students in mathematics, physics, astronomy, or computer science. The 2015 program will be built on the successful evolution of the 2013 and 2014 programs, incorporating feedback from the students of the previous years. For information about the 2013 and 2014 programs, see www.aura-o.aura-astronomy.org/winter_school/.

2.1.2 NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services

Program Overview

The NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services (NS ETS) group provides design, fabrication, installation, and operations support for the telescopes and instrumentation on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón. The role of NS ETS is to participate in the design, fabrication, and installation of new in-struments; to ensure functionality of these instruments; and to provide for upgrades for telescopes operated and maintained by NOAO South. The NS ETS staff is divided between four groups: com-puter applications, mechanics, electronics, and optics. NS ETS is based in La Serena, and members regularly travel to the telescopes when needed. While working on the mountains, NS ETS personnel work closely with the Telescope Operations group. NS ETS resources assigned to operations and maintenance activities on Cerro Tololo are included in the CTIO Telescope Operations work pack-age described in section 2.1.1 above. Improvement and/or replacement project activities are de-scribed in this section. The Advisory Committee on Technical Resources provides scientific over-sight for these projects and advises the associate director for NOAO South on project priorities.

During FY15, NS ETS will complete the project to upgrade the control of the Active Optics system of the Blanco primary mirror. This work will involve implementing the software and hard-ware changes required for fine control of the high-resolution control valves for the pneumatic actua-tors (air bags) that were developed and installed during FY14.

NS ETS also will carry out all of the work required to get ready for re-aluminizing the Blanco primary mirror during FY16. This involves refurbishing the Blanco aluminizing tank and optimizing and testing its control parameters to ensure stable, reliable, and reproducible deposition of a good quality coating. It also will be necessary to upgrade the mirror elevator for increased reliability and safety, building on the experience gained during the upgrade of the similar system at Mayall, and to fabricate a new handling cart for the Cassegrain cage designed to support the increased weight of the cage plus balance weights added during the installation of DECam. The drive mechanism and emer-gency brake for the dome shutter will also be modified, again building on experience from the Mayall telescope and from the Australian Astronomical Observatory.

http://www.aura-o.aura-astronomy.org/winter_school/


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During FY15, NS ETS will continue work on two major systems of the SOAR telescope: the upgrade of the SOAR Telescope Control System (TCS) begun in FY14 will be completed, and the upgrade of the control system of the Instrument Selector Boxes will be begun with completion antic-ipated during FY16.

Milestones

Complete the Blanco telescope primary mirror active optics improvement project in Q1 of FY15.

Refurbish the Blanco aluminizing tank in Q3 of FY15 and optimize its control parameters (work to be completed in Q1 of FY16) to ensure stable, reliable, and reproducible deposition of a good-quality coating in time to re-aluminize the Blanco primary mirror during calendar year 2016.

Repair the Blanco mirror elevator in Q4 of FY15 following the similar work being carried out at the Mayall telescope during FY14.

Build the new handling cart for the Blanco Cassegrain cage in Q2 of FY15, the design of which was completed in FY14.

Complete during Q1 of FY15 the evaluation and costing of improvements to the drive mecha-nism and emergency brake for the Blanco dome shutter, building on similar work being carried out at the Mayall telescope and Anglo-Australian Telescope. Implementation will begin in Q2 of FY15 but is expected to continue into FY16 depending on the design finally adopted.

Complete upgrading the SOAR Telescope Control System (TCS) to the same standard as the recently upgraded TCS of the Blanco 4-m telescope in Q4 of FY15.

Budget Summary

Work Packages

ETS General Operations This work package includes all costs associated with the cost and effort of managing the engineering and technical groups as well as the maintenance of the NS ETS working environment and operations. This includes the head of program for ETS and the group leads of the Electronic Engineering, Me-chanical Engineering, Optics, and Computer Applications groups. The package includes manage-ment and maintenance of laboratories, including the optics lab, the detector lab, and clean room. Management of the instrument shop is also covered. The effort for general documentation is included

Table 2 Summary of NS Engineering & Technical Services program budget

NS Engineering & Technical Services

(ETS) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

ETS General Operations 1.95 184,015 283,154 467,169 75,756 391,413

Blanco Projects 6.25 603,698 271,652 875,350 - 875,350

SOAR Projects 2.60 204,276 - 204,276 204,276 -

External Projects 0.95 38,935 - 38,935 38,935 -

Total 11.75 $1,030,924 $554,806 $1,585,730 $318,967 $1,266,763


NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services (ETS)

NOAO South (NS)

NOAO DIVISIONS

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here, as well as maintenance and cleaning of ETS equipment. General laboratory supplies and mate-rials fall within this work package, as do software licenses and limited computer upgrades. Training for the NS ETS staff is also included.

Blanco Projects This package includes the costs of key upgrades and projects required for the Blanco 4-m telescope and other facilities on Cerro Tololo, including measurement tools like Wave Front Sensors, and some of the infrastructure facilities that support the telescopes such as the uninterruptible power sup-ply systems, telescope cooling systems, and other necessary upgrades or large-scale repairs. For FY15, this includes completion of the work on the Blanco primary mirror support system, the up-grade of the drive system for the Blanco dome shutters, refurbishment of the aluminizing chamber, and other tasks needed to prepare for re-aluminization of the primary mirror the following year.

SOAR Projects The SOAR work package covers the project work requested by and coordinated with the SOAR di-rector. SOAR relies upon the NS ETS group to execute significant upgrade projects and to support the installation, modification, and commissioning of instrumentation and other systems that are de-livered by other SOAR partners. For FY15, this includes completion of the upgrade of the SOAR Telescope Control System (TCS).

External Projects This work package covers work provided to neighboring observatories (e.g., Gemini, SMARTS) up-on their request.

2.1.3 NOAO South Facilities Operations

Program Overview

The NOAO South Facilities Operations (NS FO) group is responsible for operations, maintenance, and long-term stewardship of the physical infrastructure shared by the facilities hosted by AURA Observatory (AURA-O) in Chile. This includes support buildings, housing, and miscellaneous other facilities in La Serena and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón. NS FO has direct performance and financial impact on the execution of mission-critical activities of all of the observatories at the sites, including CTIO, SOAR, Gemini, and most recently LSST.

The group’s mission is to provide cost-effective services to ensure safe and uninterrupted sci-ence operation for the diverse programs and tenants at the AURA-O sites in Chile. On the mountain-tops, the NS FO group is charged with the environmental oversight and protection of 33,000 hectares of land and 38 miles of unpaved roads; five large dormitory buildings; other buildings serving as shops, offices, and warehouses; utilities (electric, gas, communications); kitchen/cafeteria services; and a water system including pump, storage, potable water treatment, transportation, and sewage. In La Serena, NS FO oversees 13.52 hectares of land (the recinto), which includes four of-fice/laboratory buildings, two maintenance shop buildings, a warehouse, a 10-room dormitory, and 29 houses. Infrastructure to support the facilities on the AURA recinto 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 gen-erator; communications infrastructure; paved roads; and landscaped areas.


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During FY15, the focus for NS FO, in addition to the normal provision of services, will be to continue to improve reliability and minimize downtime through proactive maintenance and im-provement programs for critical infrastructure and facilities. This will include a major effort to im-prove the robustness of the infrastructure that supplies electric power to the two mountains by in-stalling contactors at key points along the transmission line, including the junction between the commercial power company and AURA lines, the bifurcation of the lines to Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, and on each summit. At the same time, efforts will be made to improve the utility billing process by installing separate electricity meters for each of the tenants on Cerro Tololo and imple-menting a Web-based utility database.

Various renovations and improvements are planned for the headquarters buildings in La Serena in FY15. These include the second phase of the roofing repairs for the office buildings and installa-tion of a new heating system for the offices and ETS labs. The machine shop also will be remodeled to provide a covered, well-ventilated area for welding and painting and, motivated by safety consid-erations, to provide a direct entrance to the area that includes the shop superintendent’s office so there is no need to pass through the machine shop proper. This activity will be managed and carried out by the NS FO group with the aid of contractors as needed. The funds for these improvements are contained in the CTIO LS Facilities and Utilities portion of the NS Director’s Office work package.

Construction of the LSST, which begins in FY15, will be a major activity over the next several years. The resulting increase in activity on Cerro Pachón implies an increase in demand for services provided by NS FO (e.g., meals, lodging, and water), an increase in the frequency of road mainte-nance due to increased traffic, and a heightened preparedness on the part of the mountain emergency medical service. In La Serena, some remodeling of the NOAO South office building will be required to create the LSST Project Office: accommodations for the project architect, site manager, technical inspector, and an administrative assistant; and work space for visitors.

Milestones

Improve the reliability of the electric power transmission infrastructure for both mountains by installing contacts/connectors at the junction between the commercial power company and AURA lines, at the bifurcation of the lines to Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, and on each sum-mit in Q2 of FY15.

Provide separate utility metering in Q3 of FY15 for all tenants on Cerro Tololo, and implement a Web-based database for utility consumption to improve the accuracy of billing to users.

Complete repairs to the roof of the La Serena office building in Q1 of FY15, addressing the roof sections over the Engineering & Technical Services and SOAR offices.

Install a new heating and air conditioning system for the La Serena offices and laboratories in Q2 of FY15.

Remodel the La Serena machine shop in Q4 of FY15 to provide a covered, well-ventilated area for welding and painting and to provide a direct entrance to the shop superintendent’s office without passing through the machine shop proper, for safety reasons.

Support the ramp-up in LSST construction activity on Cerro Pachón, incrementing the capabili-ties of the Facilities Operations group as needed by the end of Q4 of FY15 in order to meet in-creased demand for the group’s services and the need for more frequent road maintenance.

NOAO DIVISIONS

13

Budget Summary

Work Packages

NS Facilities Operations Included in this work package are the shared costs of operations of all of the AURA La Serena facili-ties, which cover security, safety supplies, reception, water and sewer, garage and transport, the La Serena motel, as well as general maintenance and janitorial services. These activities in support of all the programs hosted on the recinto are integrated into NOAO South responsibilities, and all costs are recovered through charges to the programs.

NS Mountain Operations This work package covers the shared costs of operations of all AURA mountaintop facilities, which include security, road maintenance, power line maintenance, water system maintenance, emergency medical services, communication and telephone system maintenance, kitchen/dining operations, dormitories, and janitorial services. These activities in support of all of the hosted programs are inte-grated into NOAO South responsibilities, and all costs are recovered through shared fees or per-use charges paid by the programs.

NS Director’s Office The NOAO South Director’s Office coordinates all activities of NOAO in Chile, including the activi-ties on both Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, together with the facilities and administration of the La Serena campus. This package includes the associate director and deputy director for NOAO South, administrative support for the director’s office and observatory operations in Chile, supplies for the La Serena offices, and the costs of the La Serena library operations. Also included are the costs of maintenance and modifications of the building that houses the La Serena offices, laboratories, and workshops used by NOAO and the cost of the metered services, including electricity, telephone, nat-ural gas, water, and liquid nitrogen for these facilities. It also includes the cost of maintaining and operating the light vehicles used by the La Serena-based staff.

The core of the NOAO South Safety Program is included in this work package, i.e., some of the time of the NOAO South safety engineer, who reports directly to the associate director of NOAO South, and some of the equipment and additional training of the safety engineer. The costs directly associated with safety support to the various projects and programs are allocated in the correspond-ing work packages.

Table 3 Summary of NS Facilities Operations program budget

NS Facilities Operations (FO) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NS Facilities Operations 14.20 692,362 277,706 970,068 970,068 -

NS Mountain Operations 22.35 774,833 868,367 1,643,200 1,643,200 -

NS Director's Office 3.60 436,540 628,567 1,065,107 9,500 1,055,607

Total 40.15 $1,903,735 $1,774,640 $3,678,375 $2,622,768 $1,055,607

NOAO South Facilities Operations (FO)


NOAO South (NS)


14

The costs of the wide range of student programs at NOAO South are included in this work package. The NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at CTIO is in-corporated here. The costs of the Práctica de Investigación en Astronomía (PIA) program also are included here, together with more general práctica (internship) programs in engineering, technical, and administrative activities, as well as funding for the postdoctoral fellow in charge of the student programs.

2.1.4 NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services

Program Overview

The NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services (NS CIS) group provides information technolo-gy (IT) support for NOAO personnel and facilities in Chile and supports the backbone communica-tions 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 facili-ties, 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 work package also includes payments (and cost recovery) for Internet connectivity for NOAO South and all tenants.

In FY15, NS CIS staff will continue to support the DECam computers on Cerro Tololo, which includes support of the hardware systems and basic operating system maintenance. Included in this work is support for remote access to the systems for software maintenance, debugging, and monitor-ing. All of these systems and the remote access are integrated within the appropriate site cyber secu-rity policies and procedures.

Milestones

Complete the installation of a 10-Gb network segment in La Serena for virtual machines. The required transceivers will be purchased in Q1 of FY15 and installed in Q2 of FY15.

Establish by the end of FY15 separate, independent sub-networks for each of the tenant tele-scopes on Cerro Tololo.

Improve the wireless network in La Serena to enable visitors and staff to gain access in a more consistent manner by installing a wireless local area network controller and captive portal with 802.1x in Q1 of FY15).

Purchase and install in Q1 of FY15 the Cisco Identity Services Engine to make the network more secure from personal mobile devices.

Establish a network connection in Q3 of FY15 from Cerro Tololo to the water tower in the San Carlos valley to support remote monitoring of the pumping stations by the NOAO South Facili-ties Operations staff.

Transfer management responsibility for NS CIS from the current head of program to another member of the group in Q1 of FY15 to allow the former to focus on support of the LSST net-work and AURA network backbone.

NOAO DIVISIONS

15

Budget Summary

Work Packages

NOAO South CIS This work package covers all support for network and computer systems at NOAO South in La Serena and on Cerro Tololo, including systems from major projects such as DES/DECam. It also includes management of the group, supplies and materials, travel and training, maintenance con-tracts, and the new equipment needed to support the ever-expanding network and computing needs of all NOAO and affiliate (SOAR, LSST) activities in Chile.

Las Campanas Support Under a memorandum of understanding with Carnegie Observatories, the NS CIS group provides most of the networking and computer system support for the Las Campanas Observatory. This in-cludes significant remote support of the systems on their mountaintop as well as occasional site visits when a physical presence is needed for repairs, maintenance, or hardware upgrades.

AURA Santiago & AURA CAS The NS CIS group provides support for the AURA-O office in Santiago, Chile, including mainte-nance and problem solving for their internal network, support for their Internet connectivity (particu-larly their secure link via a virtual private network, VPN, to systems in La Serena), and support for their computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems. In addition, the NS CIS group pro-vides limited support for the part of AURA Central Administrative Services (CAS) based in La Serena.

AURA Network Backbone This major work package 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 back-bone 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). The revenue of this work package include the fees related to network services and the manpower required to maintain and operate this complex network while supporting all of its users.

Table 4 Summary of NS Computer Infrastructure Services program budget

NS Computer Infrastructure Services

(CIS) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NOAO South CIS 5.10 377,616 171,850 549,466 50,013 499,453

Las Campanas Support 0.50 76,509 - 76,509 76,509 -

AURA Santiago & AURA CAS 0.60 40,509 - 40,509 40,509 -

AURA Network Backbone 0.60 81,611 449,711 531,322 520,000 11,322

Total 6.80 $576,245 $621,561 $1,197,806 $687,031 $510,775

NOAO South (NS)

NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services (CIS)



16

2.2 NOAO NORTH

The NOAO North (NN) division is responsible for the administration, facilities, and information tech-nology (IT) support for NOAO activities based in southern Arizona. For program management pur-poses, these activities are separated into the fol-lowing subprograms: Kitt Peak National Observatory NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services NOAO North Central Facilities Operations NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services

Toward NOAO-2016

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services (NN ETS) will be completely restructured for FY16 into five groups: KPNO Infrastructure (KPI), Kitt Peak Visitor Center (KPVC), Mayall Operations, WIYN Operations, and Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Project. These five groups will be largely self-sufficient and independent of one another. That is, to the greatest extent possible, they will not share staff. Some groups will rely on effort and services provided by other groups in a client-provider relationship.

The KPI group will be responsible for the operations and maintenance of all “outside-the-enclosure” facilities and infrastructure (e.g., roads, buildings, power distribution system, etc.) on Kitt Peak. The KPVC will continue its mission of mountain-based public outreach and education. The Mayall Operations group will be responsible for all operations and maintenance activity within the Mayall enclosure, while the WIYN Operations group will have the same responsibilities for all activ-ity within the WIYN enclosure. By design, the Mayall and WIYN operations groups will be as inde-pendent of each other as possible. Finally, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Project group will be responsible for the planning and execution of all tasks that are required to prepare the Mayall for DESI installation and operation.

Base funding for this ensemble of activities will be reduced from $5.5M in FY15 to $1M in FY16, mostly focused on KPI activities. The other four activities will be supported by a combination of supplementary funding from NSF, the Department of Energy, and the non-NOAO WIYN partners as well as external cost recovery revenue from tenant support and KPVC programs. Exact funding details are still under development, but total non-base funding is expected to exceed $5M per year. Total funding in FY16 will be less than in FY15 and elimination of some staff positions will be re-quired. To the extent that supplementary funding is not fully realized, NOAO will manage a reduc-tion in scope of activities in appropriate areas.

In parallel, the KPNO scientific program will strongly evolve in the next three to five years. The KPNO 2.1-m facility was closed as a general-purpose, open-access facility during FY14. During FY15, NOAO in collaboration with NSF will transfer operational responsibility for the KPNO 2.1-m telescope to an external organization expected to execute a coherent science program. During FY16–FY18, the NSF/NOAO share of the WIYN 3.5-m facility, which was 40% in FY14, is expected to transform from a multi-user, multi-instrument, general purpose, open-access program to a more fo-cused program sponsored by NASA. During the same period, the Mayall 4-m facility is planned to transform from a multi-user, multi-instrument, general purpose, open-access program to a program focused on large surveys conducted with DESI, a 5000-fiber, 3.5-degree field-of-view, optical spec-trometer. DESI is being developed as a joint enterprise between the Department of Energy, NSF, and the DESI Science Collaboration and is led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).

NOAO DIVISIONS

17

As of late August 2014, exact details of the NOAO-2016 KPNO science program are still under de-velopment.

Overall, the facility reconfigurations under development for the Mayall 4-m, WIYN 3.5-m, and KPNO 2.1-m telescopes are consistent with recommendations of the 2012 NSF AST Portfolio Re-view. In their new roles, all three facilities will be used by focused science collaborations for a small number of key projects. All key projects are likely to produce high-impact results; moreover, all key projects will deliver data products suitable for fruitful re-use by the community at large. These data products will add to a rapidly growing collection of high-value data sets held by NOAO now or in the future (e.g., the DES data products and catalogs). Furthermore, nothing rules out the reconfigura-tion of these facilities for other projects or groups in the 2020s. For example, approximately 30% of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) survey footprint is visible at airmass 1.5 or lower for two hours or more from KPNO; so any of these facilities could contribute productively to LSST fol-low-up research.

While the era of KPNO as a center for general purpose, open-access research is drawing smoothly to a close in the next several years, NOAO expects KPNO to remain a world-class and world-leading center for astronomical and astrophysical research for at least another 10 years and likely many years into the future beyond that.

2.2.1 Kitt Peak National Observatory

Program Overview

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) operates the Mayall 4-m telescope on Kitt Peak. KPNO is a partner in the operation of the facilities of the National Solar Observatory (McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope and SOLIS), the WIYN Observatory (3.5-m and 0.9-m telescopes), and the NRAO (Very Long Baseline Array) that also are on Kitt Peak. KPNO provides infrastructure for more than 20 ten-ant telescopes operated by institutions from around the world.

KPNO continues to bring new capabilities to its users. In FY14, KPNO completed its collabo-ration with the NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC) and The Ohio State University to bring a new optical spectrograph, the Kitt Peak Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (KOSMOS), to the Mayall 4-m telescope. KOSMOS commissioning was completed during the 2014A observing semes-ter, and the instrument was made available to the community in semester 2014B.

KPNO management and NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services (NN ETS) are in the process of developing a multi-year transition plan that will enable first-rank, open-access science to be conducted on the Mayall 4-m telescope from the beginning of FY15 through the initiation of the telescope and dome modifications necessary for the installation of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). During FY15, NOAO astronomers and KPNO management and technical per-sonnel will continue to contribute effort to DESI project planning.

KPNO plans to carry out improvements in FY15 to the Delivered Image Quality (DIQ) for the Mayall 4-m telescope, based on assessment and possible modifications identified during FY13 and FY14.

NOAO will proceed with an upgrade during FY15 of the partially populated One Degree Im-ager (pODI) on the WIYN 3.5-m telescope to achieve a 40' × 40' field of view (pODI currently has a field of view of 24' × 24'). The upgrade, commissioning, and science verification of the upgraded ODI is planned to be completed during the third quarter of FY15. See section 2.2.2 NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services for more details.

As part of the planned NOAO-2016 restructuring, open access by the community to the Kitt Peak 2.1-m telescope ended after semester 2014A. An announcement of opportunity was released to the community in the third quarter of FY14 for proposals to assume responsibility for operating and


18

maintaining the telescope. During early FY15, NOAO and NSF will evaluate the submitted pro-posals with the goal of completing transfer of the telescope to a new operating entity by the end of FY15. In the meantime, KPNO will ensure that the telescope is maintained in a safe state that will allow its transfer to a new operator if one is identified.

Milestones primarily related to the operation of KPNO are listed below. Milestones related to improvements to KPNO telescopes and instruments, including those required for DESI, are listed in section 2.2.2, which also provides the associated work package and budget information.

Milestones

Assess, characterize, and (where necessary) improve pointing and tracking of the Mayall tele-scope following installation in FY15 of the new digital servo system and pointing model for the Telescope Control System (TCS). Initial testing and assessment will be complete by the end of Q2 of FY15. The new system will be complete and in routine use for nighttime observing by the end of Q3 of FY15.

Work with the NSF to select an operator for the 2.1-m telescope and Coudé Feed. A recommen-dation will be made to the NSF in Q2 of FY15.

Complete a prioritized list with full costs of Delivered Image Quality (DIQ) improvements for the Mayall 4-m telescope by the end of Q2 of FY15.

Budget Summary

Work Packages

Director’s Office This work package includes the effort for the NOAO associate director of KPNO, an administrative manager, and the KPNO safety manager. The KPNO Director’s Office supports observatory plan-ning 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 divisions of NOAO.

Table 5 Summary of KPNO program budget

Kitt Peak National Observatory

(KPNO) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Director's Office 2.12 294,515 23,000 317,515 2,000 315,515

Telescope Operations 21.04 1,750,364 635,384 2,385,748 885,609 1,500,139

Science Research 0.60 98,272 - 98,272 - 98,272

User Support 1.20 63,425 42,500 105,925 - 105,925

Mountain Facilities 18.17 943,256 695,150 1,638,406 631,384 1,007,022

KPNO Public Outreach & Education 14.03 692,697 353,788 1,046,485 846,600 199,885

KP Site Protection - - 6,000 6,000 - 6,000

Total 57.16 $3,842,529 $1,755,822 $5,598,351 $2,365,593 $3,232,758

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO)


NOAO North (NN)

NOAO DIVISIONS

19

Telescope Operations This package includes all of the NOAO costs directly associated with the operations and maintenance of the KPNO (Mayall 4-m) and partner telescopes (such as the WIYN 3.5-m) as well as the instrument suites of those facilities The costs and effort of all operations, facilities, engineering, scientific, and related staffs are included. A prorated share of the scientific infrastructure, comprising the computer network, mountain scientific administration, maintenance of electronics shops, spares, and test equipment also is tracked on a per telescope basis.

Operations for the WIYN 3.5-m telescope are defined by the terms of the consortium agree-ment. The costs shown represent actual expenditures made by KPNO—offset by revenues from the partner institutions, including KPNO—on behalf of NOAO. Costs paid directly by the other partners or by WIYN Observatory are not included. The itemized costs include the NOAO contribution to the WIYN capital funds. Over and above the support defined by the agreement, the total includes all sci-entific staff activity related to support of the WIYN observers, telescope, and existing instruments. Also included are expenses for NOAO participation in WIYN Consortium activities such as Board and Science Advisory Committee meetings. It does not represent the full WIYN Consortium annual expenses, because substantial partner contributions go directly to WIYN, Inc. and are managed and spent by the WIYN Observatory.

When needed, KPNO provides some support to other NOAO divisions (moving LSST’s Calypso telescope from its enclosure and off Kitt Peak is a recent example) and receives some reimbursement for costs from these internal divisions and external groups. This work package tracks these expendi-tures and revenues.

Science Research 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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to KPNO.

User Support This category refers to support of observers when they are not directly engaged in observing. Ob-serving run preparation, advice on observatory performance for use in proposals, occasional service observing, and the KPNO Observing Support Office activities are included here. The KPNO Observ-ing Support Office also assists WIYN and NSO observers with their travel and lodging needs on the mountain. Post-observing-run assistance for KPNO visitors, including advice on data reduction pro-vided by KPNO staff, also is included in this work package. Support of PhD thesis student travel and lodging also is included.

Mountain Facilities This work package consists of two subpackages: Mountain Operations and Support to Tenants. The Mountain Operations subpackage includes support of the mountain physical plant, external to the telescope domes, used by KPNO and its partner observatories (but not tenant observatories). It in-cludes the support buildings, dining and lodging facilities operations, power distribution (distinct from the power distribution that is part of the Support to Tenants subpackage), and mountain vehi-cles and equipment. The actual costs are partially offset by revenues from visiting observers to KPNO and from tenant observatory telescopes.

The Support to Tenants subpackage includes those aspects of mountain operations/facilities used by all telescope facilities located on the mountain, including KPNO. It includes the roads, water systems, septic systems, support buildings, and power distribution. The actual costs are offset by revenue from the joint use fee (which comes from tenants and KPNO).


20

KPNO Public Outreach & Education KPNO works to share the knowledge and excitement of astronomy with the public through a range of well-recognized and successful activities that are focused on those who visit Kitt Peak and on the people of the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona. The activities are often in collaboration with the NOAO Education and Public Outreach (EPO) office and other organizations. This work package tracks the costs and revenues associated with these efforts. While significant levels of volunteer labor contribute to this effort, the FTE entry in Table 5 only includes non-volunteer (paid) labor. This work package has three subpackages: the Kitt Peak Visitor Center (KPVC), Tohono O’odham Out-reach, and other public outreach/press/education activities.

The KPVC runs the museum and gift shop on the mountaintop, an online store, tours for the public, the Nightly Observing Program (NOP), and the Advanced Observing Program. The KPVC program is intended to take in fees and revenues that cover most of its costs. The KPVC manager’s and assistant manager’s salaries are paid for through base funding.

The Tohono O’odham Outreach and other public outreach and education programs change slightly from year to year, but include support of outreach to the Tohono O’odham Nation (programs with elementary, middle-school, and high-school students of the Nation; the Boys & Girls Club of Sells; programs at the Nation’s recreational centers; and evening programs with the NOP on the mountain); and a partnership with the University of Arizona Alumni Association’s Astronomy Summer Camp program, parts of which are held on Kitt Peak and make use of KPNO facilities.

Numerous press and media requests to visit and film on the mountain for science education purposes are supported. Funding of special events or activities is included in this work package only in the years when these events or activities are planned.

KP Site Protection KPNO works to educate the people and governments of Arizona on the protection of surrounding area night skies for the cultural legacy of the local community and for scientific research. This work package supports the work of the KPNO Director’s Office, in collaboration with other Arizona ob-servatories (Steward, Whipple, Vatican, Lowell), on local and statewide site protection efforts.

2.2.2 NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services

Program Overview

NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services (NN ETS) provides technical support for maintain-ing and improving the Mayall and WIYN telescopes and instruments. In the past, NN ETS has pro-vided support to the NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC) group for new instrument develop-ment and construction, to the LSST Project to supplement their resources, and to CTIO as needed to supplement NOAO South ETS resources. For the most part, those additional activities will come to an end during FY15. NN ETS provides a pool of technical resources with expertise in software and control systems, detector systems, mechanical systems, electronics, and optics. NN ETS maintains a machine shop, an optics fabrication and testing shop, a coatings lab for small optical components, an electronics stock room, and various clean rooms and labs for electronic, detector, and cryogenic sys-tem assembly and test.

During FY15, NN ETS will continue its focus on addressing critical, deferred upgrades on the Mayall telescope. Support for interface and design efforts on DESI will increase. Some work will be initiated on facilities upgrades related to DESI support. By the end of FY15, resources assigned to NN ETS will be transferred into the Mayall or WIYN Operations groups and NN ETS will cease to exist as an independent group.

NOAO DIVISIONS

21

Milestones

Complete the transfer of all relevant paper documents to the new electronic document system by the end of FY15.

Complete a system-level plan with full costs for the improved reliability of the Mayall dome shutter by the end of Q3 of FY15.

Complete the purchase of the major components for the dome shutter system reliability upgrade by the end of FY15.

Complete a detailed design for the implementation of the dome shutter system reliability up-grade by the end of FY15.

Release the initial versions of all DESI Interface Control Documents (ICDs) that affect the Mayall telescope or building by the end of Q2 of FY15.

Extend the Mayall building glycol system to provide a service point inside the Coudé laboratory that will have sufficient capacity for the DESI equipment by the end of FY15.

Extend the Mayall building electrical system to provide sufficient capacity to the Coudé labora-tory for the DESI equipment by the end of FY15.

Complete the laboratory testing of the ODI with its enlarged 5 × 5 focal plane by the end of Q3 of FY15.

Complete the on-telescope commissioning of the upgraded ODI instrument by the end of FY15.

Budget Summary

Work Packages

ETS Operations This work package covers the effort to maintain ETS staff skill, equipment, and lab facilities at the level required to support both ETS projects and KPNO operations. The groups within NN ETS com-prise: Management, Mechanical, Machine Shop, Software & Controls, Electronics, Optics Shop, and

Table 6 Summary of NN Engineering & Technical Services program budget

NN Engineering & Technical Services

(ETS) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

ETS Operations 6.40 654,914 176,000 830,914 - 830,914

Mayall Improvements 5.52 547,107 197,000 744,107 - 744,107

DESI 2.85 394,156 62,000 456,156 - 456,156

WIYN Improvements 2.75 277,451 - 277,451 - 277,451

External Support 0.70 61,520 - 61,520 61,520 -


Total 18.34 $1,955,055 $435,000 $2,390,055 $61,520 $2,328,535

NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services (ETS)


NOAO North (NN)


22

Drafting Room. This work package covers all activities related to ETS group operations, including training, equipment and its maintenance, lab and shop supplies, and software maintenance and rou-tine upgrades. The package also covers maintenance of the mountain aluminizing facility and routine upgrades of the telescope computer systems.

The fourth year of a project to modernize Tucson-based documentation is included in this work package. By the start of FY15, all of the new electronic documentation will have been moved into the new documentation system and a start made on scanning the older hard-copy-only documentation and incorporating the resulting electronic documents into the system with a full set of associated keywords and other identifying information. Documents that are no longer relevant are not migrated. During FY15, the migration of the older documentation should be complete, and support of the doc-ument system should be significantly reduced in later years.

Mayall Improvements This work package covers all improvement or upgrade work on the Mayall telescope, other than work specifically required for DESI. Within the work package, sub-packages track individual major projects. During FY15, there are two such projects: completion of the upgrade to the Mayall servo system, and initiation of work on the Mayall dome shutter.

The servo system upgrade will replace the very old, low-level hardware and software in the Mayall Telescope Control System (TCS). This project is significantly smaller in scope than the TCS upgrade on the Blanco telescope (that project was largely completed in FY12). By drawing heavily on the Blanco TCS designs, it is possible to substantially reduce design costs for those portions of the Blanco system that are being implemented for the Mayall. It is, nonetheless, a project that was too large to complete in FY14. All major purchases were completed in FY14, and the implementa-tion work should be completed in FY15.

The dome shutters on the 4-m telescopes have had a number of serious failures in the past, and recovery from such failures would be problematic with the reduced staffing levels anticipated in the future. Furthermore, it now appears that modern control systems and materials would allow a more robust drive system to be implemented at a relatively modest cost. The focus during FY15 will be on a careful assessment of the shutter system as a whole, design of appropriate modifications, purchase of all major components, and (vendor deliveries permitting) initial installation work. This work will be carried out in consultation with NS ETS personnel, as it will be applicable to the Blanco telescope and the Mayall.

Also included in this work package are smaller projects related to improvement of the tele-scope image quality or other aspects of telescope performance. Work related to replacing obsolete components or subsystems is considered an improvement and, therefore, included here.

Finally, the package covers instrument upgrades on the Mayall. During FY15, the intention is to continue the transition to a reduced instrument suite that can be maintained and operated produc-tively through the start of DESI survey operations. Some continued improvement work on KOSMOS may occur.

DESI This work package covers the payroll and non-payroll costs associated with NOAO’s work in FY15 to prepare the Mayall telescope, the building, and the internal infrastructure to receive the Dark En-ergy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). This preparatory work is expected to span at least FY15 through FY17; it may carry over into the first part of FY18 as well. The entire three years of work was planned out during FY14, and this work package was designed to cover the portion that is scheduled to be done in FY15, which includes the following:

1. Managerial and technical coordination with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and other DESI collaborating institutions, including development of Interface Control Docu-ments (ICDs) affecting the telescope and building infrastructure.

NOAO DIVISIONS

23

2. Measurement and monitoring of environmental conditions within the Mayall building and of telescope dimensions to provide input to various aspects of DESI subsystem design.

3. Preliminary development of the software within the Telescope Control System to connect with the DESI Instrument Control System (this work will continue into FY16).

4. In collaboration with the LBNL DESI subsystem design leads, a definition of the detailed re-quirements for layout of space and utility services in the Coudé lab where the DESI spectro-graphs will be located and preparation of designs for room modifications to meet those re-quirements; initial modifications of building services (cooling/electrical).

5. Preliminary planning of the DESI installation, to highlight requirements imposed by installa-tion needs on the DESI hardware, and preliminary design work of specialized equipment that will be needed for the installation itself.

For FY15, this work package is supported entirely from the NOAO base budget.

WIYN Improvements The package covers improvements on WIYN, including the telescope and its instruments. The pack-age also includes an upgrade to the pODI focal plane, which is tracked as a separate project. This is a smaller project than the focal plane upgrade that was proposed for FY14, in that the number of detec-tors will increase to 25 rather than 36. Therefore, the procurement costs for the detectors will be sig-nificantly less, and the engineering effort on the controller and data system will be substantially re-duced in scope. The reduced scope of the project allows it to be completed more expeditiously and within the scope of the overall NN ETS budget. All other work expected in FY15 under this work package consists of small projects requiring only a few weeks of effort and limited non-payroll ex-penditures. At present, the scope of this package assumes continued NOAO support of WIYN for the entirety of FY15; alternative operating arrangements may reduce the scope of the package or alter the level of revenue.

External Support All NN ETS work that is funded from outside NOAO is included within this work package. This includes contract labor related to large telescope projects, which were formerly included in NSTC, small jobs in the optics or instruments shops, NSO support, and LSST support. An increase in de-mand for support from LSST is possible. This is distinct from ETS personnel who have transferred, or will transfer, to LSST.

Science Research 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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to NN ETS.

2.2.3 NOAO North Central Facilities Operations

Program Overview

The NOAO North Central Facilities Operations (NN CFO) department provides support services for the NOAO North divisions as well as administrative and limited technical support for the Kitt Peak facilities group. The department support services encompass 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 NSO, DKIST, WIYN, and LSSTC, with funding provided through a recharge indirect rate revenue process for non-NOAO in-


24

stitutions and consortia. NN CFO also receives revenue from Gemini for providing limited remote operations and support for the Gemini Hilo building access control system.

During FY15, NN CFO will continue to address the maintenance issues imposed by the more than 50-years-old structures and correct building deficiencies where possible through targeted reno-vation of the spaces. Efforts will continue to focus on renovation and/or modifications as necessary to accommodate the space demands of an evolving NOAO and its associated programs while work-ing to reduce utility usage and operational costs. Staff will continue to provide technical support to the Kitt Peak facilities group and contracted projects.

Milestones

Work with contractors and staff to prepare office space to house the LSST engineering design and construction team in the former KPNO Engineering wing.

Continue targeted building modification and renovation efforts at NOAO North to address build-ing deficiencies and program space demands.

Continue with ongoing programs to upgrade the various restrooms and fixtures to improve water conservation efforts, interior finishes, and accessibility.

Continue the ongoing window upgrade program to replace original exterior single pane windows in the various buildings to improve energy efficiency and reduce solar heat gain.

Continue with the program to upgrade and/or replace deteriorated or obsolete portions of the mechanical air distribution system and their associated heating/chilled water system piping and valves.

Budget Summary

Table 7 Summary of NN Central Facilities Operations program budget

NN Central Facilities Operations

(CFO) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Tucson Program Management and

Support Services 3.99 225,405 242,499 467,904 387,620 80,284

Tucson Utilities 0.32 22,589 377,500 400,089 308,000 92,089

Tucson Safety and Security 0.52 36,023 126,700 162,723 83,000 79,723

Tucson Vehicle Fleet 0.70 40,514 107,000 147,514 63,000 84,514

Tucson Roads and Grounds 0.23 14,096 17,000 31,096 22,000 9,096

Tucson Building Maintenance 2.85 182,495 121,970 304,465 207,000 97,465

Building Modification 0.40 26,328 17,500 43,828 11,000 32,828

Facility Projects - - 24,000 24,000 - 24,000

Total 9.01 $547,450 $1,034,169 $1,581,619 $1,081,620 $499,999

NOAO North Central Facilities Operations (CFO)


NOAO North (NN)

NOAO DIVISIONS

25

Work Packages

Each NN CFO work package, except Facility Projects, includes revenue through indirect payments for facility support from NSO, DKIST, AURA Corporate, WIYN, and LSSTC. Also included is a portion of the indirect revenue (General and Administrative fees) received for facilities support pro-vided to grantees such as individual astronomers and other consortia.

Tucson Program Management and Support Services This primary management support package includes primary staff administration, oversight of the telecommunications and call accounting systems, minor facility engineering services, general sup-port labor and equipment, travel to other sites for support issues, subcontracted custodial services, and other general administrative facility functions.

Tucson Utilities This includes the various utility costs for the Tucson facility: electrical, water, sewer, gas, trash, re-cycling services, record keeping, and various reporting requirements.

Tucson Safety and Security Contracted fire watch and off-hours security contracts as well as regulatory and industrial waste re-moval fees or efforts are included here.

Tucson Vehicle Fleet This work package covers operation and maintenance of the Tucson vehicle fleet including fuel, maintenance, repairs, and replacements. High-mileage vehicles are generally replaced with hybrids or other fuel efficient vehicles to conserve and reduce fuel costs.

Tucson Roads and Grounds Contracted landscaping, grounds maintenance, and miscellaneous building access control efforts are included in this work package.

Tucson Building Maintenance This work package covers 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.

Building Modification This work package includes minor building modifications, construction, demolition, and remodels. Efforts are also targeted toward energy efficiency improvements to the facility.

Facility Projects This work package provides for major infrastructure renovation, replacement, and/or improvement projects. In FY15, these projects include continued restroom upgrades, asphalt pavement repairs, targeted building renovations, or energy efficiency modifications. Efforts will also continue on im-provements to the conference and meeting room spaces.


26

2.2.4 NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services

Program Overview

While the primary core function of NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services (NN CIS) is to provide computer infrastructure support to NOAO North, support also is given to NSO, DKIST, LSST, and WIYN. Revenue is generated through indirect support to areas other than NOAO North. Funding for support is provided through a recharge indirect rate revenue process.

During FY12, AURA promulgated a set of password policies for their Centers in response to a series of cyber security audits. In response, and after further discussions with AURA, NOAO North embarked on a series of projects to implement password controls where possible and, where such controls are not practical, to tighten network security by implementing security domains. These pro-jects began in FY13, continued through FY14, and should conclude in FY15.

NN CIS also will undertake projects in FY15 to improve the wireless infrastructure in Tucson and the various password systems, with the goal of a “single password” system.

Milestones

Absorb the few remaining unmanaged Windows systems in Tucson and on Kitt Peak into the NOAO North Windows Active Directory (ad.tuc.noao.edu) and install the Shavlik anti-virus and auto-patch software. Once the Windows computers are part of the Active Directory, use group policies to implement the AURA-mandated password and account lockout policies.

Absorb the 100 or so workstations and laptops with Mac and Linux operating systems running on the Tucson and Kitt Peak networks into the NOAO North Active Directory using software from Centrify. Once those computers are part of the Active Directory, use group policies to im-plement the AURA-mandated password and account lockout policies.

Continue the effort to create customized DMZ configurations for Internet-facing servers such as ftp.noao.edu, www.noao.edu, email.noao.edu, and ssh.noao.edu. Consult and plan to do the same for servers run by groups outside of NN CIS.

Implement a centralized control system for many of the wireless access points installed in the NOAO Tucson complex. Such a system will simplify configuration of the 30 or so access points and allow them to cooperate with a centralized power/channel operations plan.

Undertake a number of related projects leading to the goal of a single password for email, VPN, wireless, Active Directory login, Web Timecards, Reqless, CASNET, and UltiPro.

Budget Summary

Table 8 Summary of NN Computer Infrastructure Services program budget

NN Computer Infrastructure Services

(CIS) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

CIS Operations 5.40 592,237 71,763 664,000 170,000 494,000

Total 5.40 $592,237 $71,763 $664,000 $170,000 $494,000

NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services (CIS)


NOAO North (NN)

NOAO DIVISIONS

27

Work Packages

CIS Operations This work package includes maintenance and improvement of the Tucson and Kitt Peak facility net-works and of a secure connection for the networks to the Internet. It covers maintenance and im-provement of a secure software infrastructure providing services to the NOAO Tucson facility, in-cluding email, World Wide Web, FTP, and remote access. The work package also includes configuration of and connection to the Tucson and Kitt Peak networks, and support and maintenance of computers (including scientific work stations and office computers) used in the Tucson facility. Revenue includes indirect payments from NSO for computer infrastructure support.

2.3 NOAO SYSTEM SCIENCE CENTER

The NOAO System Science Center (NSSC) op-erates a telescope time allocation process recog-nized nationally for its fairness and integrity for access to all NOAO-operated facilities and all facilities that offer open-access time via NOAO (e.g., Gemini, SMARTS). NSSC supports users of non-NOAO facilities (with particular focus on Gemini) and connects the astronomical communi-ty to major external development projects (e.g., LSST, TMT). NSSC also provides a robust set of data archive and data processing services includ-ing desktop image processing systems support (e.g., IRAF), data calibration pipelines for wide-field imagers (e.g., Mosaic 1.1, NEWFIRM, DECam), and data management (e.g., capture, valida-tion, and archiving of all raw data produced by NOAO-operated facilities, all data products from NOAO-operated calibration pipelines, and all data products from NOAO Survey Programs). All data holdings are publicly available from the NOAO Science Archive following the designated proprie-tary period. With the advent of DECam, NSSC has stepped up to a petascale (“Big Data”) level of data volume and complexity. For program management purposes, NSSC activities are separated into the following subprograms: System User Support (SUS) Science Data Management (SDM) System Community Development (SCD) Time Allocation Committee (TAC)

Toward NOAO-2016

Looking at FY16 and beyond, the future NSSC mission will be driven by survey science with a for-ward look to LSST. In recognition of this evolution, NSSC will be renamed the NOAO System Sci-ence and Data Center (NSSDC) at the start of FY16.

The NSSDC data mission will be encompassed within two top-level activities: Data Manage-ment Operations (DMO) and the LSST Community Science Center (LCSC). DMO will be responsi-ble for the NOAO Science Archive operations including capturing raw data from all NOAO-operated facilities, producing calibrated images from all NOAO-operated wide-field imagers, and maintaining IRAF. In collaboration with the LSST Corporation and SLAC, LCSC will endeavor to stimulate LSST pathfinder scientific research in advance of the survey, help the LSST science community or-ganize itself to meet the challenges of LSST-based research, and provide an interface between the LSST research community and LSST Project during the construction phase.


28

Staff who will be part of LCSC and DMO are working collaboratively to develop the NOAO Data Lab. The vision for the Data Lab is to allow users to efficiently utilize catalogs of billions of objects, augment traditional telescope imaging and spectral data with external archive holdings, pub-lish high-level data products of their research, share custom results with collaborators, and experi-ment with analysis tool kits. The intermediate goal is to support community use of the DES data products as a pathfinder to learning how to use big data sets in the era of LSST. LCSC also will host the Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System (ANTARES) project, which is a collaboration between NOAO and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Ari-zona to build the software infrastructure necessary to process and filter alerts produced by time-domain surveys, with the ultimate source of such alerts being the LSST. The NOAO website has fur-ther details about these projects and the LCSC program at ast.noao.edu/facilities/future/lsst/lcsc.

DMO and LCSC will be joined by three other key activities within NSSDC. The Time Alloca-tion Process will continue to deliver peer-reviewed telescope time allocation recommendations to the NOAO director for NOAO-operated facilities and any other facilities that provide open access to the US community via NOAO. The US National Gemini Office (US NGO) will provide various support services to scientists who use (or propose to use) Gemini North and/or Gemini South. Finally, ena-bled by a cooperative agreement between NSF and the Thirty Meter Telescope Project, NSSDC will host the TMT Community Liaison program, which is responsible for developing a proposal for an NSF/TMT partnership model (see ast.noao.edu/system/us-tmt-liaison for additional information).

2.3.1 System User Support

Program Overview

System User Support (SUS) is the point of contact between the user community and their access to non-NOAO System capabilities. The services provided by SUS include help with proposal prepara-tion and submission, as well as help with post-observing data processing. With the termination of the NSF-sponsored Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP), SUS activity is focused on Gemini (in the guise of the US NGO, with ~150 nights per year per telescope), the CHARA interfer-ometer (~5 nights per year), and the 4-m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) (~20 nights per year).

SUS responded to a call in 2014 from the Gemini director to consider work trades between the US NGO and Gemini to increase the efficiency and quality of Gemini user support. A shift of re-sponsibilities occurred with the 2014B observing semester (1 August 2014 start); SUS became less engaged in supporting the Phase II effort and began devoting more of its resources to data reduction (i.e., post observing) support. At this time, SUS is setting the stage for a series of planned activities starting in FY15 that are related to post-observing support.

Milestones

Provide effort in Q2–Q4 of FY15 toward post-observing support for Gemini observers per the expected continuing transfer to Gemini staff of Phase II support for US-led Gemini observing programs (which began as a test in semester 2014B): (1) By establishing data-analysis work-shops at the AAS, the first of which will be a near-IR reduction workshop with other workshops of the series to be held on subjects based on specific feedback from users; (2) By establishing a dedicated website to provide supporting materials for post-data processing, with plans to include a guided example for Gemini Planet Imager data analysis and an expanded FAQ document for the Integral Field Unit and Nod-and-Shuffle mode of the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph.

Provide user support as needed for open-access, NOAO-allocated time on the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) array and the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT).

http://ast.noao.edu/facilities/future/lsst/lcsc

http://ast.noao.edu/system/us-tmt-liaison

NOAO DIVISIONS

29

Represent the US National Gemini Office (NGO) in the Gemini Operations Working Group, and participate in the joint Gemini/NGO meetings to discuss all operation issues.

Represent the US National Gemini Office on the International Time Allocation Committee.

Host a workshop on Gemini data reduction during the January 2015 AAS meeting.

Provide support (such as panel orientation materials and on-call support) to the Time Allocation Committee (TAC) for Gemini and other selected facilities offered through the NOAO Call for Proposals.

Provide technical reviews after both FY15 Time Allocation Committee meetings of all highly ranked programs to identify and eliminate technically infeasible programs.

Budget Summary

Work Packages

NSSC Director’s Office The costs for managing NSSC are in this work package and cover salaries for the NSSC director and NSSC administrative coordinator. The work package includes travel for the NSSC director and SUS head of program to AAS meetings and other meetings that require the attendance of either or both of them. Such meetings include those of the Gemini Operations Working Group, Gemini International Time Allocation Committee, AURA Observatory Council, and AURA Representatives. The costs of supplies and hardware for SUS staff are included here as well.

System Operations Support This work package includes the labor for SUS staff to provide System support as well as travel to observatories for site visits or to provide an SUS staff presence at AAS meetings.

Table 9 Summary of NSSC System User Support program budget

System User Support (SUS) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NSSC Director's Office 1.80 221,245 30,200 251,445 - 251,445

System Operations Support 2.70 358,917 37,000 395,917 - 395,917


System Observer Support - - 37,000 37,000 - 37,000

SUS Committee Support - - 12,000 12,000 - 12,000

Workshops - - 1,000 1,000 - 1,000

Total 6.20 $815,800 $117,200 $933,000 - $933,000

NOAO System Science Center (NSSC)

System User Support (SUS)



30

Science Research 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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to SUS.

System Observer Support SUS travel support for observers using NOAO-assigned System time on facilities other than KPNO and CTIO is incorporated in this work package. Funding reductions in FY15 limit this to travel sup-port for PhD thesis students doing classical observing at Gemini or wanting to do a Gemini site visit if they have a queue program.

SUS Committee Support This work package provides for support of various SUS-involved committee meetings. This includes travel to the Gemini Board or Gemini Science and Technology Advisory Committee meetings.

Workshops This work package is in place to ensure some support for a workshop on post-observing data pro-cessing that is planned in connection with the January 2015 AAS. This support includes items such as renting a meeting room for the workshop.

2.3.2 Science Data Management

Program Overview

The Science Data Management (SDM) program supports the data management needs of NOAO and its user community. SDM operates the NOAO data management system to archive all raw data from NOAO facilities, pipeline process and archive reduced data products from the Mosaic, NEWFIRM, and DECam wide-field imagers, and serve those data to the astronomical community via the portal interface to the NOAO Science Archive. SDM supports data handling systems for all telescope in-struments that use the MONSOON or TORRENT controllers (Mosaic, NEWFIRM, KOSMOS, and COSMOS). Additionally, SDM helps the community make use of astronomical data through its con-tinued support and development of IRAF, and now through the new Data Lab initiative.

In FY15, SDM will continue to evolve the data management system with enhanced features for the user community and improved performance while also giving the system a much needed infra-structure upgrade. SDM developers will concentrate on improving and modernizing the Archive and Portal software infrastructure to make the system more easily maintainable and operable with re-duced staff support in FY16 and beyond. Many third-party software subsystems need to be updated, and ad hoc code modifications need to be removed wherever possible.

SDM also will continue to provide efficient data transport of all NOAO data to Tucson, DECam survey data to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), and pODI data to the Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University. SDM operations staff will continue to ensure that data flow into the Archive and to support user help desk queries related to data access and retrieval.

SDM will retire the NOAO Survey Archive once the migration of its survey data products to the NOAO Science Archive has been completed. All science data, both raw and reduced, will reside in a single data archive, the NOAO Science Archive. During FY15, the Dark Energy Survey (DES) data management team will deliver the calibrated single frames for their “survey worthy” data taken in the first survey year, and this data will be ingested into the NOAO Science Archive.

NOAO DIVISIONS

31

The pipelines for DECam, Mosaic, and NEWFIRM will continue to be operated by SDM to process and archive data from NOAO programs. These pipelines are now in or near their final stages of development, although some improvements and enhancements to the DECam community pipeline are still anticipated. The pODI science pipeline (AuCaP) will also be enhanced to support the planned 5 × 5 upgrade of pODI.

The Data Lab is a major new initiative being developed collaboratively by SDM and the NSSC System Community Development group (see section 0 for further details). Early in FY15, several fundamental documents (Operations Concept, Operations Requirements, and System Architecture) will be prepared for a Conceptual Design Review to be held in early 2015. Preliminary tools and ser-vices with the associated infrastructure to support science with large catalogs including the DES ob-ject catalog, data collaboration, and data publication will be explored and developed by SDM staff and tested by local scientists during the latter part of FY15.

Milestones

Continue operation in Q1–Q4 of FY15 of the NOAO data management system including data capture, transport, archiving, and user access to all NOAO-observed data. Routinely pipeline process and archive all Mosaic, NEWFIRM, and DECam data products. Continue support for the data handling systems for Mosaic, NEWFIRM, KOSMOS, and COSMOS.

Collect all Dark Energy Survey (DES) first-year single-frame reduced images from the DES survey team, reformat the images and their metadata as necessary, and archive them in the NOAO Science Archive during Q1 of FY15.

Complete the automation of the components of the data management system (i.e., data capture, data archive, user administration, system monitoring, and system alerts) during Q1–Q3 of FY15 for easier deployment of system upgrades and new releases of system components.

Migrate the NOAO Survey Archive data sets to the NOAO Science Archive (remediating survey data headers as needed) and implement the Portal interface changes necessary for search and re-trieval of Survey data sets during Q2–Q3 of FY15.

Upgrade the pODI pipeline during Q2–Q3 of FY15 to support the 5 × 5 upgrade of the pODI instrument.

Implement the SDM Archive Infrastructure Upgrade Plan over Q1–Q4 of FY15.

Prepare the Operations Concept, Operations Requirements, and System Architecture documents and presentations in support of the Conceptual Design Review of the Data Lab, and develop the Data Lab Project Execution Plan during Q1–Q2 of FY15.

Develop an implementation of VOSpace and support the SMASH and Bulge projects, especially in the area of tools for catalog visualization and analysis during Q2–Q3 of FY15.


32

Budget Summary

Work Packages

Program Management (North/South) This work package covers program management activities, which include staffing, day-to-day man-agement, as well as staff training and development. Payroll reflects all of the time spent on manage-ment activities including the majority of time for the head of program and fractions of staff time spent in overall management activities (e.g., program planning meetings). Non-payroll budget items cover all non-operations costs including staff travel to support coordination between SDM staff at NOAO North and NOAO South, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) partnerships, staff development, staff computing support (including desktop development comput-ers), and supplies.

Archive (North/South) This package covers the software design and implementation for the NOAO Science Archive and related parts of the NOAO Science Data Management system. In addition to data capture, transport, and archival systems, this includes developing the enhancements necessary to archive raw and re-duced data products from new instrumentation and to serve those data through the Archive portal, as well as maintaining compatibility with new and changing Virtual Observatory (VO) standards. This package also covers the cost to continue improving the search and retrieval process for NOAO data and improving the Archive system infrastructure for both stability and performance.

Operations (North/South) This package includes the effort for operating all SDM systems, including the NOAO archives; metadata curation; the distributed data transport systems; the data processing pipeline environments; the NOAO Science Archive data stores in Tucson, La Serena, and Kitt Peak; and the remote opera-tion. This work package also includes operation and support of Web-based services such as the NOAO Portal, along with management of the external help desk for the Archive system. It also in-

Table 10 Summary of NSSC Science Data Management program budget

Science Data Management (SDM) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Program Management (North) 1.40 218,553 66,500 285,053 20,000 265,053

Program Management (South) - - 3,051 3,051 - 3,051

Archive (North) 1.50 195,615 - 195,615 - 195,615

Archive (South) 0.75 56,752 - 56,752 - 56,752

Operations (North) 4.35 591,916 130,500 722,416 - 722,416

Operations (South) - - 34,500 34,500 - 34,500

Pipeline Operations & Development 1.05 93,786 25,000 118,786 - 118,786

Science Support Software 1.35 198,718 - 198,718 - 198,718


DECam CP 0.50 74,201 - 74,201 - 74,201

ODI-DM 1.10 162,465 - 162,465 - 162,465

QA and Testing 0.60 73,188 - 73,188 - 73,188

Total 13.50 $1,799,585 $259,551 $2,059,136 $20,000 $2,039,136


Science Data Management (SDM)


NOAO DIVISIONS

33

cludes hardware and system administration costs necessary to support mountain data storage; data storage in Tucson, La Serena, and the remote copy on Kitt Peak; pipeline processing; network archi-tecture; software deployment; backup/redundancy; strategy; and plans for future expansion.

Pipeline Operations & Development This work package includes the costs for the occasional changes, improvements, hardware replace-ments, or bug fixes that are needed for the community pipelines that are in regular operation: Mosa-ic, NEWFIRM, and DECam. This package includes operation of these pipelines, the creation of op-erator and user manuals, and the costs for the pipeline developers to update older pipelines using NHPPS (NOAO High-Performance Pipeline System) to NHPPS version 2 and assist in the prepara-tion of a user’s cookbook for KOSMOS/COSMOS.

Science Support Software This work package provides support for the development of science software, including user tools and services for the Data Lab, as described in the Data Lab Project Execution Plan. Support also is provided for ongoing IRAF system maintenance.

Science Research 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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to SDM.

DECam CP This work package is allocated to the support of DECam, which includes additional hardware for the DECam community pipeline (CP) computer system and the pipeline’s deployment with operational and scientific testing. Pipeline developers will continue to collaborate with the DES CP group to evolve the CP and take on an increasing role in the pipeline support. This package contains the effort needed for the Data Transport System (DTS) to support the transfer of DECam data to Tucson and NCSA.

ODI-DM This package covers the data management (DM) work by SDM to continue development of the pODI Tier 1 Science Pipeline to run on computer systems at Pervasive Technologies, Inc and/or the NOAO DECam CP computer system. It includes the effort needed to update the pODI Science Pipe-line for the 5 × 5 upgrade and to use the DTS for transferring pODI/ODI data from the WIYN tele-scope to Tucson and to Indiana University for archive and pipeline processing.

QA and Testing Quality assurance (QA) and testing covers automated testing that focuses on the ability to handle large amounts of data and user testing that focuses on functionality and usability issues. Both types of testing are used to verify that requirements are met, products are robust, and problems are identi-fied before users encounter them.


34

2.3.3 System Community Development

Program Overview

The System Community Development (SCD) program was founded with the goals of understanding community desires for the evolution of capabilities within the US Ground-Based Optical/Infrared (O/IR) System, participating in the development of specific high-priority System capabilities that are planned for the near- and mid-term time horizons, and maintaining a stake in longer-term System developments of strong interest to the community. In this regard, the primary mission of SCD has become preparing for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a focus that will be retained in FY15. SCD also will serve as the community representative for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Project. SCD will continue a small investment of resources to aid long-term development of optical interferometry capabilities on behalf of the community.

LSST Science

NOAO is working to establish an LSST Community Science Center, a center of expertise with activ-ities aimed at preparing the community for the scale of LSST science. These activities fall primarily in three areas: (1) meeting the challenges of very large data sets, (2) support for effective scientific use of variable and transient object alert streams, and (3) organizing the community to prepare for LSST and to provide coordinated input to the LSST Project.

Key data resources to help the NOAO user community prepare for LSST will be the public re-lease of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) catalog with its associated pixel data as well as catalogs and images from other community-led DECam programs. These data sets are of such a size that making efficient scientific use of them requires that they be served from a central source and be supported by appropriate data services, visualization, and analysis tools. In FY15, NOAO will design and begin to build an NOAO Data Lab to help astronomers meet the challenges of large DECam data sets. The goal of the Data Lab is to provide a common framework and workspace for science collaborations and individuals to use and disseminate data from large surveys. The vision for the Data Lab is to al-low users to efficiently utilize catalogs of billions of objects, augment traditional telescope imaging and spectral data with external archive holdings, publish high-level data products of their research, share custom results with collaborators, and experiment with analysis tool kits. FY15 work on the Data Lab will focus on documenting a practical and buildable conceptual design and beginning work on its key capabilities using prototype DECam data sets. A conceptual design review with a non-advocate panel of external, experienced, survey and large data set scientists and technologists is planned for the second quarter of FY15.

In the realm of variable and transient science, NOAO scientists will continue to develop the Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System (ANTARES). The goal is a pro-totype astronomical event broker that will add value to transient alerts and winnow the alert stream to identify rare and unusual objects. NOAO scientists will work on several tasks for the initial con-struction of the software infrastructure of ANTARES. A major task is the creation of a database of astronomical knowledge used to add value to the alerts. This will include astronomical catalogs across the electromagnetic spectrum so that alerts can be associated with known objects. Develop-ment of the algorithms used to associate alerts with known objects across these disparate catalogs also will begin. For alerts that are not associated with a known object, NOAO scientists have devised a model of the variable sky that can be used to generate a probability distribution of variability to assess how rare a given alert is. Developing software to evaluate this probability distribution for alerts is another task for FY15. Testing the system will require a synthetic alert stream. This synthet-ic alert stream will be started in FY15. In addition, the initial steps to define the first level of filtering will begin. While this is occurring, the University of Arizona computer scientists associated with this project will be developing the computing infrastructure necessary to implement ANTARES.

NOAO DIVISIONS

35

By the beginning of FY15, NOAO will have concluded a workshop on “Observing Cadences for LSST,” held in Phoenix, Arizona, during the week of August 11–15. A workshop report will be issued in FY15. That report is expected to provide guidance for future cadence studies by LSST, NOAO, and/or the community.

NOAO scientists use their experience in working with surveys and in arranging the La Serena School for Data Science series (see section 2.1.1) to hold a community workshop on “Practical Big Data.” The goal of this meeting will be to inform the NOAO staff and user community about the tools, software, and methodologies available for tackling the visualization and analysis of large as-tronomical data sets. The focus will be on practical solutions and real-world applications that can be used now, as opposed to speculations or projections appropriate for more distant timescales or larger enterprises than those in which NOAO is likely to be involved. Talks will cover topics that include: (1) algorithms—the basic logic, methodologies, and ideas on how to best assess and extract relevant information from large data sets; (2) software—surveys on what packages, tools, etc. are available and in use now to address big data problems; and (3) managing big data—strategies for setting up databases and accessing or developing large data sets. A product of the meeting will be a report summarizing possible paths by which NOAO could develop support for the Big Data needs of the US community.

TMT Community Outreach

The NSF and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Observatory Corporation have entered into a five-year cooperative agreement to engage the US astronomy community in planning for potential NSF investment and participation in the TMT Project. AURA is now an associate member of the TMT International Observatory, LLC (TIO), with representation on the TIO Board and the TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC). NOAO is charged with executing the responsibilities, privileges, and participation activities of AURA in TMT and has established a US TMT Liaison office for this pur-pose. NOAO has formed a US TMT Science Working Group (SWG), consisting of astronomers spanning a range of scientific expertise, drawn from US non-TMT partner institutions. The SWG is charged to engage with others in the astronomical community about US participation in TMT and to consider models for that participation and how it may shape TMT operations, instrumentation, data management, and other issues. The SWG will prepare a US TMT Participation Plan for the NSF, aiming for a first draft in FY15 and a final draft by the end of calendar year 2015.

Optical Interferometry Science

This program includes the general activities aimed at strengthening the engagement of the communi-ty with the host organizations of US optical interferometry facilities. The program includes seeking and supporting community access to private array facilities and consulting with private array owners on upgrades and other initiatives that can enhance the opportunities for community users. It also in-cludes organizing and participating in community activities that are supportive of array facility de-velopment and access, such as workshops and discussion sessions at broad-based and topical confer-ences.

Milestones

LSST Science

Create in Q1 of FY15 the foundational document set needed to form the Conceptual Design of the NOAO Data Lab: Science User Case, Science Requirements, Operations Concept, Opera-tions Requirements, System Architecture, and Project Execution Plan.

Hold a Conceptual Design Review of the NOAO Data Lab in Q2 of FY15 with a panel of exter-nal reviewers.


36

Develop prototype Data Lab capabilities during Q1–Q4 of FY15 using two community-led DECam observational programs: the SMASH (PI: D. Nidever) and Galactic Bulge (PI: A. Saha) surveys.

Create a prototype database in Q1 of FY15 of astronomical knowledge from multiwavelength catalogs for the Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System (ANTARES).

Develop software in Q2 of FY15 to generate variability probability distributions based on posi-tion on the sky.

Create initial tools in Q3 of FY15 for generating a synthetic alert stream.

Define the structure and algorithms for the first stage of alert filtering by the Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System (ANTARES) during Q3–Q4 of FY15.

Write and distribute in Q1 of FY15 the report from the “Observing Cadences with LSST” work-shop.

Hold a workshop in Q3 of FY15 on “Practical Big Data.”

Write and distribute in Q4 of FY15 the report from the “Practical Big Data” workshop.

TMT Community Outreach

Lead the activities of the US TMT Science Working Group (SWG). This consists of the TMT liaison maintaining and updating the SWG membership, helping to set its agenda, and organiz-ing monthly (or as needed) teleconferences and face-to-face meetings at the TMT Science Fo-rum and at other occasions as needed.

Direct the US TMT Science Working Group (SWG) in producing a draft of the US TMT Partic-ipation Plan for the NSF in Q2 of FY15.

Organize and attend (as chair) quarterly TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC) meetings, organize regular teleconferences of the TMT SAC co-chairs, participate (remotely, as SAC chair) in weekly TMT project meetings, and participate in weekly teleconferences with the TMT-NOAO community engagement group.

Participate in the organization of a TMT Town Hall event at the January 2015 American Astro-nomical Society (AAS) meeting and in the planning of a subsequent Town Hall in January 2016.

Participate in the organization of the third annual TMT Science Forum, nominally to be held sometime in the summer of 2015. Working with the TMT US Science Working Group (SWG), identify and encourage members of the US community to attend the Forum.

Optical Interferometry Science

Negotiate during Q2–Q3 of FY15 for community access in 2016 to the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) array and provide required support to community users of the 2015 CHARA time and the NOAO time allocation process throughout FY15.

NOAO DIVISIONS

37

Budget Summary

Work Packages

LSST Science Development This work package contains funds for community science development for LSST. Included are community outreach and organization, transient and variable science support, and contributions to the Data Lab project.

Optical Interferometry This work package includes the general activities to provide the NOAO community with interferom-etry access and workshops that are supportive of array facility development and access.

Science Research 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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to SCD.

Practical Big Data Workshop Funds for a community LSST science-related workshop, planned for 2015, are included here.

Data Lab Review Committee Funds are included here for a committee to serve on the Data Lab Conceptual Design Review.

TMT Community Engagement This work package provides support for the activities of the US TMT Liaison Office, including trav-el and workshop costs.

Table 11 Summary of NSSC System Community Development program budget

System Community Development

(SCD) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

LSST Science Development 2.05 353,249 15,500 368,749 - 368,749

Optical Interferometry 0.10 21,275 4,000 25,275 - 25,275


Practical Big Data Workshop - - 25,000 25,000 - 25,000

Data Lab Review Committee - - 7,000 7,000 - 7,000

TMT Community Engagement 0.20 29,710 - 29,710 - 29,710

Total 4.70 $808,469 $51,500 $859,969 - $859,969


System Community Development (SCD)



38

2.3.4 Time Allocation Committee

Program Overview

NOAO-managed, open-access observing time on federal and non-federal telescopes is allocated by NOAO through the time allocation process, referred to as Phase I. Proposals are solicited twice per year by NOAO through a “Call for Proposals” issued in early March and early September. The Sep-tember call covers observing time from February 1 to July 31 of the coming year; this period is called the “A semester.” The March call covers observing time from August 1 of that year to January 31 of the following year; this is called the “B semester”. All of the information needed to plan and propose for observing programs can be found easily on the NOAO web pages and in a self-contained, downloadable PDF file with active links to relevant websites and documents. NOAO manages the proposal submission process (both Web- and email-based) and keeps the information up to date based on evolving telescope-plus-instrument combinations that are available for public access during a given semester.

Submitted proposals are reviewed by a Time Allocation Committee (TAC), which is convened by NOAO and consists of seven science-based panels: three Extragalactic, three Galactic, and one Solar System. The TAC panels meet twice a year (usually in early May and at the end of October or early November), each time over a one-week period, to rank order the proposals. The rankings of each panel are merged and discussed by the Merging TAC, which provides final recommendations to the NOAO director. Once approved by the director, the ranked proposals are forwarded to the re-spective observatories for scheduling. The proposers are notified after the schedules have been final-ized. In addition to the regular A- and B-semester proposals noted above, NOAO also issues a Call for Survey Proposals approximately once every year and convenes a Survey panel to review these proposals. Currently, up to about 20% of the time on NOAO-managed telescopes can be allocated to Survey programs. NOAO negotiates a memorandum of understanding with the proposing teams of all Survey proposals granted time to ensure the timely completion of the project and the public avail-ability of data products or other community benefits.

Beginning with the Phase I process that commenced in March 2014, NOAO managed, on be-half of the Gemini Observatory, a Gemini Large Program TAC panel that reviewed proposals sub-mitted to Gemini for programs that were either for larger amounts of time than normally requested or spanned a longer length of time (up to six semesters). The Gemini partners of the US, Canada, Aus-tralia, and Argentina are participating in this new program, which is planned to continue in FY15. Each participating partner offers up to 20% of its Gemini telescope time to be placed in this large-program pool of time. The convened panel that reviews these proposals consists of six members from the US community, two from Canada, and one each from Australia and Argentina. This NOAO-managed committee sends a science-ranked list of proposals back to Gemini for possible scheduling.

NOAO staff who support the TAC program include a TAC manager, a Survey TAC chair (for both the NOAO Survey and the Gemini Large Program panels), a software support manager, and a TAC program coordinator.

Milestones

Work with SUS to issue calls for proposals for regular programs (twice a year) and survey pro-grams (once a year).

Coordinate with SUS and non-federal observatories to provide timely technical reviews of the proposals.

Convene Time Allocation Committee (TAC) panels twice a year to review the proposals and provide recommendations to the NOAO director.

NOAO DIVISIONS

39

Keep the membership of the TAC panels current and ensure that they include the expertise re-quired to review the scientific and technical aspects of the proposals.

Work with the federal and non-federal observatories to prioritize and schedule the approved pro-posals.

Ensure timely announcements of the results of the time allocation process.

If advised by the NOAO director, manage an NOAO Survey Call for Proposals and convene a Survey TAC during FY15.

Work with the Gemini Observatory to implement a Gemini Large Program international TAC panel that is managed by NOAO as part of the overall time allocation process.

Budget Summary

Work Packages

TAC This work package encompasses support of the NOAO time allocation process and TAC meetings. This includes salaries, travel, supplies, and required services to support the TAC meetings.

Science Research 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 proportionally for those staff members who charge functional time to TAC.

2.4 NOAO SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Toward NOAO-2016

TripleSpec4 is the last project remaining to be completed by the NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC). In accordance with the NOAO Transformation Plan, NSTC will be eliminated as a program within NOAO by the end of FY15, following the commissioning of TripleSpec4.

Program Overview

The NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC) is responsible for NOAO’s engagement in techno-logical enhancements to the US Ground-Based Optical/Infrared System (System). NSTC carries out

Table 12 Summary of NSSC Time Allocation Committee program budget

Time Allocation Committee (TAC) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

TAC 2.20 236,232 89,000 325,232 - 325,232


Total 2.80 $334,272 $89,000 $423,272 - $423,272


Time Allocation Committee (TAC)



40

technical activities needed to realize new telescope projects or to enhance the instrument comple-ments on existing System telescopes operated by NOAO or other entities. NSTC is supported through a combination of NOAO’s base budget and supplemental awards such as the Renewing Small Telescopes for Astronomical Research (ReSTAR) award from NSF.

During FY15, the NSTC program will focus on completing a new instrument for NOAO’s Blanco 4-m telescope at CTIO. This instrument, TripleSpec4, is the last of the remaining activities under the ReSTAR supplemental award (AST-0936648). Most of the work carried out in FY15 will be covered through NOAO’s base budget, but the subaward to NOAO’s partner in the TripleSpec4 project (Cornell University) is covered through the ReSTAR supplemental award. As in prior years, there is also a work package with significant support from outside sources, as noted below.

Milestones

Deliver the fully integrated detector-controller subsystems for TripleSpec4 to Cornell University for incorporation into the instrument during laboratory integration.

Receive the fully assembled and tested TripleSpec4 instrument at the Blanco 4-m telescope.

Complete commissioning of TripleSpec4 on the Blanco telescope and release the instrument for scientific use by the US astronomical community.

Provide oversight for two TSIP instrumentation projects still underway (Binospec: a multi-object, dual-beam spectrograph for MMT being built by the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard-Smithsonian; and KCWI: an optical integral field spectrograph for Keck) and ensure completion and close-out of both TSIP project subawards by the end of FY15.

Budget Summary

TripleSpec4 TripleSpec4 will be an efficient, moderate-resolution, near-infrared spectrograph for the Blanco 4-m telescope. It is being built in close partnership with the Department of Astronomy at Cornell Univer-sity, which has already built a version of this instrument that is deployed at the 200-inch Hale Tele-scope on Mount Palomar. TripleSpec4 was originally designed to be readily adaptable to different telescopes; one major goal of this version for the Blanco is to retain as much of the original design as possible to realize the maximum savings in cost and schedule. During FY14, NOAO completed the integration and performance optimization of the two IR detectors. Early in FY15, NOAO will deliver the detector-controller systems to Cornell for integration into the assembled instrument. After Cor-nell (with NOAO support) completes the laboratory integration and testing of TripleSpec4, NOAO will take possession of the instrument from Cornell and arrange for shipping from Cornell to Cerro Tololo. This work package covers the labor, incidental materials, travel, and shipping necessary to

Table 13 Summary of NSTC program budget

NOAO System Technology Center

(NSTC) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

TripleSpec4 1.30 152,845 63,500 216,345 - 216,345

Design & Analysis Group Contracts 1.10 168,365 10,000 178,365 178,365 -


Total 2.63 $350,830 $73,500 $424,330 $178,365 $245,965

NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC)


NOAO DIVISIONS

41

deliver the detector systems to Cornell and to ship the instrument to Cerro Tololo. The work package is supported entirely from the NOAO base budget; all NSF supplemental funds received under AST-0936648 to support Year 2 of the ReSTAR implementation were expended or encumbered in prior years on the partnership subaward with Cornell and on the purchase of the infrared detectors.

Design & Analysis Group Contracts This work package covers efforts of NSTC personnel on various small design or consulting projects being carried out with other observatories throughout the System. These projects include consulting with the National Solar Observatory on issues connected with DKIST (formerly ATST) development and providing design-consulting services for non-adaptive secondary mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope under development by the Korean Astronomical and Space Sciences Institute (KASI). In all cases, the projects were initiated by requests from PIs at the external institutions who wished to take advantage of some specialized expertise at NSTC in collaboration with their own staffs. In all cases, the work is fully paid for by the external institution at the NOAO-approved, fully burdened (where appropriate) labor rates.

The Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP) funded development of new instru-ments for, or operational costs of, non-federal observatories in return for US community access to observing time on those telescopes as administered by the NOAO TAC. No new funds for TSIP awards have been appropriated since FY11. All telescope time obtained through TSIP has been awarded in prior years by the NOAO TAC. Only two instrument projects remain outstanding: Binospec, which is a multi-object, dual-beam spectrograph for MMT being built by the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard-Smithsonian; and KCWI, which is an optical integral field spectrograph for Keck. Both projects are expected to be completed in FY15. A small amount of TSIP funding from prior years remains available to support the modest efforts associated with oversight of the remaining two subawards, so no new funds have been budgeted for this activity in FY15.

Science Research 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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to NSTC.


42

3 NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

3.1 OFFICE OF SCIENCE

Program Overview

Funds to support global science research are collected under the Office of Science (OS) program. This program includes funding for staff development and mentoring, colloquia, publication page charges, and Goldberg and other postdoctoral fellowships. Matters related to scientist promotion, tenure, and post-tenure remain the responsibility of the NOAO Director’s Office.

Each NOAO scientific staff member is allocated some fraction of time for research. That spe-cific time is budgeted under the Science Research work package within the home departments of those staff. Research support funds ($4000 for NOAO North scientific staff and $6000 for NOAO South scientific staff) are budgeted in the OS.

Toward NOAO-2016

For FY16 and beyond, the Office of Science will be eliminated. Funding for activities such as the joint NOAO/Steward Observatory colloquia series in Arizona, the joint AURA colloquia series in Chile, publication page charges, and internal research support grants will be administered from the NOAO Director’s Office in Arizona or the Associate Director for NOAO South office in Chile as needed and appropriate. Per AURA policy, matters related to scientist promotion, tenure, and post-tenure will remain the responsibility of the NOAO Director’s Office. Once the incumbent Goldberg Fellow completes her appointment, the NOAO Goldberg Fellowship program will be suspended in-definitely due to reduced base funding. As the number of NOAO scientists grows smaller due to at-trition and retirement over the next five years, funding for this activity will decrease accordingly.

Milestones

This activity has no programmatic milestones beyond standard administrative tasks (e.g., expenditure monitoring and reporting).

NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

43

Budget Summary

Work Packages

Office of Science (North/South) Programs designed to improve the scientific environment (such as in-house career development ac-tivities) are included in this work package. Support is provided for NOAO South personnel to main-tain various Office of Science activities there.

Scientific Staff Support (North/South) These work packages cover the cost of administering the scientific staff support. They contain the non-payroll funds needed to pay page charges for NOAO scientific staff and to provide the basic office supplies needed for research. Funds are included to support visitors to NOAO.

Office of Science Program Head This work package supports the scientific staff member serving as the head of the program to over-see the activities of the OS, the travel and supplies needed to fulfill that role, and associated adminis-trative support.

Goldberg Fellow This work package includes salary and research support for Goldberg Fellows.

Colloquium Support (North/South) This package includes expenses for NOAO North and South to support colloquia at each site.

Science Research (North/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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to OS.

Table 14 Summary of Office of Science program budget

Office of Science (OS) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Office of Science (North) 0.25 15,823 6,000 21,823 - 21,823

Office of Science (South) 0.25 19,862 - 19,862 - 19,862

Scientific Staff Support (North) 0.50 31,646 37,000 68,646 - 68,646

Scientific Staff Support (South) 0.50 19,841 44,000 63,841 - 63,841

Office of Science Program Head 0.65 103,783 4,000 107,783 - 107,783

Goldberg Fellow 1.00 80,511 10,000 90,511 - 90,511

Colloquium Support (North) 0.10 6,329 11,000 17,329 - 17,329

Colloquium Support (South) 0.15 14,112 8,000 22,112 - 22,112

Science Research (North) 0.50 94,289 - 94,289 - 94,289

Science Research (South) 0.10 22,070 - 22,070 - 22,070

Science Program Research - North - - 142,000 142,000 - 142,000

Science Program Research - South - - 78,000 78,000 - 78,000

Grant-Supported Research Staff 6.83 616,775 10,000 626,775 626,775 -

Total 10.83 $1,025,041 $350,000 $1,375,041 $626,775 $748,266

Office of Science (OS)



44

Science Program Research (North/South) This work package includes the individual research support funds allocated to each NOAO scientific staff member. For FY15, full-time astronomer-track and scientist-track staff at NOAO North are al-located $4000 per person. Those at NOAO South are allocated $6000 per person; the larger alloca-tion covers the additional cost of travel from Chile. Goldberg Fellows are allocated $10,000 each year.

Grant-Supported Research Staff This work package includes the salary support for postdocs and other scientific staff who are fully or partially funded through various grants. This also includes grant-funded data aides.

3.2 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

Program Overview

The FY15 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 the field. The EPO group’s innovative, effective, and well-evaluated programs address the needs of the next generation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals (includ-ing professional astronomers) as well as undergraduate STEM students, science outreach practition-ers, 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” to guide and inform the development of the programs used to achieve high-level deliverables. Our overall approach to these deliverables is congruent with the goals of that plan.

The NOAO 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 observational astronomy, technology, and astronomical data, including surveys and large data sets. The NOAO EPO staff has expertise in key astronomy education areas such as instructional materials development, teacher professional de-velopment, optics and technology education, data-enabled science education, science education in informal environments, and science identity formation in girls. NOAO contributes to critical national efforts to improve science literacy. The NOAO EPO programs use astronomy and related disciplines such as optics in order to encourage children to pursue science, math, computing, engineering, and other technological careers.

The EPO program serves as a national model for best practices by federally funded research and development centers in the following areas specifically required under America Competes: de-velopment of a globally competitive STEM workforce, increased participation of women and un-derrepresented groups in STEM, improved pre-K-12 STEM education and teacher development, im-proved undergraduate STEM education, and increased public scientific literacy. EPO staff members have played national and international leadership roles in many NSF-funded education and outreach projects, and the dissemination and the application of the intellectual products from those programs continues to shape and form core parts of the NOAO EPO program.

EPO provides programs for the Tohono O’odham Nation on whose property Kitt Peak Na-tional Observatory is located. Centro de Apoyo a la Didáctica de la Astronomía (CADIAS), the as-tronomy teaching center in Chile, plays a strong outreach role in Region IV. It has a strong dark skies education program for the IV Región de Coquimbo in Chile and a program to train guides and educators in the municipal and tourist observatories in Chilean towns around NOAO facilities. Some programs of the NOAO EPO North group focus on the large Hispanic and Native American popula-tions in Arizona, while some programs of the NOAO EPO South group focus on young women and

NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

45

other underrepresented groups in science in northern Chile. NOAO North and South EPO programs place an additional emphasis on rural populations.

EPO has a nationally recognized undergraduate mentoring program that uses six to eight un-dergraduate students year-round to conduct educational outreach in southern Arizona. The under-graduates are trained in general outreach and on specific programs. While graduates of this pro-gram 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 O/IR system of telescopes in the US.

Toward NOAO-2016

Relative to FY15, the public outreach component of EPO (e.g., Web design, graphic design, NOAO Newsletter production) will remain roughly level-of-effort for FY16 and beyond. However, funding for the education component will decline roughly proportionally with the overall decline in NOAO base funding. A rich set of high-quality education programs still will be executed in Arizona and Chile, but the set will not be as rich or diverse as it is presently. The exact set for FY16 will be de-termined during FY15 and will depend somewhat on pending grant proposals at the state and federal level. Note that the future of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs at Kitt Peak and NOAO South is uncertain given the overall impact of reduced funding and the evolving science program. The fate of the NOAO REU programs will be determined during FY15.

Milestones

Support the strategic plan for NOAO South outreach and the Centro de Apoyo a la Didáctica de la Astronomía (CADIAS) astronomy teaching center in Chile. This includes programs involving dark skies education and teaching with Galileoscopes.

Execute a wide-ranging, dark skies awareness program for Chile and Arizona, including the na-tional/international citizen science program, Globe at Night, started and run by NOAO.

Work with the Tohono O’odham Nation to support an astronomy program at the Tohono O’odham Community College and to support a science fair program in the Tohono O’odham high schools.

Support the Teaching with Telescopes program in Arizona and Chile with teacher professional development on telescope and optics concepts, making use of Galileoscopes. Support to the ex-tent possible the current Galileoscope star party programs in Arizona cities. Maintain the nation-al Teaching with Telescopes teacher support website.

Conduct professional development workshops and programs for formal and informal science educators in coordination with professional organizations such as the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the American Astronomical Society (AAS), the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), and the American Geophysical Union.

Support the training of guides and provide support for astronomy programs for the public at the major municipal and touristic observatories in northern Chile.


46

Support dark skies education programs in northern Chile with education partners such as the El Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA).

Maintain an active southern Arizona Project ASTRO teacher/scientist partnership program with professional development activities held at least twice a year.

Design and deliver (with grant partners) a successful two-week Colors of Nature summer acad-emy for middle-school girls during the summer of 2015 in Tucson, Arizona and Fairbanks, Alaska.

Budget Summary

Work Packages

Photo Imaging This work package provides salary and equipment support for the NOAO Photo Imaging Lab. This operation furnishes high-quality graphics and image production services to all NOAO North and NSO Tucson 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.

Newsletter This work package supports the production and distribution of the NOAO Newsletter, including full in-house editorial production and graphic design.

Table 15 Summary of Education and Public Outreach program budget

Education and Public Outreach (EPO) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Photo Imaging 0.85 63,935 8,000 71,935 23,000 48,935

Newsletter 0.30 29,247 23,000 52,247 - 52,247

Public Information/Web Site 1.60 134,643 - 134,643 - 134,643

Educational Outreach 2.65 199,822 42,000 241,822 69,664 172,158

Teaching with Telescopes 0.25 32,880 4,900 37,780 - 37,780

REU North Director's Support 0.40 52,013 1,500 53,513 - 53,513

CTIO Outreach 2.35 126,978 53,210 180,188 - 180,188

Dark Skies Education 1.45 73,542 10,500 84,042 - 84,042


Project ASTRO 0.20 17,328 3,700 21,028 - 21,028

Tohono O'odham Outreach 0.45 44,954 5,700 50,654 - 50,654

Conferences & Meetings - - 11,000 11,000 - 11,000

Colors of Nature Grant 0.30 33,472 - 33,472 33,472 -

Total 11.40 $888,672 $163,510 $1,052,182 $126,136 $926,046

Education and Public Outreach (EPO)


NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

47

Public Information/Web Site This work package covers partial payroll costs of the EPO public affairs program coordinator, Web-master, and public and deputy information officers. It also covers the costs of the NOAO website, requests for use of NOAO imagery, maintenance and growth of the popular NOAO Image Gallery, and responses to public inquiries. This work package serves as the coordination point with similar offices at other observatories and AURA Centers. Time spent by EPO staff on high-priority NOAO organizational items such as the electronic newsletter Currents and the public Web pages also is re-flected in this work package.

Educational Outreach These funds provide staff and the support needed 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 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 the Univer-sity of Arizona’s Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement program). Funds for new bro-chures, posters, and handout materials needed for those projects are included here. This work package also includes partial support for the Undergraduate Mentoring and Outreach program.

Teaching with Telescopes This work package provides support for teaching optics using the Hands-On Optics (HOO) and Teaching with Telescopes curricular materials. This effective and innovative program builds on a partnership with the Optical Society of America, SPIE (the international society for optical engineering), the ASP, and the AAS. It is targeted primarily at reaching underrepresented-in-science minority students nationwide in after-school science programs and at informal science centers. NOAO is the primary developer of the HOO modules and Teaching with Telescopes teaching kit.

REU North Director’s Support This work package provides support for the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site director for KPNO. EPO covers 0.35 FTE of salary cost of the KPNO REU site di-rector. Other costs for supporting the six KPNO REU students, such as their 10- to 12-week res-idence and subsequent trip to the January AAS meeting, are grant-funded.

CTIO Outreach This work package includes the cost of CTIO EPO staff to conduct outreach and includes the man-agement of the Centro de Apoyo a la Didáctica de la Astronomía (CADIAS), a community astrono-my teaching center outside of La Serena, which includes an Internet-connected public library. CADIAS has proven to be a highly productive, small, astronomy education center. The work pack-age provides 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 of the small tourist observatories built by municipalities near La Serena to attract local tourists, and miscellane-ous non-payroll support for outreach by CTIO staff.

Dark Skies Education Dark Skies Education incorporates the Globe at Night program and includes increased efforts to protect observatory sites at both NOAO North and South. This work package includes support for regional distribution of the very successful Dark Skies Teaching Kit developed during the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and for training of teacher and museum dark sky teaching


48

ambassadors. The program works with the Cooper Environmental Center in Tucson and a num-ber of nature centers in Chile as well as schools in both countries.

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 department is EPO.

Project ASTRO This is the very successful and nationally recognized Arizona implementation of an ASP-started program 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.

Tohono O’odham Outreach This work package builds on NOAO’s expanding relationship with the Tohono O’odham Nation through support of a variety of formal and informal education programs on the Nation. Exam-ples include programs at community and recreation centers and schools, the Tohono O’odham Community College, star parties, and professional development workshops for teachers. This work package also supports all NOAO Tohono O’odham education efforts conducted on Kitt Peak.

Conferences & Meetings Primary support of the twice yearly AAS meetings to pay for booth space, Internet service, ex-hibit space resources, relevant print jobs for handouts and exhibit production, and shipping costs is included in this work package.

Colors of Nature This work package supports NOAO’s role in the NSF Division of Research on Learning in For-mal and Informal Settings (DRL) funded project “Collaborative Research: Project STEAM: In-tegrating Art with Science to Build Science Identities Among Girls.” (Award Number 1224020). Centered on the theme, “Colors of Nature,” Project STEAM engages girls in science activities designed to enhance STEM learning and visual-spatial skills. The project is designed to increase STEM learning and interest through art, build capacity through professional development, ad-vance the research base on girls’ science identities, and inspire and interest girls in STEM ca-reers.

3.3 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 Annual Program Plan and the Long-Range Plan. NDO is also responsible for NOAO-wide programs such as broadening participation, the Users Commit-tee, and the EPO Advisory Committee.

The NDO is led by the NOAO director and deputy director and supported by one dedicated, full-time administrative assistant. Part-time support from several Tucson-based administrative as-

NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

49

sistants is provided as needed for specific tasks (e.g., report generation and submission). When appropriate, various NOAO scientists are assigned part-time to the NDO to execute specific func-tions (e.g., diversity advocates).

Toward NOAO-2016

For the most part, the NDO program will remain the same in FY16 and beyond. As needed, it will absorb remnant tasks from the to-be-eliminated Office of Science, as discussed in section 3.1.

Milestones

Observatory Management

Develop an annual program plan for FY16, to be delivered during the first quarter of FY16.

Deliver scientific quarterly and annual progress reports as required by NSF under the terms of its cooperative agreement with AURA for the management and operations of NOAO.

Participate as required by AURA in reviews by NSF and other federal agencies of AURA activi-ties.

Participate as required by NSF, DOE, and other federal agencies in planning and reporting meet-ings (e.g., the semi-annual NSF Program Review Panel meeting).

Inform all current employees by the end of Q1 of FY15 of their planned FY16 employment sta-tus, with specific attention to employees who will separate from NOAO by the end of FY15 due to NOAO restructuring.

Organize and complete the annual EPO Advisory Committee meeting by the end of Q1 of FY15.

Organize and complete the annual NOAO Users Committee meeting by the end of Q3 of FY15.

Complete the transformation of NOAO to its FY16 structure and program by the end of FY15.

Diversity Program

Maintain through the diversity advocate a national presence on issues related to diversity and use this information and recognized best practices to inform diversity activities at NOAO.

Continue the diversity advocate’s work with the AURA HR group, as appropriate, to insure that procedures and practices in hiring, promotion, tenure, workplace climate, etc. are aligned with diversity best practices.

Continue as needed the diversity advocate’s work to address, advocate for, and inform NOAO staff and management of concerns related to diversity.

Continue, in coordination with AURA, to work on broadening participation in the NSF science enterprise by engaging individuals, institutions, and geographical areas “...that do not participate in NSF research programs at rates comparable to others.” (Quote from the Executive Summary of Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action, Au-gust 2008).


50

Budget Summary

Work Packages

NOAO 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. This office consists of the director, deputy di-rector, and NDO administrative assistant. Several other people provide part-time support for specific functions, e.g., production of reports required by NSF. This work package includes a portion of the overhead for NOAO management of grant recipients.

Broadening Participation Program This program has three key focal points: (1) workplace climate improvement for Center staff with a focus on women and underrepresented groups, (2) recruitment and retention of underrepresented individuals for the NOAO workforce, and (3) support of underrepresented individuals throughout the STEM educational pipeline. Although NOAO cannot solve the entire pipeline problem, from partici-pation in undergraduate research to providing postdoctoral fellowships, it can reinforce efforts to improve it. Activities occur at the NOAO and AURA level. One NOAO scientist staffs 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.

Table 16 Summary of NOAO Director’s Office program budget

Table 17 Summary of NOAO Director’s Reserve program budget

NOAO Director's Reserve FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

Director's Reserve - - 1,604,300 1,604,300 - 1,604,300

Total - - $1,604,300 $1,604,300 - $1,604,300

NOAO Director's Reserve


NOAO Director's Office (NDO) FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NOAO Director's Office 3.55 589,202 62,500 651,702 425,000 226,702

Broadening Participation Program 0.24 26,349 3,000 29,349 - 29,349

AURA Discretionary Fund - - 24,500 24,500 24,500 -

Tucson Library 1.00 38,372 105,000 143,372 60,000 83,372


NOAO Users Committee - - 6,000 6,000 - 6,000

NOAO EPO Advisory Committee - - 6,000 6,000 - 6,000

Total 5.05 $713,632 $207,000 $920,632 $509,500 $411,132

NOAO Director's Office (NDO)


NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

51

AURA Discretionary Fund Included here is a small fund provided to the NOAO director by AURA Corporate.

Tucson Library This work package covers funding for the Tucson library (librarians, acquisitions, periodicals, and one conference trip). Also included are the indirect revenue contributions from NSO for operation of the library.

Science Research 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 pro-portionally for those staff members who charge functional time to NDO.

NOAO Users Committee Funding for an annual Users Committee meeting (mainly committee member travel support) is in-cluded in this work package.

NOAO EPO Advisory Committee Funding for an annual EPO Advisory Committee meeting (mainly committee member travel sup-port) is included in this work package.

Director’s Reserve The Director’s Reserve contains all unallocated FY15 base funds. Per NSF directive, a large reserve has been created for FY15 to allow for unanticipated transformation expenses. As time and funding permit and NSF approves, NOAO anticipates using this reserve for infrastructure renovation and renewal in both Arizona and Chile, with a specific focus on mountaintop infrastructure.

3.4 RISK MANAGEMENT

Program Overview

NOAO must manage risk in three general categories: enterprise, programmatic, and safety. The last category is more generally known as environmental, safety and health (ES&H).

NOAO, through its management company AURA, must operate within an ever-evolving regu-latory framework promulgated by local, state, and federal agencies in the USA and Chile. Risk is created by uncertainty in how that framework will evolve and how AURA/NOAO will have to change internal processes to remain compliant in the face of such evolution. Responsibility for regu-latory risk management is held on behalf of NOAO by AURA.

Three main forces affect NOAO’s programmatic risk. The primary driver is uncertainty in ac-tual versus planned federal funding allocations. The next most important driver is the inherent uncer-tainty in program and project planning, especially when working within collaborations where NOAO cannot directly control the deliverables. Federal funding risk is mitigated through active management of expenditures and cash reserves as well as termination of activities (and sometimes personnel) when actual federal funding is lower than planned. Program and project planning risk is mitigated by the inclusion of appropriate schedule and budget contingencies during the planning stages. However, project-level responsibility is delegated to individual senior managers as much as possible. A signifi-cant risk is affected by the fluctuation of the exchange rate between the Chilean peso and US dollar. That fluctuation may be greater that 10% during a time scale of months. NOAO manages the risk by conservatively forecasting the exchange rate used in the annual budget planning cycle. The NOAO Director’s Office retains overall responsibility for managing programmatic risk.


52

Safety (ES&H) risk is inherent in any real-world environment where people and organizations interact with themselves, external groups, and the environment. Such risk often exhibits itself as pre-ventable accidents that can harm employees, equipment, or property. Day-to-day responsibility for ES&H risk management is delegated to the associate directors for KPNO and NOAO South, with both programs having a safety officer. Both of those associate directors and their respective safety officers provide ES&H process development and oversight for all activity on their mountain and base facility sites. Once per quarter, the NOAO director and deputy director meet with those two associate directors and their safety officers to review and discuss outstanding issues. NOAO reports regularly on ES&H activities in reports to the NSF. The NOAO Director’s Office retains overall re-sponsibility for managing ES&H risk.

Milestones

Revise as necessary internal NOAO practices to comply with AURA-level revisions resulting from AURA’s FY15 review and revision of its overall risk management strategy.

Complete quarterly environmental, safety and health (ES&H) meetings.

Complete annual safety reviews, using teams of external environmental, safety and health (ES&H) experts, at the Blanco, Mayall, SOAR, and WIYN facilities. Each review shall involve on-site walk-throughs as well as evaluation of documentation.

Review and update as necessary the NOAO Safety website (ast.noao.edu/safety) before mid year.

Review and update as necessary the NOAO Emergency Contingency Plans for Arizona and Chile before mid year.

Budget Summary

The NOAO risk management activity is budgeted within the NOAO South Director’s Office (Table 3), KPNO Director’s Office (Table 5), and NOAO Director’s Office (Table 16) work packages.

Work Packages

NOAO risk management activity is planned for and executed within the NOAO South Director’s Office (page 13), KPNO Director’s Office (page 18), and NOAO Director’s Office (page 50) work packages.

3.5 AURA FEES AND SERVICES

Program Overview

This program captures costs incurred by NOAO when it uses centralized services from AURA for NOAO-wide human resources, accounting/financial management, procurement, payroll, and logis-tics. It also includes the AURA facilities and administrative (F&A) fee for new funds and carry-forward of unexpended funds from prior fiscal years.

Toward NOAO-2016

The rates defined in work packages below will be recalculated by AURA for NSF review and ap-proval on an annual basis.

http://ast.noao.edu/safety

NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

53

Milestones

This activity has no programmatic milestones.

Budget Summary

Work Packages

AURA Management Fee As specified in the cooperative agreement between NSF and AURA for the management and opera-tions of NOAO, AURA collects an annual management fee.

AURA Corporate F&A AURA charges an NSF-reviewed and approved facilities and administrative (F&A) fee for its corpo-rate operations. For FY15, the AURA F&A rate has been set to 2.42% on the planned NOAO base funding reduced by the AURA annual management fee ($25.5M – $0.15M). The actual FY15 fee will be based on the actual FY15 base funding.

AURA CAS AURA charges an NSF reviewed and approved fee for the centralized AURA business services used by NOAO (e.g., contracts, procurement, property management, etc.). For FY15, the AURA CAS rate has been set to 4.04% on $27.5M, i.e., the planned NOAO FY15 base funding ($25.5M) plus the predicted FY14 carry-forward ($2M). The actual FY15 fee will be based on the actual FY15 base funding and FY14 carry-forward.

AURA HR AURA charges an NSF-reviewed and approved fee for the centralized AURA human resources (HR) services used by NOAO. For FY15, the AURA HR rate has been set to 2.71% on predicted modified payroll of $13.5M. The modified payroll is the total salary of all NOAO staff (i.e., not including benefits). This work package also includes a direct charge ($100K) for an NOAO-specific site li-cense for the UltiPro software package used by AURA HR.

AURA Observatory Council The AURA Observatory Council (OC) meets twice a year to provide financial and programmatic oversight of NOAO on behalf of the AURA Board. Funding for those two meetings (mainly commit-tee member travel support) is included in this work package.

Table 18 Summary of AURA Fees and Services program budget

AURA Fees and Services FTE

Budget,

Labor

Budget,

Non-Labor

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

AURA Management Fee - - 150,000 150,000 - 150,000

AURA Corporate F&A - - 613,470 613,470 - 613,470

AURA CAS - - 1,114,515 1,114,515 - 1,114,515

AURA HR - - 465,742 465,742 - 465,742

AURA Observatory Council - - 55,000 55,000 - 55,000

Total - - $2,398,727 $2,398,727 - $2,398,727

AURA Fees and Services



54

4 FY15 BUDGET SUMMARY

4.1 SUMMARY OF FY15 EXPENDITURES

The FY15 NOAO spend plan is summarized in Table 19 and illustrated in the following three pie charts. The first and second pie charts show the breakdown by program of the NSF base and total funding (respectively) in terms of percentages.

Spend plan as a percent-age of NSF base funding by program.

Spend plan as a percent-age of total funding by program.

NOAO South (NS), 33%

NOAO North (NN), 26%

NOAO System Science Center

(NSSC), 17%


(NSTC), 1%

Office of Science (OS), 3%

Education and Public Outreach

(EPO), 4%

NOAO Director's Office (NDO), 2%

Reserve, 6%

AURA Services & Fees, 9%

FY 2015 NSF Base Funding

NOAO South (NS), 37%

NOAO North (NN), 29%


(NSSC), 12%


(NSTC), 1%

Office of Science (OS), 4%


(EPO), 3%

NOAO Director's Office (NDO), 3%

Reserve, 5%AURA Services &

Fees, 7%

FY 2015 Total Funding

FY15 BUDGET SUMMARY

55

The third pie chart (below) illustrates the percentage breakdown of the total funding by ex-pense category.

Table 19 and its key summarize the NOAO FY15 budget allocation. The table rolls up the in-

dividual budget tables provided in the previous sections for each program.

Table 19 NOAO FY15 Budget Allocation Summary Rollup

(Table 19 is continued on the next page.)

Spend plan as a percent-age of total funding by expense category.

Services, 21%

Subawards, 3%

Supplies & Materials, 8%

Travel - Foreign, 1%

Travel - Domestic, 1%

Capital Purchases, 1%

Payroll, 65%

FY 2015 Total Funding by Category

NOAO DIVISION FTE

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base

NOAO South (NS)

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 47.80 6,399,863 878,113 5,521,750

NS Engineering & Technical Services 11.75 1,585,730 318,967 1,266,763

NS Facilities Operations 40.15 3,678,375 2,622,768 1,055,607

NS Computer Infrastructure Services 6.80 1,197,806 687,031 510,775

NS Subtotal 106.50 $12,861,774 $4,506,879 $8,354,895

NOAO North (NN)

Kitt Peak National Observatory 57.16 5,598,351 2,365,593 3,232,758

NN Engineering & Technical Services 18.34 2,390,055 61,520 2,328,535

NN Central Facilities Operations 9.01 1,581,619 1,081,620 499,999

NN Computer Infrastructure Services 5.40 664,000 170,000 494,000

NN Subtotal 89.91 $10,234,025 $3,678,733 $6,555,292

Rollup Table

FY 2015 NOAO Budget Allocation Summary


56

Table 19 continued

Key to Table 19 NOAO FY15 Budget Allocation Summary Rollup

NOAO South (NS) This NOAO division focuses on the administration, facilities, and IT support services for NOAO activities based in La Serena, Chile.

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

This work package includes the operational and mountain facilities support costs for CTIO. It does not include NOAO-wide administrative costs.

NS Engineering & Tech-nical Services

This work package includes design, fabrication, installation, and operations support for the telescopes and instrumentation on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón.

NS Facilities Operations This work package contains the shared costs of operations of all of the AURA La Serena facilities, which includes the warehouse, shipping/receiving, inventory control, security, water and sewer facilities, garage and transport, the La Serena motel, general mainte-nance, and janitorial services. It also contains the shared costs of operations of all AURA mountaintop facilities on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, which include road mainte-nance, power line maintenance, water system maintenance, emergency medical services, communication and telephone system maintenance, kitchen operations, and dormitory operations. All activities related to the management of general NOAO activities in La Serena are contained in this work package, including the office of the NOAO Associate Director for NOAO South.

NS Computer Infrastruc-ture Services

This work package includes computer system support for NOAO South including net-work maintenance and software support. It also includes system security and access.

NOAO North (NN) This NOAO division focuses on the administration, facilities, and IT support services for NOAO activities based in southern Arizona.

Kitt Peak National Ob-servatory

This work package contains the operational and mountain support costs for KPNO, which include personnel, travel, miscellaneous equipment, tenant support, Site Director’s office, user support, NSO support, instrumentation and modernization upgrades, and other mountain facilities costs. Also included are costs of telescope operation and maintenance and partnerships. It does not include NOAO-wide administrative costs. Activities of the office of the NOAO Associate Director for KPNO are located here.

NN Engineering & Tech-nical Services

This work package includes design, fabrication, installation, and operations support for the telescopes and instrumentation on Kitt Peak.

NOAO DIVISION FTE

Budget,

Total

Funding,

Other

Funding,

NSF Base


System User Support 6.20 933,000 - 933,000

Science Data Management 13.50 2,059,136 20,000 2,039,136

System Community Development 4.70 859,969 - 859,969

Time Allocation Committee 2.80 423,272 - 423,272

NSSC Subtotal 27.20 $4,275,377 $20,000 $4,255,377

NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC) 2.63 $424,330 $178,365 $245,965

Office of Science (OS) 10.83 $1,375,041 $626,775 $748,266

Education and Public Outreach (EPO) 11.40 $1,052,182 $126,136 $926,046

NOAO Director's Office (NDO) 5.05 $920,632 $509,500 $411,132

NOAO Director's Reserve - $1,604,300 - $1,604,300

AURA Services & Fees - $2,398,727 - $2,398,727

FY 2015 TOTAL 253.52 $35,146,388 $9,646,388 $25,500,000

Rollup Table

FY 2015 NOAO Budget Allocation Summary (Continued)

FY15 BUDGET SUMMARY

57

Key to Table 19 NOAO FY15 Budget Allocation Summary Rollup NN Central Facilities Operations

This work package includes the NOAO North facilities operation costs of non-mountaintop building maintenance, roads and grounds, utilities, vehicles, and the com-puter network in Tucson.

NN Computer Infrastruc-ture Services

Contained in this work package is computer system support for NOAO North, NSO, SOAR, and WIYN including network maintenance and software support. It also includes system security and access.

NOAO System Science

Center (NSSC)

This NOAO division is a combination of the Science Data Management, System User Support, System Community Development, and Time Allocation Committee programs. It includes personnel, travel, support, and equipment for NSSC to provide the US commu-nity with access to and user support for the two Gemini telescopes. Support is provided for in NOAO North and South. Science research time for scientific staff with NSSC functional responsibilities and support for NSSC postdocs are included also.

System User Support This work package contains management of US community access to Gemini and other System telescopes, including periodic meetings of NOAO user constituencies, other in-formational workshops and committees, and the annual meeting of the survey teams. It also includes user support for observing proposal preparation and submission for all Sys-tem facilities, post-observing data processing, and support for the office of the Associate Director for NSSC.

Science Data Manage-ment

This work package contains the planning and management of SDM North and South, development and operation of the NOAO Data Management System, user support, and data management for other initiatives.

System Community De-velopment

This work package focuses on connecting the US community-at-large with the new sci-ence capabilities under development such as LSST, GMT, TMT, LCOGTN, and various emerging facilities for optical interferometry.

Time Allocation Com-mittee

This work package covers support of the NOAO time allocation process and TAC meet-ings, including salaries, travel, supplies, and services to support the TAC meetings.

NOAO System Tech-

nology Center (NSTC)

This NOAO division is responsible for coordinating technological enhancements to the US Ground-Based O/IR Observing System. This work package contains the operations and management of the instrumentation program supporting NOAO, the System, and the community. It also includes MONSOON and other instrumentation support.

Office of Science (OS) This work-package contains support to science staff, including administrative support, colloquia, travel, page charges, and conferences/workshops. It includes salary support for fellowships and science staff on sabbatical or directly supporting the OS activity.

Education and Public

Outreach (EPO)

This work package contains the NOAO North and South education and public outreach programs, REU programs, public affairs, and graphic arts.

NOAO Director’s Of-

fice (NDO)

This work package focuses on the activities of the NOAO director, deputy director, ad-ministrative support staff, and library. It covers support for the Users Committee and EPO Advisory Committee.

NOAO Director’s Re-

serve

This work package includes unallocated FY15 base funds combined with all unexpended or uncommitted FY14 base funds. This reserve will be used for unpredictable spending needs, such as major changes in the US dollar to Chilean peso exchange rate or unex-pected maintenance needs that require immediate response.

AURA Services & Fees This includes the cost of purchasing services from AURA for NOAO-wide human re-sources, accounting/financial management, procurement, payroll, and logistics. It also includes the AURA Facilities & Administration fee for new funds and carry-forward from unexpended FY14 funds. The AURA management fee for FY15 is 2.42 percent.

FY 2015 Total This total includes the full costs of NOAO programs.


58

4.2 SOURCES OF FY15 REVENUE

The following Table 20 and its key summarize the other revenue—non-NSF base funding—received for each program. Table 20 NOAO FY15 Other Revenue Summary Rollup

(Table 20 is continued on the next page.)

NOAO DIVISION

FY 2015 Other

Revenue

NOAO South (NS)

CTIO Indirects & Miscellaneous Revenue 5,000

CTIO SOAR Labor Recharge & Indirects 251,335

CTIO SMARTS Payroll & Direct Support 522,341

CTIO SMARTS Labor Recharge & Indirects 54,437

NS ETS General Operations 75,756

NS ETS SOAR Projects Labor Recharge & Indirects 204,276

NS ETS External Project Support 38,935

NS La Serena Facilities Support to Gemini, SOAR, & AURA-O 970,068

NS Mountain Facilities Support to Gemini, SOAR, & AURA-O 1,643,200

NS Gemini Library Support 5,000

NS REU & PIA Support 4,500

NS Computer Network Support to AURA Centers, Las Campanas,

ALMA, & Tenants 687,031

NS La Serena School for Data Science 45,000

NS Subtotal $4,506,879

NOAO North (NN)

KPNO DS3 Link 80,000

KPNO Meal & Dormitory Revenue 310,000

KPNO KPVC Sales Revenue & Memberships 846,600

KPNO Joint Use Fee 249,384

KPNO Misc Facilities Use Fees 30,000

KPNO WIYN Operational Support 849,609

NN ETS Instrument Shop Support for NSO, DKIST, WIYN, & Grants 61,520

NN CFO Support to NSO, WIYN, LSSTC, & Other Indirect Cost Revenue 694,000

NN CFO Facilities Use Fees 387,620

NN CIS Support for NSO 170,000

NN Subtotal $3,678,733


Science Data Management HST Grant $20,000

NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC)

System Instrumentation Design & Analysis Contracts $178,365

Office of Science (OS)

Grant-Supported Staff Costs $626,775

FY 2015 NOAO Other Revenue Summary

FY15 BUDGET SUMMARY

59

Table 20 continued

Key to Table 20 NOAO FY15 Other Revenue Summary Rollup

NOAO South (NS) NOAO Division

CTIO Indirects & Miscellaneous Revenue

Revenue from small projects for Gemini and other external entities and gen-eral indirect cost recovery.

CTIO SOAR Labor Recharge & Indirects

General indirect cost recovery from SOAR operational support.

CTIO SMARTS Payroll & Direct Support

Revenue from the SMARTS Consortium for operational labor and miscella-neous support.

CTIO SMARTS Labor Recharge & Indirects

General indirect cost recovery from SMARTS operational support.

NS ETS General Operations This includes labor burden (administrative overhead) and labor recharge to recover benefits for NS ETS staff working on SOAR projects.

NS ETS SOAR Projects Labor Re-charge & Indirects

Revenue for direct labor charges for effort provided by NS ETS staff for SOAR project support.

NS ETS External Project Support Revenue for direct labor charges for effort provided by NS ETS staff for external project support.

NS La Serena Facilities Support to Gemini, SOAR, & AURA-O

Revenue from providing facilities services to the tenants.

NS Mountain Facilities Support to Gemini, SOAR, & AURA-O

Revenue for support of mountain operations from Gemini, SOAR, AURA-O, and other tenants on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón.

NS Gemini Library Support Contributions from Gemini for support of the La Serena Library.

NS REU & PIA Support Grant revenue.

NS Computer Network Support to AURA Centers, Las Campanas, ALMA, & Tenants

NOAO support revenue from the users.

NOAO DIVISION

FY 2015 Other

Revenue

Education & Public Outreach (EPO)

Photo Imaging Support to NSO 23,000

Outreach Support to NSO 69,664

Colors of Nature Grant 33,472

EPO Subtotal $126,136

NOAO Director's Office (NDO)

Grant Indirect Revenue 425,000

NSO Support for Tucson Library 60,000

AURA DDF 24,500

NDO Subtotal $509,500

FY 2015 TOTAL $9,646,388

FY 2015 NOAO Other Revenue Summary (Continued)


60


La Serena School for Data Science NSF supplementary funding to carry out a three-year program to educate undergraduate students on big data science applications and methodologies. The program consists of an annual meeting/workshop/lecture series in La Serena. The funds support the students’ travel and meeting expenses.

NOAO North (NN) NOAO Division

KPNO DS3 Link Revenue from tenants for maintenance and support.

KPNO Meal & Dormitory Revenue Revenue from nighttime programs, meals sold, and dormitory rental on Kitt Peak.

KPNO KPVC Sales Revenue & Memberships

Revenue from Visitor Center, sales, night observing programs, etc. and the Friends of Kitt Peak program.

KPNO Joint Use Fee Annual fee charged to all tenants on KP for joint support services provided.

KPNO Misc Facilities Use Fees Miscellaneous revenue from use of the facilities.

KPNO WIYN Operational Support Support funds from the WIYN partners toward support of operations.

NN ETS Instrument Shop Support for NSO, DKIST, WIYN, & Grants

Revenue from NSO or grant accounts to cover payroll costs of instrument shop work requested by NSO or grant awardees, respectively.

NN CFO Support to NSO, WIYN, LSSTC, & Other Indirect Cost Reve-nue

Indirect revenue from grants and support for facilities and services rendered to NSO, WIYN, LSSTC, etc.

NN CFO Facilities Use Fees Revenue from leasing Tucson space to LSSTC, University of Arizona, etc.

NN CIS Support for NSO Revenue from labor support by NOAO North CIS staff to NSO.


(NSSC)

NOAO Division

Science Data Management HST Grant

NASA grant support for work by an SDM staff on the Hubble Space Tele-scope PRONOUNCED grant.


(NSTC)

NOAO Division

System Instrumentation Design & Analysis Contracts

Revenue received in return for leasing of office space to TMT. GMT KASI contract revenue also is included.

Office of Science (OS) NOAO Division

Grant-Supported Staff Costs Grant and outside support for postdocs including Hubble fellowships, etc.


(EPO)

NOAO Division

Photo Imaging Support to NSO Revenue provided by NSO for work done by the Photo Imaging Lab.

Outreach Support to NSO Revenue provided by NSO to support NSO EPO efforts on Kitt Peak, some public information functions, and general EPO outreach locally and regional-ly on behalf of NSO.

Colors of Nature Grant Funding received to support NOAO’s role in NSF Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) funded project “Collabora-tive Research: Project STEAM: Integrating Art with Science to Build Sci-ence Identities Among Girls.” (Award Number 1224020)

NOAO Director’s Office (NDO) NOAO Division

Grant Indirect Revenue A portion of grant revenue goes to the Director’s Office for miscellaneous science support and NSO library support.

NSO Support for Tucson Library The NSO share of the Tucson Library costs.

FY15 BUDGET SUMMARY

61


AURA DDF Funding from AURA Corporate for discretionary expenditures.

FY 2015 Total Total of outside revenue not provided by the NSF core program. Includes supplemental funds used for NOAO base programs. (Refer to revenue table for full detailed revenues per program.)

4.3 DIVISION OF EFFORT—NOAO SCIENTIFIC/MANAGEMENT STAFF

Per the reporting requirements for the NOAO Annual Program Plan defined by the NSF/AURA Co-operative Agreement effective 1 October 2009, the fractional division of effort for each NOAO sci-entific staff member across budgeted FY15 programs is shown in Table 21 on the following pages.

Scientific staff members and programs shown in Table 21 are those funded under NSF funds allocated to the FY15 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 21 also includes technical, engineering, and other staff who are either partially or totally funded by other funding as defined by the Cooperative Agreement. Table 22 provides a breakdown of the sources of other funding by FTE.

Under AURA policy, astronomer-track scientists at NOAO are accorded 50% personal re-search 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 Table 21 are the letter abbreviatons 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): typically a 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%


62

Table 21 FY15 Fractional Division of Effort of NOAO Scientific Staff/Key Management by Budgeted Program with Technical, Engineering, and Other Staff with Other Funding

Scientific Staff & Key Mgmt (excluding postdoctoral research associates)

Name Research CTIO NS KPNO NN SUS SDM SCD TAC NSTC OS EPO NOAO DIR GRANTS/ OTHER

1

Total

Abbott, Timothy (S) 0.20 0.70 0.10 - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Allen, Lori E. (D) 0.20 - - 0.80 - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Blum, Robert D. (D) 0.10 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.90 - 1.00

Briceño, César (S) - 1.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Dey, Arjun (A) 0.50 - - - - - - 0.50 - - - - - 1.00

Dickinson, Mark E. (A) 0.50 - - - - - 0.30 0.20 - - - - - - 1.00

Elias, Jonathan H. (D) - 1.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Garmany, Catharine D. (S)2 0.10 - - - - - - - - - - 0.40 - - 0.50

Gregory, Brooke (S)3 0.10 0.10 0.30 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.50

Heathcote, Stephen (D) 0.20 - 0.80 - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Hinkle, Kenneth H. (S) 0.20 - - - - 0.80 - - - - - - - - 1.00

James, David (A) 0.55 0.30 - - - - - - - 0.15 - - - - 1.00

Joyce, Richard R. (S) 0.17 - - 0.50 0.25 0.08 - - - - - - - - 1.00

Lauer, Tod R. (A) 0.50 - - 0.10 - - - 0.20 0.10 - - 0.10 - - 1.00

Matheson, Thomas D. (A) 0.50 - - - - 0.10 - 0.40 - - - - - - 1.00

Mighell, Kenneth J. (S)4 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.35 - 0.65 1.00

Najita, Joan R. (H) 0.50 - - - - - - - - - 0.50 - - - 1.00

Norman, Dara (S) 0.20 - - - - 0.56 - - - - - - 0.24 - 1.00

1 For the grant and other funding sources, see Table 22. 2 Catharine Garmany is a half-time employee. 3 Brooke Gregory is a half-time employee. 4 Kenneth Mighell is 100% grant-funded with 35% coming from EPO for the REU grant and the remaining 65% from outside sources.

FY15 BUDGET SUMMARY

63



1

Total

Olsen, Knut (H) 0.50 - - - - - - 0.50 - - - - - - 1.00

Points, Sean D. (S) 0.20 0.80 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Pompea, Stephen M. (H) 0.20 - - - - - - - - - - 0.70 - 0.10 1.00

Probst, Ronald G. (S) 0.19 - - 0.12 0.39 - - - - 0.30 - - - - 1.00

Rajagopal, Jayadev (S) 0.20 - - 0.64 - 0.16 - - - - - - - - 1.00

Ridgway, Stephen T. (A) 0.50 - - - - - - 0.50 - - - - - - 1.00

Ridgway, Susan E. (A) 0.50 - - - - 0.50 - - - - - - - - 1.00

Saha, Abhijit (A) 0.50 - - - - - - 0.50 - - - - - - 1.00

Shaw, Richard A. (S) - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 1.00

Silva, David (D) 0.10 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.90 - 1.00

Smith, Malcolm G. (A)5 0.25 0.10 0.10 - - - - - - - 0.05 - - - 0.50

Smith, Robert C. (A)6 0.25 0.25 - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.50

Smith, Verne V. (D) 0.20 - - - - 0.80 - - - - - - - - 1.00

Sprayberry, David (H) - - - - 0.90 - - - - 0.10 - - - - 1.00

Stanghellini, Letizia (H) 0.50 - - - - 0.50 - - - - - - - - 1.00

Stobie, Elizabeth B. (H) - - - - - - 0.88 - - - - - - 0.12 1.00

Tokovinin, Andrei (A) 0.50 0.45 0.05 - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Valdes, Francisco (S) 0.20 - - - - - 0.80 - - - - - - - 1.00

van der Bliek, Nicole S. (D) 0.20 - 0.80 - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Vivas, A. Katherina (A) 0.50 0.50 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Walker, Alistair R. (A) 0.50 0.40 - - - - - 0.05 - - 0.05 - - - 1.00

5 Malcolm Smith is a half-time employee. 6 Robert Chris Smith is a half-time employee.


64



1

Total

Walker, Constance (S) 0.20 - - - - - - - - - - 0.80 - - 1.00

Sci Staff FTE Totals: 10.71 5.60 2.15 2.16 1.54 3.50 1.98 2.35 0.60 0.55 0.60 2.35 2.04 1.87 38.00

Postdoctoral Research Associates


7

Total

Atlee, David (P) - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 1.00

Everett, Mark (P) - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 1.00

Fuentes, Cesar (P) - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 1.00

Inami, Hanae (P) - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 1.00

Kaleida, Catherine (P) 0.40 0.10 0.50 - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S. (P) - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 1.00

Salyk, Colette (P) - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Schrirmer, Karianne H. (P) - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 1.00

Zenteno, Alfredo (P) 0.50 0.50 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00

Postdoc FTE Totals 0.90 0.60 0.50 - - - - - - - 1.00 - - 6.00 9.00

Technical, Engineering, and Other Staff with Outside (Other) Funding

Name CTIO NS KPNO NN SUS SDM SCD TAC NSTC OS EPO NOAO DIR GRANTS/ OTHER

8

Total

Aguirre, Victor R. 0.95 0.05 1.00

Alvarez, Alberto A. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Alvarez, Rodrigo B. 0.30 0.35 - - - - - - 0.20 - - - 0.15 1.00

Andrade, Juan D. 0.80 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.20 1.00

7 For the grant and other funding sources, see Table 22. 8 Ibid.

FY15 BUDGET SUMMARY

65



8

Total

Bonati, Marco A. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Briones, Jorge D. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Bustos, Edison E. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Cantarutti, Rolando E. 0.85 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.15 1.00

Cho, Myung - - - 0.20 - - - - - - - - 0.80 1.00

Claver, Jennifer A. - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.00 1.00

Diaz, Cristian H. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Estay, Omar J. 0.20 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.80 1.00

Flores, Samuel D. - 0.90 - - - - - - - - - - 0.10 1.00

Godoy, Luis A. 0.90 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.10 1.00

Harris, Ronald - - - 0.73 - - - - - - - - 0.27 1.00

Hernandez, Manuel A. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Hughes, James B. - 0.50 - - - - - - - - - - 0.50 1.00

Lambert, Ronald R.9 - 0.20 - - - - - - - - - - 0.30 0.50

Leiva, Rodrigo A. 0.90 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.10 1.00

Martinez, Manuel D. 0.65 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.35 1.00

Moore, Peter C. 0.25 0.50 - - - - - - - - - - 0.25 1.00

Ogalde, Nelson H. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Open - CTIO Instrument Maker 0.80 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.20 1.00

Open - CTIO Optical Engineer 0.40 0.35 - - - - - - - - - - 0.25 1.00

Orrego, Humberto A. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Parkes, Esteban M. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Pinto, Victor M. 0.90 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.10 1.00

9 Ronald Lambert is a half-time employee.


66



8

Total

Poczulp, Gary - - 0.05 0.65 - - - - - - - - 0.30 1.00

Repp, Roger - - - 0.67 - - - - - - - - 0.33 1.00

Rivera, Rossano H. 0.80 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.20 1.00

Robledo, Victor M. 0.85 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.15 1.00

Rojas, David E. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Rojas, Francisco J. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Rojas, Mauricio C. - 0.90 - - - - - - - - - - 0.10 1.00

Schurter, Patricio W. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Sparks, Robert T. - - - - - - - - - - 0.80 - 0.20 1.00

Stupak, Robert - - 0.45 0.45 - - - - - - - - 0.10 1.00

Tirado, Hernan A. 0.95 - - - - - - - - - - - 0.05 1.00

Tech/EngrFTETotals 21.90 3.70 0.50 2.70 - - - - 0.20 - 0.80 - 7.70 37.50

Table 22 Sources for Grant and Other Funding FTEs Noted in Table 21

Sources of Grants and Other Funding (Non-NSF Base)

Name Position SOAR Las

Campanas LS Network Consortium SMARTS NASA LSST

GMT Partners

University Projects Total

Aguirre, Victor R. Electronic Technician 3 0.05 - - - - - - - 0.05

Alvarez, Alberto A. Assistant Observer 1 - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Alvarez, Rodrigo B. Electronic Technician 2 0.10 - - 0.05 - - - - 0.15

Andrade, Juan D. Maintenance Man 2 - - - 0.20 - - - - 0.20

Atlee, David Research Associate - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Bonati, Marco A. Computer Programmer 1 0.05 - - - - - - - 0.05

Briones, Jorge D. Telescope Mechanic 1 - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Bustos, Edison E. Computer Programmer 2 0.05 - - - - - - - 0.05

FY15 BUDGET SUMMARY

67




GMT Partners


Cantarutti, Rolando E. Senior Computer Programmer 0.15 - - - - - - - 0.15

Cho, Myung Principal Engineer - - - - - - 0.80 - 0.80

Claver, Jennifer A. Associate in Research - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Diaz, Cristian H. Telescope Mechanic 3 - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Estay, Omar J. Computer Programmer 3 0.80 - - - - - - - 0.80

Everett, Mark Research Associate - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Flores, Samuel D. Electronic Technician 3 - - 0.10 - - - - - 0.10

Fuentes, Cesar Research Associate - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Godoy, Luis A. Instrument Maker 1 0.10 - - - - - - - 0.10

Harris, Ronald Technical Associate II - - - - - 0.10 0.07 0.10 0.27

Hernandez, Manuel A. Assistant Observer 1 - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Hughes, James B. Senior Scientific Programmer - 0.50 - - - - - - 0.50

Inami, Hanae Research Associate - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S. Research Associate - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Lambert, Ronald R. Manager, NS CIS - - 0.30 - - - - - 0.30

Leiva, Rodrigo A. Designer Draftsman 2 0.10 - - - - - - - 0.10

Martinez, Manuel D. Senior Engineer Manager 0.35 - - - - - - - 0.35

Mighell, Kenneth J. Scientist - - - - 0.65 - - - 0.65

Moore, Peter C. Senior Engineer 0.10 - 0.10 0.05 - - - - 0.25

Ogalde, Nelson H. Electrical Technician 2 - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Open - CTIO Instrument Maker 4 0.20 - - - - - - - 0.20

Open - CTIO Optical Engineer 0.05 - - 0.20 - - - - 0.25

Orrego, Humberto A. Associate Engineer - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Parkes, Esteban M. Manager, Telescopes Services - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Pinto, Victor M. Instrument Maker 3 0.10 - - - - - - - 0.10


68




GMT Partners


Pompea, Stephen M. Head of Program, EPO - - - - - - - 0.10 0.10

Poczulp, Gary Optics & Coatings Lab Supervisor - - - - 0.10 0.20 - 0.30

Repp, Roger Instrument Shop Facility Supervisor - - - - - 0.10 0.03 0.20 0.33

Rivera, Rossano H. Designer Draftsman 2 0.20 - - - - - - - 0.20

Robledo, Victor M. Instrument Maker 3 0.15 - - - - - - - 0.15

Rojas, David E. Senior Engineer - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Rojas, Francisco J. Senior Engineer - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Rojas, Mauricio C. Computer Programmer 3 - - 0.10 - - - - - 0.10

Schrirmer, Karianne H. Research Associate - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Schurter, Patricio W. Engineer 0.05 - - - - - - - 0.05

Shaw, Richard A. Scientist - - - - 1.00 - - - 1.00

Sparks, Robert T. Science Education Specialist I - - - - - - - 0.20 0.20

Stobie, Elizabeth B. Head of Program, SDM - - - - 0.12 - - - 0.12

Stupak, Robert Technical Associate I - - - - - 0.10 - - 0.10

Tirado, Hernan A. Observer Support Specialist 2 - - - 0.05 - - - - 0.05

Totals: 2.60 0.50 0.60 1.00 8.77 0.30 1.10 0.60 15.47

69

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AAS — American Astronomical Society AAT — Anglo-Australian Telescope ALMA — Atacama Large Millimeter Array ANTARES — Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System APP — Annual Program Plan APP-15 — Annual Program Plan for FY 2015 ASP — Astronomical Society of the Pacific AST — Astronomical Sciences (Division of NSF) ATST — Advanced Technology Solar Telescope AuCaP — Automatic Calibration Pipeline AURA — Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy AURA-O — AURA Observatory in Chile CADIAS — Centro de Apoyo a la Didáctica de la Astronomía CAS — Central Administrative Services (NOAO) CASNET — Central Administrative Services Network (application interface) CEAZA — El Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas CFO — Central Facilities Operations (NOAO) CHARA — Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy CIS — Computer Infrastructure Services (NOAO) COSMOS — Cerro Tololo Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph CP — Community pipeline CTIO — Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory DDF — Director’s Discretionary Fund (NOAO) DECam — Dark Energy Camera DES — Dark Energy Survey DESI — Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument DIQ — Delivered Image Quality DKIST — Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope DM — Data Management DMO — Data Management Operations DMZ — De-militarized zone DRL — Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings DTS — Data Transport System EPO — Educational and Public Outreach ES&H — Environmental, safety and health ETS — Engineering & Technical Services (NOAO) F&A — Facilities and Administrative FAQ — Frequently asked question


70

FO — Facilities Operations (NOAO) FTE — Full-Time Equivalent FTP — File Transfer Protocol FY — Fiscal year GMT — Giant Magellan Telescope GONG — Global Oscillation Network Group HOO — Hands-On Optics (NOAO) HR — Human Resources HST — Hubble Space Telescope ICD — Interface Control Document IR — Infrared IRAF — Image Reduction and Analysis Facility IT — Information technology KASI — Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute KCWI — Keck Cosmic Web Imager KOSMOS — Kitt Peak Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph KP — Kitt Peak KPI — KPNO Infrastructure KPNO — Kitt Peak National Observatory KPVC — Kitt Peak Visitor Center LBNL — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory LCOGTN — Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network LCSC — LSST Community Science Center LLC — Limited Liability Corporation LS — La Serena LSSDS — La Serena School for Data Science LSST — Large Synoptic Survey Telescope LSSTC — Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Corporation MMT — Multiple Mirror Telescope NASA — National Aeronautics and Space Administration NCSA — National Center for Supercomputing Applications NDO — NOAO Director’s Office NEWFIRM — NOAO Extremely Wide Field Infrared Imager NGO — National Gemini Office NHPPS — NOAO High-Performance Pipeline System NN — NOAO North NOAO — National Optical Astronomy Observatory NOP — Nightly Observing Program NRAO — National Radio Astronomy Observatory NS — NOAO South NSF — National Science Foundation NSO — National Solar Observatory

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

71

NSSC — NOAO System Science Center NSTA — National Science Teachers Association NSTC — NOAO System Technology Center O/IR — Optical/Infrared ODI — One Degree Imager (WIYN) OS — Office of Science (NOAO) PI — Principal investigator PIA — Práctica de Investigación en Astronomía pODI — Partially populated One Degree Imager (WIYN) PROMPT — Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes PRONOUNCED — Polarimetry Reduction of NICMOS Observations Using New Calibrations and

Enhanced Data Q1 — First quarter Q2 — Second quarter

Q3 — Third quarter Q4 — Fourth quarter QA — Quality Assurance ReSTAR — Renewing Small Telescopes for Astronomical Research REU — Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF) REUNA — Red Universitaria Nacional SAC — Science Advisory Committee SARA — Southern Association for Research in Astronomy SCD — System Community Development (NOAO) SDM — Science Data Management (NOAO) SMARTS — Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System SMASH — Survey of the Magellanic Stellar History SOAR — Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope SOLIS — Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun SPIE — Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers STEAM — STEM + Art STEM — Science, technology, engineering, and math SUS — System User Support (NOAO) SWG — Science Working Group TAC — Time Allocation Committee TCS — Telescope Control System TIO — TMT International Observatory TMT — Thirty Meter Telescope TS4 — TripleSpec4 TSIP — Telescope System Instrumentation Program US — United States of America VO — Virtual Observatory


72

VPN — Virtual private network WIYN — Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO (3.5-m telescope)