SKA1-LOW Calibration Consultation Workshop

Europe/London
SKA Orgnization Headquarters

SKA Orgnization Headquarters

Jodrell Bank Observatory Lower Withington Macclesfield SK11 9DL United Kingdom
Tim Cornwell (SKA Organisation)
Description
The SKA1‐Low Telescope Architecture Team is organizing a consultation workshop to discuss issues relating to calibration of the SKA1‐Low telescope, and the implications that these have to the configuration and design of the array and subsystems.

The objectives of this meeting are to exchange and review the latest thinking on these issues with respect to their impact on achieving successful EOR observations, and to inform the community of the SKA office view of how best to define the telescope to optimize the probability of success. In particular we will discuss our framework and approach to calibrating the array, the physical effects that must be corrected, and the implications to the telescope configuration/layout in terms of station distribution and location. While the approach assumes that station beams are delivered as calibrated products, the present Consortium plans for doing this, and the measurements and data required, will also be presented. We would welcome your contributions to this discussion.

The format will be a series of topical discussions led off by invited presentations, and followed by a significant period of open discussion to allow participants to give their views on the topic. The meeting will be wrapped up by a session to discuss the reaction of the subsystem leads to the information presented and a summary of where the Office sees the collected wisdom taking the designs. A preliminary agenda is attached and will be updated in the INDICO website (here) as it evolves.

While this is a very busy time, there is an urgent need to settle some of these issues so that the new baseline design, configuration and system architecture can be finalized and Consortium work move forward with certainty.

Based on the responses to the Doodle poll at <http://doodle.com/s8d4qmhernuwpigp>  we have established the dates as April 14 & 15, schedule nominally to be 8am to 3pm with breaks.

We realize that many of you will already be travelling to pre‐existing meetings in Sydney or at the SKA Office, so to facilitate this and the participation of our Australian colleagues (and others) we will be organizing the meeting to make maximum use of the Vidyo link. However, we welcome those who can travel to come to the office for this meeting, where normal hospitality will be provided.

Preliminary list of topical sessions:
  • Introduction and working brief
  • SKA1-LOW Calibration Framework  (Cornwell)
  • Calibratability  (Wijnholds)
  • Physical effects:
              Station and antenna characteristics
              Ionosphere
              Polarization
  • Outputs:
              EoR detection
              Imaging
              Pulsar Timing
  • Constraints and Configuration
  • Wrapup  - Subsystem Implications
Remote Attendees: 
Connect to the SKA Vidyo server using Mark Waterson's "room" ( 69625)  - paste http://skavid.org/m.waterson  into the address line and click "Join" - NO password/username is required.
A streaming (browser-only) link will be available as well, if you are listening:
https://replay.skatelescope.org/replay/webcastShow.html?key=PGmVINLTsZ85uxT
see material below for further details. Audio-only connections using telephone service: dial +44 (0)161 768 0155 x69625

My skype name is mark.waterson as an alternative, however you won't see the shared screen. 
 
agenda
Background - Calibratability
Background Cal Strategy
Vidyo Instructions
  • Tuesday, 14 April
    • 08:00 09:00
      Introductions and Brief
      Convener: Mr Mark Waterson (SKA Organization)