Äîêóìåíò âçÿò èç êýøà ïîèñêîâîé ìàøèíû. Àäðåñ îðèãèíàëüíîãî äîêóìåíòà : http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/mnrf2001/Astronomy_MNRF_0203.pdf Äàòà èçìåíåíèÿ: Wed Jun 2 05:44:40 2004 Äàòà èíäåêñèðîâàíèÿ: Tue Oct 2 06:30:17 2012 Êîäèðîâêà:


Annual Report from the Australian Astronomy Major National Research Facility
Mission: To maximise Australia's engagement in the new generation of optical/infrared and radio telescopes, through world-class scientific research and innovative instrument development programs Ray Norris, 22 April 2004

Executive Summary
The Australian Astronomy MNRF is a collaborative venture involving nearly all major astronomical institutions in Australia, with the aim of securing significant Australian participation in major new international astronomical facilities at both optical/infrared and radio wavelengths, represented by Gemini and the SKA (Square Kilometre Array) respectively, and adopting a unified approach under the Facility. The specific objectives of the Facility are to: · increase Australia's share of premier optical/infrared telescopes such as the Gemini 8-metre twin telescopes; · develop enabling technologies for Australia to play a key role in, and host, the Square Kilometre Array, the centimetre-wave radiotelescope of the future; and · use this position to develop the Australian astronomical instrumentation industry. The MNRF is divided into ten Projects. One of these is the MNRF Office, three relate to Gemini, and six relate to the SKA. In this first year of the MNRF, there have already been some significant successes, including: · The negotiation of an additional 1.43% Australian share of Gemini · The award of a contract from Gemini to RSAA to build the GSAOI instrument · Development of a prototype Luneburg lens for the SKA, including the patenting of a new material with significant commercial applications · The completion of the design for the continuum correlator for SKAMP · The installation of supercomputers at Swinburne and Parkes · The ranking of Australia as the best country, in scientific and technical terms, for LOFAR, which is a precursor to SKA. This occurred as a direct result of the SKA site selection processes and significantly increases the likelihood that Australia will host SKA. · The development of a pre-concept study for a new Gemini facility (KAOS). In summary, the MNRF is off to a good start, with significant advances on nearly all fronts. Although some elements of the MNRF Program have been a little slow in ramping up, no significant problems or setbacks to the goals of the MNRF have been encountered.

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CONTENTSANNUAL REPORT FROM THE AUSTRALIAN ASTRONOMY MAJOR NATIONAL RESEARCH FACILITY ................................................................................................. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 1 1. 2. BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................... 7 DETAILED DESCRIPTION ....................................................................................................... 8 2.1 PROJECTS ........................................................................................................................................ 8 2.2 GOVERNANCE ............................................................................................................................... 10 3. PROGRESS AND ISSUES 2002-3 ............................................................................................ 11 3.1 OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................... 3.2 PROJECT STATUS SUMMARIES ...................................................................................................... 3.3 ISSUES .......................................................................................................................................... 3.4 VARIATIONS TO BUSINESS PLAN .................................................................................................. 3.5 FACILITY'S ACCESS REGIME ......................................................................................................... 3.6 PROGRESS WITH ESTABLISHMENT ................................................................................................ 3.7 GOVERNANCE ............................................................................................................................... 3.8 MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. 3.9 COLLABORATION AND LINKAGES ................................................................................................. 3.10 FACILITY'S CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH AND TRAINING ......................................................... 3.11 COMMERCIALISATION, AND CONTRIBUTION TO AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY .................................... 3.12 MARKETING AND PROMOTION .................................................................................................... 3.13 COMPLIANCE WITH BIOLOGICAL & RADIATION SAFEGUARDS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ... 4. 11 11 20 21 22 23 23 23 23 26 26 26 28

FINANCIAL REPORT .............................................................................................................. 29 4.1 GENERAL EXPLANATORY NOTES .................................................................................................. 29 4.2 OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................... 30 TABLE 4.1: BUDGET VS. EXPENDITURE FOR 2001/3 BY PROJECT ........................................................ 30

APPENDIX A ­ PROJECT PLANS ................................................................................................... 31 APPENDIX A1: MNRF OFFICE PROJECT PLAN ........................................................................ 32 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................... 1. OVERVIEW AND GOALS .................................................................................................................. 2. MAJOR MILESTONES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ................................................................... 3. BUDGET .......................................................................................................................................... 4. KEY PERSONNEL ............................................................................................................................. SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................... 1. OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................................... 2 GOALS ............................................................................................................................................. 3 MAJOR MILESTONES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS .................................................................... 4 BUDGET ........................................................................................................................................... 5 KEY PERSONNEL .............................................................................................................................. 6 ISSUES ............................................................................................................................................. 7 PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................. 8 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMMERCIALISATION .................................................................... 9 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ........................................................................................................... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 32 32 32 33 33 34 34 36 36 37 40 40 41 41 41

APPENDIX A2: INCREASED SHARE OF GEMINI - PROJECT PLAN..................................... 34

APPENDIX A3: RSAA GEMINI INSTRUMENTATION - PROJECT PLAN ............................. 43 OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................................... 43 GOALS ............................................................................................................................................ 43 TIMELINES AND BUDGET ................................................................................................................ 45 KEY PERSONNEL ............................................................................................................................. 46 ISSUES ............................................................................................................................................ 46 PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................46 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMMERCIALISATION ................................................................... 46 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH .......................................................................................................... 46

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APPENDIX A4: AAO INSTRUMENTATION - PROJECT PLAN ............................................... 47 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 1 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 2 MAJOR MILESTONES ........................................................................................................................ 3 TIMELINES AND BUDGET .................................................................................................................. 4 KEY PERSONNEL .............................................................................................................................. 5 ISSUES ............................................................................................................................................. 6 PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................. 7 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMMERCIALISATION .................................................................... 8 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ........................................................................................................... 9 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS .................................................................................................... 47 47 48 48 49 49 49 49 49 49

APPENDIX A5: AUSTRALIA TELESCOPE COMPACT ARRAY BROADBAND BACKEND (CABB) - PROJECT PLAN................................................................................................................. 50 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 1. OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................................... 2 GOAL ............................................................................................................................................... 3. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................... 4 TIMELINES AND BUDGET .................................................................................................................. 5 KEY PERSONNEL .............................................................................................................................. 6 PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................. 50 50 51 51 52 52 52

APPENDIX A6: NEW TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR - PROJECT PLAN ....................... 54 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 54 1. OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................................... 54 2. GOALS ............................................................................................................................................ 57 3. MAJOR MILESTONES ....................................................................................................................... 57 4. TIMELINES ...................................................................................................................................... 58 5. KEY PERSONNEL ............................................................................................................................ 59 6. ISSUES ........................................................................................................................................... 60 7. PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................60 8. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMMERCIALIZATION................................................................... 61 9. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH .......................................................................................................... 61 10. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ................................................................................................. 61 APPENDIX A7: MMIC DEVELOPMENT - PROJECT PLAN...................................................... 62 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 1 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 2 GOALS ............................................................................................................................................. 3 MAJOR MILESTONES ........................................................................................................................ 4 TIMELINES AND BUDGET .................................................................................................................. 5 KEY PERSONNEL .............................................................................................................................. 6 ISSUES ............................................................................................................................................. 7 PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................. 8 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMMERCIALISATION .................................................................... 9 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ........................................................................................................... 10 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS .................................................................................................. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 1 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 2 SCOPE OF THE SKAMP PROJECT ..................................................................................................... 2 GOALS ............................................................................................................................................. 3 MAJOR MILESTONES ........................................................................................................................ 4 TIMELINES AND BUDGET .................................................................................................................. 5 KEY PERSONNEL .............................................................................................................................. 6 ISSUES ............................................................................................................................................. 7 PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................. 8 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMMERCIALISATION .................................................................... 9 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ........................................................................................................... 62 62 62 63 63 64 64 64 65 65 65 67 67 68 70 70 70 71 73 73 75 75

APPENDIX A8: SKAMP (SKA MOLONGLO PROTOTYPE) PROJECT PLAN ....................... 67

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10 K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

EY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

.................................................................................................. 76 77 77 78 80 80 80 80 80

APPENDIX A9: SKA SITING PROJECT PLAN ............................................................................. 77 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... GOALS ............................................................................................................................................. MILESTONES, TIMELINES AND BUDGET ........................................................................................... KEY PERSONNEL .............................................................................................................................. ISSUES ............................................................................................................................................. PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMMERCIALISATION .................................................................... EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ...........................................................................................................

APPENDIX A10: SKA SUPERCOMPUTER SIMULATIONS AND BASEBAND PROCESSING (SKASS) - PROJECT PLAN .............................................................................................................. 81 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 81 1) SUMMARY STATEMENT OF WORK, DELIVERABLES & PAYMENT TABLE ....................................... 82 2) PROJECT PLAN................................................................................................................................86 APPENDIX B: INDIVIDUAL PROJECT REPORTS ...................................................................... 97 APPENDIX B1: MNRF OFFICE - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003 .............................. 98 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 98 1. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................... 98 2. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES ...................................................................................................... 99 3. COLLABORATION AND LINKAGES ................................................................................................... 99 4. FINANCIAL REPORTING ................................................................................................................. 100 APPENDIX B2: INCREASED SHARE OF GEMINI - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003 .............................................................................................................................................................. 102 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 1. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. 2. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES .................................................................................................... 3. FACILITY'S ACCESS REGIME ......................................................................................................... 4. COLLABORATION AND LINKAGES ................................................................................................. 5. FACILITY'S CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH AND TRAINING ........................................................... 6. CONTRIBUTION TO AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY ................................................................................. 7. PROMOTION OF THE FACILITY ...................................................................................................... 8. COMMERCIALISATION AND INFORMATION TRANSFER .................................................................. 9. FINANCIAL REPORTING ................................................................................................................. 102 103 103 104 105 106 106 107 108 109

APPENDIX B3: RSAA GEMINI INSTRUMENTATION - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY20022003 ...................................................................................................................................................... 110 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................. 1. MILESTONES............................................................................................................................. 2. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES......................................................................................... 3. RESEARCH, ACCESS & COLLABORATION ......................................................................... 4. PROMOTION OF THE FACILITY............................................................................................. 5. COMMERCIALISATION........................................................................................................... 6. FINANCIAL REPORTING ......................................................................................................... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 1. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. 2. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES .................................................................................................... 3. RESEARCH, ACCESS AND COLLABORATION ................................................................................... 4. PROMOTION OF THE FACILITY ....................................................................................................... 5. COMMERCIALISATION................................................................................................................... 6. FINANCIAL REPORTING ................................................................................................................. 110 110 111 111 112 113 113 115 115 115 115 116 116 116

APPENDIX B4: AAO INSTRUMENTATION - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003....... 115

APPENDIX B5: AUSTRALIA TELESCOPE COMPACT ARRAY BROADBAND BACKEND (CABB) - ANNUAL REPORT FOR FY2002-2003.......................................................................... 118

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................... MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES .................................................................................................... COLLABORATION AND LINKAGES ................................................................................................. FINANCIAL REPORTING .................................................................................................................

118 118 119 119 119

APPENDIX B6: NEW TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-3 ............................................................................................................................................. 122 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................................... 1. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. 2. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES .................................................................................................... 3. RESEARCH, ACCESS & COLLABORATION ...................................................................................... 4. FACILITY'S CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH AND TRAINING ........................................................... 5. PROMOTION OF THE FACILITY ...................................................................................................... 6. COMMERCIALISATION................................................................................................................... 7. FINANCIAL REPORTING ................................................................................................................. 8. DETAILED PROJECT ACTIVITY ...................................................................................................... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................................... 1. OVERVIEW OF PROGRESS IN 2002-3 ............................................................................................. 2. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. 3. PROMOTION OF THE FACILITY ...................................................................................................... 4. FINANCIAL REPORTING ................................................................................................................. 122 122 123 123 124 124 125 125 127 132 132 132 133 134

APPENDIX B7: MMIC DEVELOPMENT - ANNUAL REPORT FOR FY2002-2003 ............... 132

APPENDIX B8: SQUARE KILOMETRE ARRAY MOLONGLO PROTOTYPE (SKAMP) PROJECT ANNUAL REPORT FOR FY2002-2003 ....................................................................... 137 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................................... 1. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. 2. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES .................................................................................................... 3. RESEARCH, ACCESS & COLLABORATION ...................................................................................... 4. PROMOTION OF THE FACILITY ..................................................................................................... 5. COMMERCIALISATION................................................................................................................... 6. FINANCIAL REPORTING ................................................................................................................. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES .................................................................................................... COLLABORATION AND LINKAGES ................................................................................................. MARKETING.................................................................................................................................. PROMOTION .................................................................................................................................. FINANCE ....................................................................................................................................... 137 137 138 138 139 139 140 141 142 142 143 143 143

APPENDIX B9: SKA SITE STUDIES - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003 ..................... 141

APPENDIX B10: SKA SUPERCOMPUTER SIMULATIONS AND BASEBAND PROCESSING (SKASS) - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-3 ............................................................................ 144 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: .................................................................................................................... 1. MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. 2. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES .................................................................................................... 3. RESEARCH ACCESS AND COLLABORATION .................................................................................... 4. MARKETING AND PROMOTION OF THE FACILITY ........................................................................... 5. COMMERCIALISATION................................................................................................................... 6. FINANCIAL REPORTING ................................................................................................................. 7. DETAILED PROJECT REPORTS AND RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS ......................................................... 144 144 150 151 153 154 154 155

APPENDIX C: COMPOSITION OF INTERIM AABOM............................................................. 164 APPENDIX D: COMPOSITION OF CURRENT AABOM AS AT NOVEMBER 2003 ............. 164 APPENDIX E: GLOSSARY.............................................................................................................. 165 APPENDIX F: CERTIFICATIONS ................................................................................................. 168

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APPENDIX G: FINANCIAL TABLES ............................................................................................ 176 G1 D
IFFERENCES IN SPREADSHEETS FROM THOSE SUPPLIED BY

DEST ............................................. 176

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1.

Background

In 2001, the ATNF led a proposal, on behalf of the Australian astronomical community, to the Federal Government's "Major National Research Facilities" (MNRF) program. The proposal was awarded $23.5m over 5 years, and also attracted $28.5m of matching funding from participants and their sponsors. The broad goal of the Australian Astronomy MNRF is to maintain the pre-eminent position of Australian astronomy by investing in the two main areas of radio and optical/infrared astronomy, represented by the SKA and Gemini respectively, and adopting a unified approach under the Facility. The specific objectives of the Facility are to: · increase Australia's share of premier optical/infrared telescopes such as the Gemini 8-metre twin telescopes; · develop enabling technologies for Australia to play a key role in, and host, the Square Kilometre Array, the centimetre-wave radiotelescope of the future; and · use this position to develop the Australian astronomical instrumentation industry. The MNRF includes 12 participants, listed in Table 1, each of whom have agreed to provide matching funding either as cash or as in-kind support. Table 1: Participating organisations of the MNRF Institution Total matching contribution ($m) 1 CSIRO ATNF 8.2 2 Sydney Uni 2.9 3 AAO 2.6 4 ANU 2.4 5 Swinburne Uni 1.2 6 UNSW 1.1 7 WA 0.8 8 CTIP 0.8 9 U. Melbourne 0.3 10 APT 0.1 11 CEA 0.1 12 Dell 0.1 ARC* 0 *Note that the ARC declined to be a formal participant, but is a major stakeholder and ultimately provides much of the matching funding for Gemini. The ARC also has a role in the MNRF in so far as it has the responsibility for negotiating Australia's bid for an increase in Gemini observing time, and providing the Australian Gemini Steering Committee (AGSC) to advise the MNRF.

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We are pleased to report that, since this MNRF Program started, we have been joined by a number of other participants, including: · Cisco Systems (Australia) · Connell Wagner · CSIRO Manufacturing and Industry Technology · CSIRO Molecular Science · Macquarie University Centre for Electromagnetic and Antenna Engineering These new participants, while contributing significantly to the Program, have no formal obligation to the MNRF Program and so their very important contributions are not listed in the financial tables.

2.

Detailed Description

2.1 Projects
The MNRF consists of ten separate projects, listed in Table 1. Detailed project descriptions are given in Appendices A1-A10.
Project # Project name Main participants Description MNRF funding (A$m) Matching contribut ion (A$m) Total project Size (A$m)

1. 2.

MNRF project office Gemini (increased share)

ATNF

Organisation and administration of the MNRF

0.848 14.527

0.25 16.568

1.098 31.095

3. 4. 5.

Gemini
(RSAA instrumentation)

Gemini
(AAO instrumentation)

CABB

RSAA Purchase an increased share UNSW in the Gemini consortium SydU ATNF UMelb Swinburne RSAA Contribute matching funding through construction of instrumentation for Gemini AAO Contribute matching funding through construction of instrumentation for Gemini ATNF Develop correlator technology to upgrade the ATCA Array to 2 GHz bandwidth

0 0 2.375

1.213 2.6 2.9

1.213 2.6 5.275

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6.

NTD

7. 8.

MMIC SKAMP

9.

Siting

10. SKASS

Develop multi-beaming antenna technology and advanced optical signal transport and signal processing schemes, by constructing new technology demonstrator antennas and developing interference mitigation techniques. ATNF Development of integrated RF systems on MMIC chips Sydney Develop broadband, highUni speed signal processing technology, multi-beaming and wide field of view techniques, and low-cost cylindrical antenna technology, upgrading the Molonglo telescope as an SKA demonstrator. WA Evaluate potential sites for ATNF suitability for the SKA Swinburne Supercomputing simulations Dell of SKA design and development of baseband recording and software correlation techniques.

ATNF CTIP CEA APT

2.535

4.05

6.585

1.45 0.739

1.8 0.995

3.25 1.734

0 1.026

0.8 1.15

0.8 2.176

TOTAL

23.5

28.513

52.013

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2.2 Governance
Advisory Committee AGSC Advisory Committee ASKAC K DEST

Facility Board of Management (AABoM)

MNRF funds (Deed)

Facility Director & Facility Office (CSIRO) Agreement ARC Agreement Gemini Board

Relationship & Participation Deeds Facility Participants

Figure 1: Relationships within the MNRF Figure 1 shows the relationships within the MNRF. The MNRF is operated by the Facility Director, who manages a Facility Office hosted by CSIRO ATNF. The Director reports to the Board (AABoM, for Australian Astronomy Board of Management). AABoM are advised by the Australian Gemini Steering Committee (AGSC) and the Australian SKA Consortium (ASKAC). Funding is provided to the Facility Office by DEST, who in return are provided with annual reports, performance indicators, etc. Funding to participants is provided by the Facility Office. This funding is contingent on receipt of satisfactory progress reports detailing performance against agreed milestones. The Australian Research Council (ARC) manages the relationship with the Gemini consortium, including negotiating additional Australian membership. Payment for additional time is made by the Facility Office to the Gemini consortium on request from the ARC. At the time of signing the MNRF Deed with DEST (4 November 2002), the participants were unable to find a composition of the Board that satisfied all their requirements. Therefore, that Deed stated that the initial board (see Appendix C) would last for six months and would then produce recommendations on the future composition of the board. At the AABoM meeting of 7 March 2003, a possible composition was discussed and agreed on, resulting in a position paper and a subsequent email discussion by AABoM members and MNRF participants. That discussion reached a broad consensus for a board of eight members as follows:

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2 members nominated by ASKACC 2 members nominated by AGSC 1 member nominated by CSIRO 1 member nominated by the NCA 1 member nominated by the ARC The Facility Director (non-voting) All MNRF participants other than the ARC and CSIRO have the opportunity to nominate and to vote on the AGSC and ASKACC members. This new board structure was voted on by participants, and the result declared on 29 May 2003. It was subsequently approved by DEST and by CSIRO. The current composition of the Board is listed in Appendix D.

3.

Progress and Issues 2002-3

3.1 Overview
This section gives an overview of the progress of each project, together with highlights and significant milestones achieved in 2002-3. Further project-specific milestones are listed against the project plans in appendices B1-B10. While some projects are forging ahead on schedule, start-up on some has been slightly slower than envisaged. However, we do not see any significant obstacles in any of the projects of the MNRF.

3.2 Project Status Summaries
Detailed project Reports, including performance against milestones, are given in Appendices B1-B10 for each project. Here we give a short summary of the status for each Project.

3.2.1 The MNRF Office
The MNRF Office was set up to administer the Australian Astronomy MNRF. In this start-up phase, progress has been good, and most milestones were achieved. Hurdles included the complexity imposed by the conflicting requirements of DEST, CSIRO, and ARC, and the extensive reporting requirements which some participants found difficult to manage. At the start of the MNRF, it was not possible to devise a satisfactory Board structure, and so an interim board structure was set up. A new board structure has now been set up within the period specified in the start-up deeds, and the MNRF program is now on a sound footing. The project finances are roughly on track, and the MNRF Office has underspent by 8% compared to its projected budget in this reporting period.

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3.2.2 The Gemini Project

The Gemini-South telescope at Sunset The primary goal of this project is to purchase an increased Australian share in the Gemini Partnership. This has been successful, and an additional 1.43% share of Gemini has been purchased. Because of delays in the international negotiations, the initial payments were not made in the 2002/3 reporting period, resulting in a large balance carried forward of $2.051m. Most of this was used to make an initial Gemini payment in October 2003.

3.2.3 RSAA Gemini Instrumentation

Adjustment of the NIFS instrument at RSAA in October 2002, shortly before it was destroyed by fire

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The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) Of the Australian National University (ANU) offered to make an in-kind contribution to the Gemini project by contributing the unreimbursed labour associated with constructing Gemini instrumentation. Since making that commitment, RSAA were hit by tragedy in the Canberra bush fires in January 2003. However, RSAA were also in the fortunate position of · making excellent progress on the construction of the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) for Gemini. Although the NIFS instrument was destroyed by the bushfires as it neared completion, all the plans and designs were saved, and a new NIFS instrument is now being constructed by Auspace Pty Ltd under contract to RSAA. · being awarded a contract from Gemini to build the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI). As a result, RSAA are making an in-kind contribution of $420k to the MNRF in this reporting period, compared with the $243k to which they were committed in the Business Plan.

3.2.4 AAO Instrumentation

The robot being installed in the OzPoz spectrograph at the AAO The AAO proposes to enhance the Australian astronomy community's engagement with 8m and larger telescopes, while providing an in-kind contribution to this MNRF. It will do this by · providing resources to support the `back office' functions for the allocation of observing time on Australia's share of the International Gemini Observatory,

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· ·

developing and implementing new instrumentation technologies, which enhance the scientific interests of Australian astronomers in their use of Gemini and other telescopes of 8m class and larger. developing a prototype of the Kilo-Aperture Optical Spectrograph (KAOS) for Gemini.

3.2.5 Australia Telescope Compact Array Broadband backend Upgrade (CABB)

The Australia Telescope Compact Array This program will deliver a new broadband backend system for the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at Narrabri which will · improve the continuum sensitivity of the ATCA by at least a factor of four and provide a greatly enhanced spectral line performance, · provide for connections to additional antennas, such as might be constructed as part of the NTD project, or for special reference antennas required for interference mitigation, · develop new correlator technology and signal processing components for the SKA In this reporting period, good progress has been made in several areas, but there were unexpected problems with the complex Field Programmable Gate Array design software, which have pushed the project behind the schedule envisaged in the business plan. Such problems are not surprising when working at the cutting edge of technology. This delay has been compounded by a lack of available staff, caused by unrelated factors. As a result, the project is significantly behind the schedule 14


described in the business plan, and resulted in a significant underspend. We present a revised project plan in Appendix A5. Despite this slow start-up, it is expected that this lost ground will be made up in subsequent years, particularly because of the experience gained in some of the areas that caused the delays. The final completion date for this project remains unchanged.

3.2.6 SKA New Technology Demonstrator (NTD)

The Konkur Luneburg lens with prototype fed translator arms The goal of the NTD project is to develop a wideband, multi-beam technology demonstrator comprising a "mini-station" of a next-generation radio telescope, incorporating the core technologies of: · wide field-of-view microwave lenses("Luneburg lenses") or phased-array antennas; · optical signal transport; and · digital signal processing techniques such as achromatic beam-forming and wide-field imaging. The Luneburg Lens prototyping work is progressing well, and a new feed translator system for the Lens has been designed and manufactured. A new artificial dielectric material has been developed, and the manufacturing process for this has been patented. There has been some slippage in the lens project milestones due to the challenges involved in developing the new manufacturing process. Delivery of a prototype 0.9 m Luneburg Lens constructed from the new dielectric material is now expected by 15


December 2003 instead of July 2003. It is still expected that the choice of demonstrator concept will be made by 30 June 2004, as proposed in the MNRF Business Plan. Further work is required to determine whether the Luneburg Lens concept is appropriate for the SKA context or whether its use will be confined to commercial development only. This project is significantly overspent, partly because of a willingness by participants to invest even more heavily in this area of technology development than was originally envisaged. The project plan will be revised accordingly in 2003/4.

3.2.7 MMIC Development

An early prototype integrated receiver chip, developed as part of this MNRF The MMIC Development Program will deliver Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs) for inclusion in the various SKA demonstrators including the Australia Telescope Compact Array Broadband Backend (CABB), the SKA Molonglo Prototype (SKAMP) and other enhancements of ATNF telescopes. These components will include high-speed digital devices for data sampling and transmission, broadband low noise microwave amplifiers and integrated receiver and beam-forming systems. This project will also develop generic technology and expertise for eventual use in the SKA and other next-generation radio-telescopes. As the design of these other projects proceeded, the MMIC requirements became clearer and the specific goals of the MMIC project have been adjusted to meet these requirements. The first year of the project has been successful, not only in beginning the planned first MMIC fabrication run on time but also in laying the foundation for future activities. The major achievement in this period was the completion of a number of InP MMIC designs and their submission for a fabrication run in March 2003. Designs included a range of broadband low noise microwave amplifiers covering the 1 to 12 GHz band and a 40GHz data amplifier aimed at multi-Gbit data transfer systems. This project has successfully ramped up, and during this reporting period marginally overspent as described in Appendix B7.

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3.2.8 SKA Molonglo Prototype (SKAMP)

The Molonglo This project is overall goal is instrument, at

Telescope a joint venture between the University of Sydney and CSIRO. Its to upgrade the Molonglo telescope to be a world-class spectral line the same time developing technologies of relevance to SKA.

The project has been very successful during this reporting period, and all milestones have been completed on schedule. Highlights include the completed design for the 96 station continuum correlator, and the scoping of the wideband feed project. The project has marginally underspent as described in Appendix B8.

3.2.9 SKA Siting project

Mileura station, WA, which is a prime candidate site for the central cores of both LOFAR and SKA, being viewed by Colin Lonsdale (MIT) and Ray Norris (ATNF). 17


This project has the goal of determining requirements and characteristics for Australian siting for the SKA telescope. The project will respond to requests from the international radio astronomy community for general information regarding Australian siting for next-generation radio telescopes. The WA Government is a formal MNRF participant in this project and is contributing its own resources to site studies for future radio telescopes in its State. As a result, this project includes WAspecific outcomes. Studies specific to States other than Western Australia are also being conducted, but are outside the scope of this MNRF. The project has been very successful thus far, and has received a boost from our WA candidate site at Mileura being ranked (on the basis of scientific and technical criteria) by the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) site evaluation committee as the best site in the world for LOFAR. This occurred as a direct result of the interference measurements and other site studies that had been done for the SKA. As a result of this choice of candidate site for LOFAR, suitable regions of the Mid West region of WA have been excluded from mining exploration, and these regions have been carefully characterized. Much of this site characterisation work is common to both LOFAR and SKA, and in this and many other respects, LOFAR may be viewed as Phase 1 of SKA. LOFAR is also being used as a test case for future radio telescope siting to enable Australia to be in the best competitive position when detailed SKA siting requirements become known. During this reporting period, the WA Government have committed $142k compared to the $200k commitment in the Business Plan. The Western Australian Government, through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, has elected to internally absorb some of the salary costs of contributing to the MNRF and not allocate them to the project. This will enable funds to be carried forward into 2004 in anticipation that those funds will be allocated to a comprehensive field testing program.

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3.2.10 SKA Supercomputer Simulations and Baseband Processing (SKASS)

The supercomputer installed at Swinburne as part of this MNRF This SKA-related program at Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) is investigating the ways in which supercomputers can be used to assess and improve the potential capabilities of the SKA, through simulations of sources of radio emission and through the collection and analysis of real radio astronomy data. As a consequence of these activities, tools and hardware will be developed that will significantly enhance the capabilities of existing radio astronomy facilities at the Parkes Observatory and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The first year of this project has been a success. All stated research goals for the first year of the project have been met. Operational supercomputers have been established, verified, and benchmarked at the Hawthorn campus of the University and at the Parkes Observatory. These machines are now operational and available for use by the MNRF consortium as well as by outside users, both domestic and international, providing increased opportunities for scientific research and development to Australian scientists, and potential commercial opportunities for SUT. These machines have been used to complete the first year research milestones for the project. This has been achieved despite a slight underspend described in Appendix B10. This is attributed to start-up delays and is not expected to continue. A boost to this project has come from Australia's involvement with LOFAR, since simulation software written at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for LOFAR has been ported to the Swinburne supercomputer and is now being used for

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SKA simulations. This underlines the degree of similarity and potential crossfertilisation between SKA and LOFAR.

3.3 Issues
3.3.1 Gemini
As noted in Appendix A2, we have not yet secured the level of access to Gemini that was envisaged in the MNRF proposal. This, together with the strengthening Australian dollar (see Fig. 1) leaves a predicted balance of $5.253m (assuming an exchange rate of 0.60). This sum offers the opportunity for further Australian access to large telescopes such as Gemini, in order to complete the goals of the MNRF. The rate of 0.60 is used as it is the approximate two-year average exchange rate, and so is the most appropriate rate to use when making long term budget plans. At the current exchange rate (0.67) the total Gemini balance will be $6.223m, and if the Australian dollar reaches US$0.70 the balance will be $6.579m. This balance may be used to take advantage of any of all of the following potential opportunities: 1. Purchase a greater share of Gemini, should it become available 2. Purchase "additional nights" on Gemini from other members 3. Cover fluctuations in exchange rate, should the Australian dollar fall 4. Commence design studies or detailed negotiations, or build instrumentation, to secure a strategic advantage for Australia in Gemini or other world-class or next-generation telescopes. Options 1-3 are within the scope of the MNRF proposal and business plan. While Option 4 is within the spirit of the MNRF proposal, it may fall beyond the specific goals set out in the Deeds and Business Plan. A number of opportunities have been identified, and they will be pursued with full community consultation within the broad goals of the MNRF.

3.3.2 SKA and LOFAR
SKA clearly remains the primary long-term strategic goal for Australian radioastronomy. However, because of MNRF-related activities, an opportunity has arisen to participate in the design and construction of a "Phase 1" SKA in the shape of the international Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) project. By participating in LOFAR, the strategic outcomes of the MNRF are likely to be significantly enhanced. Furthermore, the LOFAR construction timescale is very similar to that of the MNRF. LOFAR is conceptually a very similar instrument to SKA, and shares many technologies, but it is less ambitious and construction could start in 2004-5. Several overseas commentators have noted that if LOFAR is built in Australia, then there is a high probability that SKA will also be built in Australia. Thus, LOFAR is an attractive stepping-stone towards SKA, for the following reasons: · LOFAR increases the probability that SKA will be built in Australia, · LOFAR demonstrates to our international partners the feasibility of building and operating such an array in Australia, · LOFAR serves as a prototype for many of the technologies that we are developing for SKA, 20


·

LOFAR maintains the momentum, providing a useful stepping-stone between now and the start of construction of SKA in 2010.

At present, none of the objectives of any of the MNRF projects have been altered in response to this new opportunity, and SKA work is proceeding as planned. While LOFAR represents an exciting opportunity to advance our SKA goals, and thus is within the spirit of the MNRF proposal, it may fall beyond the specific goals set out in the Deeds and Business Plan. We intend to set up a community consultation process to establish the optimum strategy for integrating LOFAR and SKA. Although no funds from this MNRF have been expended on LOFAR, LOFAR technology (which is very similar to SKA technology) is already being used to further the goals of the SKA project. For example, an extensive suite of LOFAR simulation software developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been shared with Swinburne, as a potential LOFAR partner, at no cost, and has been installed on the Swinburne supercomputer and used for SKA simulations.

3.3.3 CSIRO ICT Centre
One participant, CTIP (CSIRO Telecommunications and Industrial Physics), has undergone restructuring since the MNRF came into being, and the parts of CTIP which were involved in this MNRF have moved into a new CSIRO Division ­ CICTC (CSIRO Information and Communications Technologies Centre). Although the previous details of the new arrangements are not yet clear, as a Director for the CICTC has not yet been appointed, it is expected that CICTC will take over the role of CTIP in this MNRF.

3.3.4 New Defence Headquarters near MOST
In late 2002 it was announced that a new Operational Headquarters of the Defence Department was to be constructed only a few kilometres from the Molonglo telescope, which is being upgraded under the SKAMP project of this MNRF. Radio signals from this new building have the potential to interfere with the operation of the upgraded telescope, and could be a potential threat to this MNRF. The Defence Department are working with Sydney University to explore options to remove or mitigate the effects of the interference. Options include setting up a joint research project to develop radio frequency interference mitigation techniques over the period 2004-2006.

3.4 Variations to Business Plan
3.4.1 Overview
There have been no significant changes to the business plan. All goals and overall budgets remain substantially as stated in the original business plan drawn up in November 2002. However, there are a number of changes in detail, particularly regarding the detailed funding profile of individual projects. During FY2003/4, a new business plan will be drawn up incorporating these changes, and forwarded to DEST for approval.

3.4.2 Variation to Board Composition
The composition of the Board (AABoM) has been changed from the initial composition as foreseen in the original Business Plan. This change, and the resulting

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membership, has been approved by both DEST and CSIRO, and agreed to by all participants and members of the initial board.

3.4.3 Variation to AAO Schedule of matching contributions
Section 3.3.3(i) of the business plan outlines the contribution to be made by the Anglo-Australian Telescope Board (the entity which is responsible for the AngloAustralian Observatory). The contributions outlined in the business plan are tentative in nature and remain so. Instrumentation opportunities which are expected to arise in 2003/4 are likely to result in a firmer schedule in the 2003/4 annual report. The value of in-kind contributions from instrument development for 2003/4 was $52k compared to the tentative schedule value of $100k, so the schedule of in-kind contributions has been adjusted (see appendix A3) to reflect this while keeping the total commitment over the lifetime of the MNRF unchanged.

3.4.4 Variation to RSAA Schedule of matching contributions
As shown in Appendix A4, the profile of the in-kind contribution of RSAA has changed slightly to accommodate the changing circumstances resulting from the Stromlo fires and the new instrument contracts. The total in-kind contribution over the period of the MNRF is unchanged, and the profile of the cash contribution is unchanged.

3.4.5 Variation to SKASS Schedule of matching contributions
The cash contribution from Dell has been moved from 2002/3 to 2003/4.

3.4.6 Variation to CABB plan
As described in detail in Appendix A5, the budget profile for CABB has been revised from the business plan, but the total amounts, goals, and timescales for completion are identical. The descriptions of deliverables have been finalised.

3.4.7 Variation to MMIC plan
As described in detail in Appendix A7, the profile of the MMIC project has been refined since writing the business plan, resulting in a revised profile of funding and project goals, but maintaining the same overall plan and funding totals.

3.5 Facility's Access regime
Gemini

Access to the additional share of the Gemini telescopes that has been purchased through this MNRF is available to all Australian astronomers, free of charge, through a peer-review process described in Appendix A1. ATCA As part of the development of SKA technologies by projects CABB and MMIC, the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) will be upgraded, and access to this upgraded ATCA will be available to all Australian astronomers, free of charge, through a peer-review process described in Appendix A5. SKAMP The SKAMP project will upgrade the Molonglo telescope. On completion of the SKAMP project, it is planned that proposals for observations will be submitted to the

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Australia Telescope Time Assignment Committee (TAC) for peer review. Observing time will be allocated based on the TAC ranking, with some time set aside for maintenance, development, and Director's discretionary time. SKASS The supercomputers funded by this project are available to all astronomers upon request, as described in Appendix A10.

3.6 Progress with Establishment
The Australian Astronomy MNRF is up and running, and delivering against milestones. Significant establishment milestones include: · The signing of the MNRF deed and relationship deed in November 2002 · The appointment of an MNRF Director (R.P.Norris) in November 2002 · The appointment of an interim Board in November 2002 · The appointment of a newly constituted Board in July 2003.

3.7 Governance
Details of governance are given in Section 2 above, and the initial and final board compositions are given in Appendices C and D.

3.8 Milestones
Detailed tables of performance against milestones for the individual projects are given in Appendices B1-B10.

3.9 Collaboration and Linkages
A key goal of this MNRF is to foster and enhance strategic collaborations at both the national and international level.

3.9.1 Strategic Partnerships: international
Gemini and the SKA are major international collaborations. This MNRF enhances Australia's role in the strategic planning and implementation of both programs. Gemini The Gemini partnership includes the following countries: USA, UK, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Australia. The enhanced role provided by this MNRF has allowed greater Australian engagement with these strategic partners, who play a major role in setting the future directions of world astronomy. This occurs at all levels: · Scientific ­ through increased telescope access and collaboration with international astronomers · Technological ­ through increased participation and influence in the Gemini instrumentation program. · Strategic ­ through an enhanced role in key Gemini advisory positions, including Gemini Board, Gemini Advisory Committees, Gemini New Initiatives Office. A specific example of Australian international scientific leadership was the Second Gemini Future Instrumentation Workshop held in Aspen, Colorado, in June 2003, where the Gemini Partnership came together to determine its scientific aspirations and new instrumentation needs. One of the primary goals of the Gemini MNRF project is

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to increase Australian engagement in the Gemini instrumentation program, and so a series of workshops and meetings at all the major astronomical centres were held over the nine months prior to Aspen. The resulting Australian "Science Cases" document was presented by Australia's seven representatives at the Aspen meeting. The outcomes of the Aspen process overlapped considerably with Australia's interests, and, as a result, there is likely to be significant Australian participation in the design study and procurement process. SKA The International SKA Consortium includes the UK, USA, Canada, China, the Netherlands, India, Italy, Chile, South Africa, and Australia. It is coordinated by the International Steering Committee, a body formed under a Memorandum of Understanding between these partners. This MNRF cements Australia's leading role in this high-profile international endeavour in the following key areas: · Scientific ­ engaging with the international community by developing the science case for the SKA. · Technological ­ working with our international partners to evaluate competing leading-edge technologies for the SKA. · Strategic ­ providing a strong scientific and technical framework to the international community for locating the SKA in Australia, and of Australia to play a lead role in its design and construction. Australia has a strong leadership role in the International SKA Program, and for most of this reporting period Prof .Ron Ekers of ATNF has chaired the International SKA Steering Committee (ISSC). Ron Ekers and Wim Brouw, both of ATNF, have attended ISSC meetings in August 2002 (in The Netherlands) and January 2003 (in Puerto Rico). Other Australians (Carole Jackson, Elaine Sadler, Peter Hall) have attended other international SKA meetings concerned with science cases and engineering. A significant International SKA meeting took place in Groningen, The Netherlands, in August 2002, and was attended by many Australian SKA representatives. Several meetings of specialist groups were organised by Australian SKA members, who were instrumental in driving the agenda. An additional significant international SKA meeting took place in Geraldton, WA, on 29 July -1 August 2003. This included an SKA conference, a meeting of the ISSC, and several meetings of specialist SKA groups. While formally outside the scope of this report, much of the preparation for this meeting took place within the FY2002/3 reporting period. A full report of this meeting will be included in the MNRF annual report for 2003/4. IAU General Assembly The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) took place in Sydney, Australia, in July 2003. While formally outside the scope of this annual report, nearly all the preparation of the meeting was conducted in FY 2002/3 by participants in this MNRF. As well as the many scientific symposia and meetings associated with the General Assembly, of particular note were · The IAU Industry Day, at which members of the optical and radio astronomy instrumentation communities discussed collaborative opportunities with representatives of Australian industry, 24


·

An exhibition open to the public, at which there were several displays of optical and radio astronomical technology, including specific SKA and Gemini displays.

3.9.2 Strategic partnerships: national
The process of developing this MNRF has brought together a number of key partnerships at the national level. A strategic goal of the MNRF is to develop these partnerships into an integrated framework for access to, and development of, Australian astronomical facilities. Key national partnerships include: · The National Committee for Astronomy (NCA). This committee of the Australian Academy of Science provides overarching strategic directions for Australian astronomy. This committee was instrumental in framing the bid for the Gemini-SKA MNRF. · Engineers Australia (EA) ­ promoting industry participation. This is a key strategic relationship, and has resulted in linkages, advocacy, key presentations, and sponsorship. The AABoM chair, Dr. Martin Cole, is a past national president of EA, and a member of PMSEIC and other high-profile bodies. · The ATNF Steering Committee ­ responsible for framing policy for the Australia Telescope National Facility. · The Australian Research Council (ARC). · The Australian Gemini Steering Committee (AGSC) ­ responsible for framing policy for Australian Gemini involvement. · The Australian SKA Consortium (ASKAC) ­ coordinating Australian research programs for the SKA. · The Australian Time Assignment Committee, responsible for allocating the Australian time on the Anglo-Australian and Gemini telescopes, · The Australia Telescope Time Assignment Committee, responsible for allocating the time on existing radiotelescopes, including those to be upgraded by the MNRF. The MNRF complements and builds on these national structures. Specifically, it will use these linkages to achieve its goals in the following key areas: · Framing national scientific directions and collaborations through advice from AGSC and ASKAC. · Fostering a coordinated approach to national facility access. · Providing a national focus for instrumentation research and development in astronomy. · Enhancing and developing links with Australian industry partners A one-day MNRF symposium is planned in 2004, including a joint meeting of AABoM, AGSC, and ASKACC, in which all these elements will be drawn together. The individual project reports (Appendices B1-B10) report on the specifics of how these collaborations have been achieved and maintained. Here we simply note that all projects of the MNRF have been very successful in engendering and maintaining such collaborations.

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3.10 Facility's Contribution to Research and Training
A number of PhD students (described in detail in Appendix B) are associated with the development projects of this MNRF. A large number of additional PhDs will use the upgraded facilities, but as these upgrades are still in progress, it is not yet possible to measure the number of PhDs associated with them. In addition, the MNRF has enabled the hiring of a number of new positions in the technology development areas. These are mainly young people who will receive training as part of their skills development.

3.11 Commercialisation, and contribution to Australian industry
Within this MNRF, participants play the lead role in positioning their work for commercialisation and in dealing with customers. The Facility Office takes a coordinating role, where appropriate and in consultation with the Participants, so that a "critical mass" of combined facility-generated IP may be reached, focused on opportunities and possibly commercialised through a business structure complementary to the Facility's scientific aims. Because this MNRF interacts with a number of different international organisations, each of whom have their own IP policies and practices, the management of IP differs from project to project to optimise the opportunities for development of IP. IP management policies are therefore discussed in individual projects. The technology development projects in this MNRF, both in the SKA and in the Gemini arenas, have involved Australian companies who are working with us to develop new technologies, developing industry expertise in those technologies, and then applying that expertise to other industry challenges. The international linkages developed through working with the MNRF also enable these companies to open up new international markets for their products and services. Examples include (but are not confined to): · Auspace, who are working with RSAA to build the new NIFS instrument for Gemini · Connell-Wagner, who are working with ATNF to explore siting issues for SKA and LOFAR · CEA, who are working with ATNF and CTIP to develop phased-array antenna technology · APT, who are working with ATNF, CTIP, and other CSIRO Divisions to develop new artificial dielectric materials for advanced antenna systems. · Argus Technologies, who are working with Sydney University on the SKAMP upgrade to Molonglo.

3.12 Marketing and Promotion
Our marketing strategy ensures that at each stage of the commercialisation strategy, there is "positioning" through personal contact, publicity, exhibition displays, published papers and conferences that convey the capabilities being generated by the Facility. Participants have the primary responsibility for this marketing, while whenever appropriate, the Facility Office will undertake a coordinating role.

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Communications about the scientific aims and progress of the Facility will address both the scientific community and the public. The scientific community will be informed through existing and well-developed methods, including: · Participant's web pages. · Publications by Participants and users of the facility. · Scientific conferences relating to facility development. · Visits by and interactions with overseas astronomers and engineers. · Through the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that held in Sydney in 2003. Of particular interest was the "Industry Day" held at the IAU General Assembly on 23 July. While this very successful event, bringing astronomers together with industry representatives, lies outside this reporting period, much of the work and planning for this lies within the reporting period. It was accompanied by many outstanding displays by several of the participants of this MNRF. The wider community is informed through: · Press releases and articles of general scientific interest in newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV. Some 63 articles have appeared in the press on the SKA during this reporting period, largely in newspapers such as the Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Canberra Times, the Financial Review, the Weekend Australian, and the West Australian. · Brochures on the SKA. These have been prepared to address interest in the SKA from the scientific, business, educational communities and the general public. · SEARFE ­ a spectrum monitoring awareness project for high school students across the country. The aim of this project is to measure signal levels in the SKA radio spectrum and gain an appreciation of the value of the spectrum and practical experience in radio science. This project is a collaborative venture between ATNF, the University of Sydney, the UNSW, and a number of high schools spread over four States and territories of the Commonwealth. Data collected by the students will be useful in the site selection process. Financial support for this project has been obtained from industry, university, science and engineering institutions. · Science "Outreach" programs run by some Participants. Further details may be found in the individual project reports. In addition, there is a great deal of material available on the web which may be accessed via http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/ska/ and http://www.ausgo.unsw.edu.au/

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3.13 Compliance with Biological & Radiation Safeguards and Environmental Issues
The Facility engages purely in astronomical research and associated technological developments, none of which are considered contentious in terms of science ethics, environmental risks, or danger to participants or others. The Gemini Observatories, with which this Facility is associated, have fulfilled all environmental requirements for their operation, as have the facilities of the Australia Telescope. Any expansion of ATNF activities beyond the existing sites will be subject to an Environmental Impact Study. Site selection studies for the SKA in Western Australia are in collaboration with the Office of Science and Innovation, the WA Department of Conservation and Land Management, and local leaders of the Aboriginal community.

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4.

Financial Report

Detailed financial reports in the format required by DEST are given in the spreadsheets in Appendix G. Here are presented overviews of income and expenditure by project, together with some explanatory notes. Note that all tables are in thousands of dollars except where otherwise stated. Tables 1 and 2 of Appendix G show the actual and budgeted matching contributions by participants.

4.1 General Explanatory Notes
4.1.1 Overall MNRF Facility funding profile
The MNRF business plan proposed a total expenditure of MNRF funds of $3.874m in 2001/3. However, the DEST funding profile allowed an MNRF appropriation of only $2.0514m in 2001/3. It was expected that the shortfall would be met by borrowing from MNRF corporate funds. This borrowing has not yet been necessary because: · The project plans for the CABB and MMIC projects were revised after the business plan was drawn up, with a revised funding profile which reduced their call on MNRF funds in 2002/3. · Delays in signing the Gemini contracts meant that the anticipated Gemini payment for 2002/3 was not made until FY 2003/4. It should be noted that the funding profile is expected to return to be close to the originally planned spending profile in 2003/4.

4.1.2 Overheads
To calculate overheads for all projects, AABoM decided that all participants should use a standard overhead rate of 2.0 on base salary, which means that overheads are calculated as being equal to base salary (i.e. without on-costs). This is stated in Section 3.1 of the business plan and so has been agreed to by all parties, including DEST. However, the DEST tables ask for on-costs (which typically amount to about 25% of base salary) to be included in "salaries". Therefore salary and on-costs are included in the tables as requested, and then in "other costs" are included the remaining overheads of (base salary minus on-costs), which will typically be about 75% of base salary. For CSIRO expenses, overheads have been calculated as 67% of the sum of salaries and on-costs. This figure of 67% has been calculated as the appropriate mean rate for staff working on this MNRF to give the overall overheads multiplier of 2.0.

4.1.3 Expenditure in 2001/2
It was agreed by DEST, and included in the business plan, that expenditure in the MNRF in 2001/2 could be included as part of the MNRF. However, the DEST tables used in Appendix G do not include a column for 2001/2. Therefore, in all cases where there was expenditure in 2001/2, this has been included in the first column of the spreadsheet, which therefore shows expenditure over two financial years.

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4.2 Overview Table 4.1: Budget vs. Expenditure for 2001/3 by project

Project

1. MNRF project office 2. Gemini (increased share) 3. Gemini (RSAA instrumentation) 4. Gemini (AAO instrumentation) 5. CABB 6. 7. 8. 9. NTD MMIC SKAMP Siting

Budgeted Contrib'n From MNRF funds 432 2051 0 0 500 185 500 0 0 205 3873

Budgeted Matching Participant Cash Contrib'n 0 2251 245 0 250 250 300 90 0 85 3471

Budgeted Total Total Variance Matching Budget Expenditure Participant In-kind Contrib'n 50 482 446 36 0 173 112 400 460 300 128 200 588 2411 4302 418 112 1150 895 1100 218 200 805 9682 2469 420 135 358 1621 300 134 117 688 6688 1833 -2 -23 792 -726 800 84 83 117 2994

10. SKASS TOTAL

Notes: · Columns 3 and 4 of this table, and Tables 1-6 in Appendix G, show budget figures given in the (earlier) business plan, as requested by DEST. Financial tables in the project reports (Appendices B1-B10) show budget figures taken from the (later) project plans in Appendices A1-A10, which is more useful for project tracking. In some cases, project plans have been revised since the original business plan was drafted and contain revised spending profiles, and hence budget figures in any one year will differ between the business plan and the project plans. Actual expenditure is, of course, the same in all tables.

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Appendix A ­ Project Plans
For each of the ten MNRF projects, a project plan was drawn up at the start of the project, and in many cases was incorporated as an Annexe to a Participation Deed between the MNRF and the Participant. These Project Plans are included here for reference. The Annual reports of each Project against these Project Plans are included in Appendix B.

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Appendix A1: MNRF Office Project Plan
Project Leader: Ray Norris, CSIRO ATNF Participating Organisations: CSIRO ATNF

Summary
The MNRF Office is set up to administer the Australian Astronomy MNRF. This project plan is brief, as most of the functions of the MNRF are embedded within the nine other projects of the MNRF and are described in their respective annual reports.

1. Overview and Goals
The Facility Director, through the Facility Office, will be responsible for: · Oversight of the operational management of the Facility, · Financial management and reporting, · Reporting to DEST in accordance with the Deed, · Project review and liaison with Participants, · Reporting Facility performance indicators to the Facility Board of Management, · Managing business development and collaboration between Participants and other parties, · Agreements between CSIRO and the Participants, · Meeting Key Performance Indicators determined for the Facility, · Environmental issues, and · Other duties as directed by the Facility Board of Management. The primary goal of the Project Office is to ensure the successful operation of all aspects of the MNRF. The MNRF consists of a number of self-contained projects, and so the role of the Project Office has been largely to oversee these projects, ensure that all the agreements and project plans are in place, and conduct the operation of the Facility Board (the Australian Astronomy Board of Management, or AABoM). A major issue was that the initial board was an interim one, with a composition that was deemed to be unsatisfactory, and so a major task of the MNRF Office was to propose a new board composition that was acceptable to all stakeholders, and then implement that new board structure.

2. Major milestones and Performance Indicators
2.1 Milestones
· · · · · MNRF Deed (between CSIRO and DEST) to be signed by 31 December 2002 MNRF Relationship Deed (between all MNRF participants to be signed by 31 December 2002 Project Plans to be in place, and MNRF Participation Deeds (one each between CSIRO, on behalf of the MNRF office, and each participant) to be signed by 31 December 2002 New board composition to be agreed by 4 June 2003 Annual report to be provided to DEST within three months of the end of each financial year. 32


·

AABoM to meet at least four times per year

2.2 Board Composition
The Australian Astronomy MNRF has a board named AABoM (Australian Astronomy Board of Management), but its initial composition was an interim one, as the MNRF participants were unable to find a composition that satisfied all requirements within the limited time available prior to the signing of the MNRF Deed. That deed stated that the initial board would last for a period of six months from the date of signing the Deed (4 November 2002), and within one month of the end of that period would produce recommendations on the future composition of the board. The participants would then vote on that recommendation. So it is necessary to agree on a recommendation, in consultation with participants and other stakeholders, by 4 June 2003, and then set up this new board.

3. Budget
Table 1 shows the income to be used for the MNRF Office. The large expenditure in 2001-2003 is partly for legal fees for establishing the MNRF. Table 1: Funding for MNRF office. Note that $50k p.a. is provided as an in-kind contribution by the host institution, CSIRO ATNF Year Deliverables Milestone Contribution Contribution Facility In-kind Cash Contribution $m $m $m 01/02 0.00 0.00 0.2755 02/03 Facility 30.6.03 0.05 0.00 0.1565 management services in Agreement. 03/04 As above 30.6.04 0.05 0.00 0.104 04/05 As above 30.6.05 0.05 0.00 0.104 05/06 As above 30.6.06 0.05 0.00 0.104 06/07 As above 30.6.07 0.05 0.00 0.104 Total: 0.25 0.00 Total: 0.848

4. Key personnel
The MNRF Director is Prof. Ray Norris of CSIRO ATNF. Business Manager for the MNRF during the period of setting up all the contracts was Kieran Greene of CSIRO TIP. Membership of both the initial Board composition (up to 4 May 2003) and the current board are given in Appendices C and D.

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Appendix A2: Increased Share of Gemini - Project Plan
Project Leader: Ray Norris, CSIRO ATNF Participating Organisations: · CSIRO ATNF · ARC · ANU RSAA · Sydney University · UNSW · University of Melbourne · Swinburne University of Technology

Summary
The Gemini Partnership is an alliance of seven countries, including Australia, which operates two of the world's largest optical/infrared telescopes: the Gemini telescopes located in Hawaii and Chile. A significant fraction of the Australian Astronomy MNRF funding is allocated to buying an increased Australian share in the Gemini Partnership. This would result in · more telescope nights for Australian astronomers · an increased potential for Gemini instrumentation contracts to Australian institutions · a higher Australian profile on the international stage, resulting in a greater degree of Australian influence on global science In addition, there is a longer-term strategic goal to increase Australian access to nextgeneration optical telescopes. This workplan covers only the payments for access to Gemini and does not include any instrument construction which is described in separate workplans.

1. Overview
1.1 Extract from the Business Plan
The primary aim of the Gemini Program of the MNRF is to increase access for Australian astronomers to the telescopes of the Gemini Observatory. Australia currently has a 4.76% share in Gemini and the intention is to increase access, primarily through acquiring a larger share using the funds available from the MNRF and matching funds. An additional aim is to develop existing optical/infrared instrumentation expertise at AAO, RSAA and collaborators by increasing the Australian participation in Gemini instrumentation contracts. The primary aim of purchasing Gemini share with the MNRF funds may be affected by a number of factors including: the amount of share relinquished by other Gemini partners, competition for share by other partners and exchange rate variations. As these factors are not under the control of the Facility there is a possibility that Facility

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funds available will exceed the cost of the share available for purchase. In this case, the Board of Management will, in consultation with DEST, the ARC and Participants consider options that best serve the interests of Australian astronomers and the broader community. Options that may be considered include (1) buying observing "nights" on Gemini from other Gemini partners to supplement time available through share or (2) contributing to Gemini instrumentation projects that which may, in turn, be used as offsets to gain extra Gemini share or observing nights. Implementation of any option other than the direct purchase of a larger Gemini share, as envisaged in the MNRF Proposal, is contingent on the approval of DEST and other parties acting for the Facility in negotiations with Gemini.

1.2 Overview of Gemini negotiations
At the time of writing the MNRF proposal, Australia owned a 4.76% share of the Gemini telescopes. It was known that Chile was relinquishing its 4.76% share, and it was hoped Australia would be able to purchase the entire Chilean share, doubling the Australian share of Gemini to nearly 10%. This proposal had a buy-in cost of US$9.6m (for the capital payments) plus a planned annual operating cost of US$1.165m The total cost over 5 years would be A$25.7m, assuming an exchange rate of 0.60. We planned to increase the benefit to Australia by making some of the buy-in payment in the form of in-kind instrumentation rather than cash, and had been assured informally that this was likely to be possible. This strategy has so far been partially successful. The full strategy has not been able to be realised for the following reasons: · The MNRF was funded for $23.5m rather than the requested $27.85m. · Other Gemini partners also made bids for the Chilean share · Our proposal to contribute in-kind instrumentation as well as cash was declined by the Gemini Partnership. After extended negotiations with the other partners seeking to acquire part of the Chilean share, Australia agreed to take up 30% of Chile's 4.76% share, i.e. an increase of 1.43%. As a result, at the November 2002 Gemini Board meeting the Gemini partners finally settled the distribution of the 4.76% Chile share amongst the four bidding partners (US, Australia, Canada, Brazil) as follows: Country USA Australia Canada Brazil Fraction of Chilean share 52.5% 30.0% 15.0% 2.5% Resulting additional share of Gemini 2.499% 1.428% 0.714% 0.119%

The overall shares of the Partnership then became: USA 50.12% UK 23.81% Canada 15.00% Australia 6.19% Brazil 2.50% Argentina 2.38%

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As we purchased balance of funds plan, the balance access to Gemini

1.43% of Gemini rather than 4.76% as budgeted for, there remains a in the Gemini MNRF program. As envisaged in the MNRF business of the Gemini MNRF program funding is available to gain further and other major telescopes.

2 Goals
The primary goal of this element of the MNRF is to increase Australian access to Gemini, resulting in · more telescope nights for Australian astronomers · an increased potential for Gemini instrumentation contracts to Australian institutions · an higher Australian profile on the international stage, resulting in a greater degree of Australian influence on global science The additional telescope nights will be made available to all Australian astronomers through the peer-review process already used for the existing Gemini telescope nights and the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). Specifically, the process is conducted by the Australian Time Allocation Committee (ATAC) which is operated by the AngloAustralian Observatory (AAO). Construction Contracts for Gemini Instrumentation are awarded by the Gemini Partnership in an open competitive tender process. Australian expertise gained by use of Gemini facilities will increase the innovative character of Australian instrumentation, increasing the likelihood that an Australian instrument will be selected.

3 Major milestones and Performance Indicators
3.1 Milestones
· · · The agreement with Gemini will be signed by ARC, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government, by November 2003. Australian astronomers will have access to an increased number of nights on Gemini by January 2003 A decision will be made on the strategic use of the balance of the MNRF Gemini funding by mid 2004

3.2 Key Performance Indicators
Key performance Indicators will be · The number of nights on Gemini used by Australian scientists · The number of papers produced from these Gemini observations · The number of Australian graduate students having access to the Gemini telescopes · The number, value, and performance of Australian instruments built for Gemini

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4 Budget
4.1 MNRF Income for Gemini
Table 1 shows the income from MNRF funding to be used for the purchase of the additional Gemini share. Table 1: Income from MNRF for new subscription to Gemini 2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 2005-6 2006-7 TOTAL 2.051 3.436 3.677 3.885 1.476 14.527

4.2 Matching contributions in cash
Part of the matching contributions consists of cash payments made towards the existing (4.76%) share of Gemini, as shown below. Each institution shown makes an annual payment into a trust fund set up at Sydney University, which is then paid directly to the US National Science Foundation (NSF) who administer the Gemini Partnership. In addition, an annual component is paid from an ARC linkage infrastructure grant, and there is a $1.5m reserve (accumulated from previous Gemini payments, and held as a reserve against possible exchange rate fluctuations) in the Sydney University trust account which has been committed as matching funding. Table 2: Matching payments made towards existing Gemini subscription. All amounts are in A$k
2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 2005-6 2006-7 TOTAL

(1) Institutional subscriptions: CSIRO ATNF ANU RSAA Sydney Uni UNSW Uni. Melbourne Swinburne (2) ARC linkage grant (3) Sydney Uni trust fund TOTAL

32 245 65 210 52 10 1637 0 2251

32 245 65 210 52 10 1637 0 2251

32 245 65 210 52 10 1637 0 2251

32 245 65 210 52 10 1637 0 2251

32 245 65 210 52 10 1637 1500 3751

160 1225 325 1050 260 50 8185 1500 12755

Note that the University of Southern Queensland also currently makes an annual payment of $5k, but were unable to make a formal commitment of this for future years, and therefore declined to be named as partners in the MNRF proposal.

4.3 In-kind matching contributions
The Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO) and the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) of the Australian National University have committed $2.6m and $1.213m respectively in in-kind matching contributions. These amounts will be used for the design and construction of instrumentation that enhances Australia's engagement in Gemini and other large telescope projects... These are detailed separately in a workplan prepared by each of these institutions. There is likely to be a proposal to revise the RSAA contribution because of the Mt. Stromlo fires. 37


4.4 MNRF Expenditure on Gemini
The negotiations with the Gemini Partnership, described in Section 1 of this workplan, started in 2002, concluding in 2003, and Australian astronomers had access to the additional 1.428% of Gemini time from 1 February 2003. Gemini subscriptions are paid in US$, and so are subject to exchange rate variations. The payment for the additional share of Gemini consists of five parts, all of which are to be paid to the NSF as Executive Agency for the Gemini Project, and all of which provide Australian astronomers with increased observing time: 1. Operating payments Regular payments are made to cover the additional operations costs associated with purchase of 30% of the Chile share. A payment of 50% of the annual operating cost is due on 1 March of each year and 50% on 1 July of each year. The amounts payable in each calendar year for the additional share are determined by the immediately prior Gemini Board meeting. For planning purposes, the payment schedule is expected to be: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 US$ US$ US$ US$ US$ 364,280 382,188 401,434 421,362 442,430

The amounts shown for 2006 and 2007 are indicative, as the Gemini planning budget beyond the end of 2005 is not yet finalised. The figures given assume the continuation of the current 5% annual increase. 2. Back payments for Chilean operating expenses. As part of the negotiated agreement, Australia agreed to pay 30% of Chile's (unpaid) 2001 and 2002 operations costs, resulting in the following payments by Australia, which are due as soon as the agreement is signed. 2001 US$ 265,547 2002 US$ 349,992 3. Back payments for UK nights. As part of the negotiated agreement, Australia agreed to pay for "UK nights" on Gemini-S that were relinquished as part of the agreement that (finally) settled the Chile share purchase deal. There are to be two payments, each of US$52,843. One should be paid with the 2003 operating payment, and the other in 2004. 4. Capital repayment to Chile For Australia's purchase of the additional 1.43% share, a payment for Chile's previous capital investment in Gemini is required. The total amount of US$2,810,047 is to be paid by 30 November 2005. This will be paid in three equal payments of US$936,682 due on 1 Nov 2003, 1 Nov 2004 and 1 Nov 2005. 5. Payment for Argentina. Argentina failed to pay its 2002 operations contribution of US$672,954. The Gemini Board agreed that the other partners will pay Argentina's 2002 operations costs in 38


proportion to the new overall shares and assume Argentina's 2003 telescope time in the same proportions. The payment of this amount for the existing 4.76% will be met by the ARC, and the payment for the new 1.43% will be from the MNRF. Thus an amount of 1.43/(100-2.38) * US$672,954 = US$9815 is payable by the MNRF in 2003. Similarly, if Argentina fails to pay its share of 2003 costs, US$11125 will be payable by the MNRF in 2004. A detailed payment schedule, including all of these parts, is shown in Table 5 (at the end of this workplan). The total amounts payable, grouped by financial year, are summarised as follows: TABLE 3: SUMMARY OF MNRF PAYMENTS TO GEMINI BY YEAR Date 2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 2005-6 2006-7 Amount (US$) 510345 1723876 1328493 1348080 653111 Amount (A$) 850575 2873127 2214155 2246800 1088518 Amount in A$ is calculated assuming an exchange rate of 0.60 FINANCIAL TOTAL 5563905 9273175

4.5 Balance of Gemini part of MNRF funding

Figure 1: Australian dollar exchange rate

The reduced cost of access to Gemini, compared to our original plans, together with the strengthening Australian dollar (see Fig. 1) leaves a predicted balance of $5.253m (assuming an exchange rate of 0.60). This sum offers the opportunity for further Australian access to large telescopes. Table 4: Balance sheet for Gemini MNRF funding Figures are in A$m. Year 2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 Income 2.051 3.436 3.677 Expenditure -0.851 -2.873 -2.214 Balance 1.2 0.563 1.463 (assuming exchange rate of 0.60) 2005-6 3.885 -2.247 1.638 2006-7 1.476 -1.089 0.387 TOTAL 14.527 -9.274 5.253

The rate of 0.60 is used as it is the approximate two-year average exchange rate, and so is the most appropriate rate to use when making long term budget plans. At the 39


current exchange rate (0.67) the total Gemini balance will be $6.223m, and if the Australian dollar reaches US$0.70 the balance will be $6.579m. This balance may be used to address any of all of the following potential opportunities: 1. Purchase a greater share of Gemini, should it become available 2. Purchase "additional nights" on Gemini from other members 3. Cover fluctuations in exchange rate, should the Australian dollar fall 4. Commence design studies or detailed negotiations, or build instrumentation, to secure a strategic advantage for Australia in Gemini or other world-class or next-generation telescopes. Options 1-3 are within the scope of the MNRF proposal and business plan. While Option 4 is within the spirit of the MNRF proposal, it may fall beyond the specific goals set out in the Deeds and Business Plan. A number of opportunities have been identified, and they will be pursued with full community consultation within the broad goals of the MNRF.

5 Key personnel
The Australian Gemini Scientist is Prof. Warrick Couch of UNSW, and the Australian International Gemini Project Board Member is Dr. Gary Da Costa of RSAA. The positions are appointed by the Australian Gemini Steering Committee.

6 Issues
· Exchange rate fluctuations. As our income from DEST is in A$, but our payments to Gemini are in US$, exchange rate fluctuations were considered to be a potential hazard for long-term viability of this project. Hedging was considered as an option. Fortunately, in view of the strengthening Australian dollar, no funds were hedged. This remains an option if the Australian dollar shows signs of weakening. Unspent Gemini funding. A decision must be made on whether to explore further opportunities for access to Gemini, or whether changing circumstances make it more attractive to explore, subject to DEST approval, alternative ways of gaining Australian access to other large telescopes. Ability of Australian scientists to produce world-class science from the use of Gemini. This project buys Australia a larger share of the Gemini telescopes. The ability of Australian scientists to make effective use of this share will depend on both (a) the provision of first-class instrumentation on the Gemini telescopes, and (b) the ability of scientists to mount first-class projects on these instruments. While Australian astronomers have an enviable track record of performing world-class science, the instrumentation on Gemini has been delayed for a variety of reasons (including the Mt Stromlo fires). The capabilities of the Gemini telescopes have been slower in ramping up than envisaged by the user community in all partner countries. This has been reflected in a relatively slow start-up in usage of the Gemini telescopes by Australian scientists. As the capabilities of the telescopes increase, we are confident that Australian scientists will take their accustomed place at the front of the global field.

·

·

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7 Project Plan
As this project is concerned only with funding the additional subscription to Gemini, the project plan is encapsulated in Section 4 of this workplan. The project plan may acquire further elements once the issues discussed in Section 6 are resolved. The outcomes of this project will be scientific results, as indicated by scientific papers published in refereed journals, training, as indicated by the number of Australian graduate students having access to the Gemini telescopes, and the number, value, and performance of Australian instruments built for Gemini

8 Intellectual Property and Commercialisation
No commercial IP will be generated by the activities in this workplan. Scientific discoveries will result from observations funded by this program, and these will be placed in the public domain through publication in international refereed scientific journals.

9 Education and Outreach
We expect many graduate students to be trained in astronomy as the result of the additional access to Gemini funded by this program, and this will be one of the key performance indicators of this program.

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Table 2: Matching payments made towards existing Gemini subscrip 2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 (1) Institutional subscriptions: CSIRO ATNF 32 32 32 ANU RSAA 245 245 245 Sydney Uni 65 65 65 UNSW Uni. Melbourne Swinburne (2) ARC linkage grant (3) Sydney Uni trust fund TOTAL 210 52 10 1637 0 2251 210 52 10 1637 0 2251 210 52 10 1637 0 2251

tion. All amounts are in A$k 2005-6 2006-7 TOTAL 32 245 65 210 52 10 1637 0 2251 32 245 65 210 52 10 1637 1500 2251 YEAR TOTAL 5563905 9273175 160 1225 325 1050 260 50 8185 1500 12755

TABLE 3: SUMMARY OF MNRF PAYMENTS TO GEMINI Date 2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 2005 Amount (US$) 510345 1723876 1328493 1348 Amount (A$) 850575 2873127 2214155 2246 Amount in A$ is calculated assuming an exchange rate of

BY FINANCIAL -6 2006-7 080 653111 800 1088518 0.6

TABLE 5: MNRF PAYMENT SCHEDULE TO GEMINI (ALL IN US$) Date Operating Chile backpayments UK nights Chile capital Argentina TOTAL Mar-03 182140 265547 52843 9815 510345 Jul-03 182140 349992 52843 936682 584975 936682 11125 202219 191094 936682 936682 200717 200717 936682 936682 210681 210681 221215 221215 Nov-03 Mar-04 191094 Jul-04 191094 Nov-04 Mar-05 200717 Jul-05 200717 Nov05 Mar-06 210681 Jul-06 210681 Mar-07 221215 Jul-07 221215 TOTAL 2011694 615539 105686 2810046 20940 5563905

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Appendix A3: RSAA Gemini Instrumentation - Project Plan
Project Leader: Prof. Penny Sackett, ANU RSAA Participating Organisations: ANU RSAA

1. Overview
The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) Of the Australian National University (ANU) will participate in the Australian Astronomy MNRF through four major areas: 1. Support for the operating costs of the Australian share of Gemini Telescopes throughout the period of the MNRF in the amount of $245k per year through the period of the MNRF (this is covered primarily by Project Plan A2 and is not considered further here). 2. In-kind contributions of unreimbursed costs and overheads associated with the construction of the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) for the Gemini North 8m telescope, from July 2002 through completion of NIFS or the end of the MNRF, whichever comes first. 3. Contingent upon the award of a new instrument contract (e.g. GSAOI) to the RSAA by the Gemini consortium, in-kind contributions of unreimbursed costs associated with the construction of that instrument for Gemini, through completion of the instrument or the end of the MNRF, whichever comes first. 4. Contingent upon the award of a new instrument contract (as in c) above) of suitable size to the RSAA, and the exchange rate of AUD/USD remaining at or below that assumed in the instrument contract, RSAA will also make a cash contribution of $70k per year over the five-year lifetime of the MNRF. Should these contingency conditions be met, this cash contribution from the RSAA is only to be used for increased Australian access to the Gemini telescopes.

2. Goals
The goals of the participation of the RSAA in the Australian Astronomy MNRF are: · increased Australian access to the Gemini telescopes, · improved scientific productivity of the Gemini telescopes through improved and expanded instrumentation built by RSAA, and · increased development of technical and engineering expertise at the RSAA through the design and construction of state-of-the-art astronomical instruments for the benefit of Australia. The original list of milestones for the instrumentation plan is shown below. These have been modified (italics) due to the destruction of NIFS I in the 18 January 2003 bushfires of Canberra, and the successful award of a second Gemini instrument, the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) to RSAA. The NIFS instrument is being rebuilt, with the aid of subcontractor Auspace, Ltd. The delivery of NIFS II will thus be delayed with respect to that expected for NIFS I, while the second Gemini instrument built by RSAA is ahead of the originally-planned schedule.

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Major Milestone Milestones Complete each of the remaining milestones 1. for the completion of NIFS. I. Complete each of the remaining milestones for the completion of NIFS II. Deliver NIFS I to Gemini. 2. Deliver NIFS II to Gemini. 3. Successfully commission NIFS I on Gemini North. Successfully commission NIFS II on Gemini North. Award of a new instrument contract from Gemini. GSAOI contract awarded to RSAA. Contingent on 4.) above, complete each of the milestones associated with the design and construction of said instrument.

Date July 2003

December 2004
September 2003

February 2005
March 2004

June 2005
July 2004

4.

November 2002
January 2007

5.

September 2005
6. Contingent on 4.) above, deliver said instrument. March 2007

November 2005
7. Contingent of 4.) above, successfully commission said instrument. September 2007

May 2006

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3. Timelines and Budget
RSAA's Gemini Instrument Project Plan is shown in brief below. In addition, RSAA contributes to Project 2, Increased Access to Gemini, through a cash contribution of 0.245$m per year to support Australia's share of Gemini operating costs, which is not shown in the budget table below. In-kind expected for NIFS I and GSAOI estimated at the beginning of the MNRF are shown, and will be reported against annually.
Year 01/02 02/03 Project Goals Milestone Contribution In-kind $m 0.00 0.2030 0.0914 30.6.04 0.2030 0.0914 30.6.05 nil 0.0914 30.6.06 nil 0.0914 30.6.07 nil 0.0914 Total: 0.863 Total: 1.575 0.245 0.07 0.245 0.07 0.245 0.07 0.245 0.07 Contribution Cash $m 0.00 0.245 0.07

03/04

04/05

05/06

06/07

Gemini subscription Cash contrib. (caveats) NIFS development: Stage 1 Second Instrument Development: Stage 1 Gemini subscription Cash contrib. (caveats) NIFS development: Stage 2 Second Instrument Development: Stage 2 Gemini subscription Cash contrib. (caveats) NIFS development complete Second Instrument Development: Stage 3. Gemini subscription Cash contrib. (caveats) NIFS development complete Second Instrument Development: Stage 4 Gemini subscription Cash contrib. (caveats) NIFS development complete Second Instrument Development: Stage 5

30.6.03

The $863k of in-kind contribution consists of two parts: · Unreimbursed $406k in-kind associated with second instrument (eg, GSAOI construction/delivery). · Unreimbursed $457k in-kind (after 1 July 2002) associated with NIFS construction/delivery

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4. Key Personnel
Project Leader: NIFS Instrument Scientist: NIFS Instrument Engineer: NIFS Instrument Manager: Professor Penny D. Sackett Dr. Peter McGregor Mr. John Hart Mr. Jan van Harmelen

5. Issues
As indicated in the original Business Plan, if a second Gemini instrument contract (eg, GSAOI) were not awarded to the RSAA during the period of the MNRF, the RSAA would not be able to meet its contributions c) and d) above, as explained in the contingency clause. If a contract is made, but it is not of sufficient size or the exchange rate is not at or below that assumed in the instrument contract, RSAA will not be in a position to make the cash contribution listed in d) above, as explained in the contingency clause. The primary risks for completion of instrument contracts are: loss of key personnel and unfavourable exchange rates.

6. Project Plan
Detailed project plans for NIFS and any other Gemini instruments built at RSAA will be available on request. Substantial documentation is publicly available electronically via the homepage of RSAA at http://www.mso.anu.edu.au .

7. Intellectual Property and Commercialisation
Intellectual property will remain with the RSAA and the Gemini consortium. Opportunities will be taken where possible to work with Australian industry and thereby encourage two-way transfer of technological expertise to and from industry and academia, while protecting ANU's ownership of IP.

8. Education and Outreach
The public is interested in astronomical instrument development at the RSAA; tours of the workshops and descriptions of the instrumentation and their uses prove to be popular at Open Days and in public talks. The instruments will be used as examples in the PhD level course given in Astronomical Observing and Instrumentation at the ANU. Where possible, PhD projects will be offered associated with instrumentation construction, to train a next generation of Australian instrument builders.

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Appendix A4: AAO Instrumentation - Project Plan
Project Leader: Chris Tinney, AAO Participating Organisations: AAO

Executive summary
The AAO proposes to enhance the Australian astronomy community's engagement with 8m and larger telescopes. It will do this by providing resources to support the `back office' functions for the allocation of observing time on Australia's share of the International Gemini Observatory, and investing in instrumentation technologies for 8m and larger telescopes. A number of opportunities are currently arising and so the longer-term goals have deliberately been left open to enable flexibility in our negotiations on future instrumentation contracts.

1 Overview
The Anglo-Australian Observatory's (AAO) work plan has the general aim of providing increased engagement with 8m and larger telescopes to Australian astronomers. It does this by (a) directly facilitating increased access to observing time with the International Gemini Observatory's facilities for Australian astronomers, and (b) facilitating the development and implementation of new instrumentation and instrumentation technologies, which align with, and enhance, the scientific interests of Australian astronomers in their use of the facilities of the International Gemini Observatory and other telescopes of 8m class and larger. The work plan does this via the following specific activities, totalling AAO commitments of at least A$2.6m over the years 2002-2007. Activity Number 1. 2. 3. Description AAO support of the `back office' functions for Australian applications for telescope time on the International Gemini Observatory (A$12K per annum) Gemini wide-field Multi-Object Spectrograph ("KAOS") pre-concept study (A$52K). Other instrumentation development (TBD)

In addition, AAO will acquire five nights guaranteed time with the OzPoz facility of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) and will explore contributing this to the Australian astronomical community in 2005 as an inkind contribution valued at A$320k.

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2 Major milestones
Activity Number 1. 2. 3. Milestone Smoothly receive and process Australian Gemini proposals. Publication of KAOS "Purple Book". Other instrumentation milestones TBD. Date 30 March and 30 September each year from 2002-2007 June 30, 2003.

3 Timelines and budget
Year

1.Gemini Proposal Back Office

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 Total
Year

Contrib. In-kind ($m) 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.06 Contrib. In-kind ($m) 0.052

Contrib. Cash ($m

MNRF Contrib . ($m)

2. KAOS Pre-concept Study -

Contrib. Cash ($m

MNRF Contrib . ($m)

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 Total
Year

0.052 4.Other instrumentation contracts (TBD) Preliminary estimate Preliminary estimate Preliminary estimate Preliminary estimate Contrib. In-kind ($m) 0.288 0.4 0.8 1.0 2.488 Contrib. Cash ($m MNRF Contrib . ($m)

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 Total

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4 Key personnel
Brian Boyle (AAO Director 2001-July 2003) Chris Tinney (AAO Acting Director, July 2003-December 2003) Matthew Colless (AAO Director, January 2004 onwards) Stuart Ryder (AAO) Joss Hawthorn (Head of Instrument Science, AAO) Sam Barden (Head of Instrumentation, AAO)

5 Issues
Activity 1 is an on-going activity with no risks or contingencies. Activity 2 is a low-risk science/design activities in which the AAO has an extensive track record. Activity 3 has deliberately been left open to enable flexibility in our negotiations on future instrumentation contracts, as there are some excellent opportunities emerging on a short timescale, and so it would be premature to be too specific at this stage. The chances of success of obtaining a major contract are believed to be extremely high.

6 Project Plan
Project plans for activities 1 and 2 are already sufficiently covered above. Project plans for activity 3 will be drawn up once instrument contracts are finalised.

7 Intellectual Property and Commercialisation
There are no specific arrangements yet in place to manage IP and to produce commercial outcomes. The AAO does not have a register of background IP. The MNRF will discuss with the AAO how the IP can best be managed within the terms and spirit of the MNRF once the plans for activity 3 become clearer.

8 Education and Outreach
Outreach and education has not been built into the plan. The AAO is not a university and does not have PhD or honours students working on the projects.

9 Key Performance Indicators
The key performance indicators for these activities will be successful delivery of the milestones summarized in section 2.

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Appendix A5: Australia Telescope Compact Array Broadband Backend (CABB) - Project Plan
Project Leader: Warwick Wilson, CSIRO ATNF Participating Organisations: CSIRO ATNF

Executive Summary
This program will deliver, by mid-2006, a new broadband backend system for the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at Narrabri. The maximum bandwidth of the instrument will be increased from the current 128MHz to 2GHz, a factor of 16 improvement. This will improve the continuum sensitivity of the ATCA by at least a factor of four as well as providing a greatly enhanced spectral line performance, particularly at the higher observing frequencies. The system will not only cater for the existing six antennas of the ATCA but will also provide for connections to additional antennas. This will allow the integration into the array of possible future antennas, such as might be constructed as part of the SKA New Technology Demonstrator (NTD) project, or for special reference antennas required for interference mitigation. An implicit but essential part of this project is the development of technology for the SKA. The correlator and associated signal processing components of the SKA could not be built using existing technology, and this project is effectively using the upgrade of the ATCA as a development path for this technology.

1. Overview
The major components of the upgrade are: 1. A new conversion and local oscillator system which together will act as the interface between the existing receivers and the digitisers. All current and projected receiver systems will be accommodated in the new design. A novel feature of this system will be that all local oscillators will be fixed in frequency. The required fringe rotation of the signals will be carried out in the downstream signal processing section of the backend. 2. New wideband digitisers which will sample the full 2 GHz bandwidth with multi-bit accuracy. The resulting high dynamic range will mean that the instrument will tolerate high levels of radio frequency interference and allow mitigation techniques to be implemented in the downstream signal processing section of the backend. 3. A wideband transmission system for transporting the data from the antennas to the central site. This system will make use of the single mode optical fibre network which was recently installed at the ATCA as part of a previous MNRF upgrade. 4. A bulk delay compensation system to correct for the varying time delays experienced by the received signals. This system will provide coarse digital delay correction. Fine delay tracking will be implemented in the downstream signal processing section of the backend.

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5. A new digital signal processing system based on a novel Polyphase Digital Filter Bank (DFB) structure that has been developed recently at ATNF and CTIP. In its baseline mode of operation, the DFB will provide high frequency resolution across the entire 2 GHz band, with up to 4096 frequency channels. An inherent property of the DFB structure is its excellent isolation between channels, which is important for interference cancellation. The DFB will be a highly versatile programmable filter system that will provide multiple subbands at selectable bandwidths, resolutions and centre frequencies within the 2GHz band. 6. A new broadband tied array adder system for the ATCA. This will allow the instrument to be operated at full bandwidth in real time phased array mode. The project plan includes the development and construction of the following two prototype instruments. 1. A proof of concept DFB spectrometer, which will be used to investigate and demonstrate the capabilities of the new structure in an operational environment. The bandwidth of this device will be initially around 300MHz. It is likely that this demonstrator instrument will be installed for limited periods at other ATNF facilities, such as the single dish millimetre wave system at the ATNF Mopra observatory. It will have the potential to significantly enhance their performance. 2. A set of full bandwidth (2GHz) DFBs which, when combined other hardware, will provide an 8GHz bandwidth spectrometer for the ATNF Mopra observatory. The design and development of the 2GHz DFB is an objective of the CABB project. Resources for the development of the full spectrometer system will come from other sources.

2 Goal
The goal of the program is to develop new signal processing techniques for future use in the SKA. The viability of these techniques will be demonstrated through their application to the construction of a new broadband backend system for the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at Narrabri. This involves the replacement of all electronic systems involved in the data path from the output of the receivers to the online correlator. The maximum bandwidth of the instrument will be increased from the current 128MHz to 2GHz, a factor of 16 improvement. Apart from the resultant increase in sensitivity at all observing frequencies, the wider bandwidth is an important factor in making the ATCA a more effective instrument at the new millimetre wave observing bands.

3. Milestones
Date January 2002 April 2003 February 2004 July 2005 January 2006 July 2006 July 2007 Milestone Commencement of project ­ Conceptual Design Completion of DFB Demonstrator spectrometer Testing of prototype photonic data transmission system Commencement of installation at Narrabri Current six antenna ATCA operational with new backend Completion of integration of NTD into ATCA system Broadband ATCA tied array operational

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4 Timelines and budget
The following budget profile is taken from the business plan. The deliverables are unchanged in overall scope but their descriptions have been refined. . Year Project Summary, Goals and Contrib. Contrib. MNRF In-kind Cash Contrib Deliverables ($k) ($k) . ($k) 01/02 Conceptual design studies 100 0 0 02/03 Conceptual design continues 300 250 500 Develop DFB demonstrator 03/04 Develop prototypes of final system 350 400 725 04/05 Move from prototyping to full 350 700 750 production 05/06 Production and installation 100 150 200 06/07 Tied array installation 100 100 200 1300 1600 2375 Total To calculate the fractions of these future budgets that will be used on salaries, capital, and other, it has been assumed that salaries account for 41%, capital for 32%, and other for 27%. These figures are based on experience to date with this project.

5 Key personnel
Project Leader: Dr. Warwick Wilson Senior design engineers: Mr. Dick Ferris, Mr. Evan Davis, Mr. Mark Leach, Dr. Paul Roberts Design Engineers: Mr. Scott Saunders Science Liaison: Dr. Chris Phillips.

6 Project Plan
See attached Gantt chart

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Appendix A6: New Technology Demonstrator - Project Plan
Project Leader: Peter Hall, ATNF(2001-3), John Kot, CICTC(2003-) Participating Organisations: · CSIRO ATNF, · CSIRO ICT Centre (CICTC), · CSIRO TIP (CTIP) · CSIRO Manufacturing and Industrial Technology (CMIT) · Macquarie University · CISCO Systems (Australia) · CEA Pty Ltd. · APT Pty. Ltd.

Executive summary
A multi-beam radio telescope generates many independent beams on the sky, all using the same physical collecting area. This is a key technology for next-generation radio telescopes such as LOFAR and the SKA. It leads to a number of major benefits: · A significant part of the telescope infrastructure is available simultaneously to multiple users, leading to more efficient use of the instrument. · Upgrading the telescope to add extra beams or higher bandwidth is achieved principally through upgrading the processing power available, and this can be done as the cost of the processing power falls with time. · The flexibility to form shaped beams allows dynamic RFI mitigation through pointing nulls in the antenna beam pattern at the interfering source. The global nature of radio communications means that this capability will be vital for future radio telescopes, especially since key science drivers such as observations of the early Universe at high red-shift will involve observing outside reserved frequency bands. · The flexibility of the instrument will lead to new science capabilities through the development of new observing modes. · The goal of the NTD project is to develop a wideband, multi-beam technology demonstrator comprising a "mini-station" of a next-generation radio telescope, incorporating the core technologies of: · wide field-of-view microwave lenses or phased-array antennas; · optical signal transport; and · digital signal processing techniques such as achromatic beam-forming and wide-field imaging. The target date for completion of the NTD is 2007.

1. Overview
The NTD will be a representative "mini-station" of a next-generation radio telescope such as LOFAR or the SKA. The NTD itself can be broken into a number of principle sub-systems. The NTD project will comprise: a) Engineering development of the principle sub-systems, and

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b) System engineering to integrate the sub-systems; to understand how design decisions in one sub-system impact on the overall system; to understand how the NTD will be incorporated into an overall telescope such as the SKA. The principle sub-systems of the NTD are: Either: An optional wide field-of-view (FOV) quasi-optical antenna ahead of the receiving antenna array, to increase the collecting area for operation at cm wavelengths (e.g. Luneburg Lens) or A wideband receiving antenna array, incorporating highly-integrated RF receivers Optical signal transport to carry the information from the receiving array to the backend processor A backend processor for beam forming and correlation These sub-systems, the principle technological challenges, and our approach to each are described in more detail below. The decision between options (a) and (b) above will depend on the results of initial testing of prototypes.

1.1 The wide FOV quasi-optical antenna
To achieve a given collecting area using phased arrays of small antennas, the number of antennas required increases as the square of the upper frequency of operation. To achieve the equivalent collecting area of a moderate-sized dish becomes very expensive at cm wavelengths. To increase the collecting area, a quasi-optical antenna system consisting of lenses or reflectors may be placed ahead of the receiving array. To maintain the benefits of multi-beaming, the quasi-optical antenna must have a large FOV. Spherical lenses (the "Luneburg Lens") are a unique class of optical antenna that can place beams without restriction upon the entire sky. The practical collecting area that can be achieved by this type of lens is limited by the overall weight and loss. The key to increasing this limit is new composite dielectric materials offering much lower density and loss. The requirements for loss, density, isotropy, uniformity and dispersion required for a telescope such as the SKA present a major challenge. This challenge is being tackled through cross-divisional interactions within CSIRO, bringing together expertise in relevant areas: theory and measurement of the electromagnetic properties of materials (CICTC); polymer foam technology (CMS); and materials science and manufacturing technology (CMIT). For analysis and design of spherical lenses and integrated feed systems, there is a PhD project undertaken by Nasiha Nikolic, jointly supervised between CSIRO and Macquarie University.

1.2 The receiving array
A receiving array may be used either · As an aperture array, in which the array is to be the main receiving antenna, as in the Netherlands SKA prototype or the LOFAR antenna · At the focus of a Luneburg lens · At the focus of a reflector, which might either be a parabolic dish (like Parkes) or a cylinder (like Molonglo), or a hybrid wide-field shaped reflector.

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The antenna elements forming the receiving array must be capable of sufficient packing density to fully-sample the electromagnetic field at the maximum operating frequency. They must be capable of wideband performance, over at least a 3:1 bandwidth and preferably higher. The receiving array must have good polarization performance. For an aperture array, this performance must be maintained while the beam is scanned off axis to at least 45o and ideally considerably greater than 60o for VLBI operation. This part of the project is based principally upon a PhD project supervised jointly between CSIRO and Macquarie University, commencing in 2003-04. This work builds strongly on existing links with ASTRON, and it is intended also to further develop links with our MNRF industry partners CEA P/L.

1.3 Integrated receivers
The sheer number of receivers in a large array dictates a solution with the maximum degree of integration possible; otherwise the cost of interconnections between subsystems would be enormous. This part of the project is being carried out under the MNRF MMIC development project (project 7 of this MNRF Program), and builds upon CSIRO's partnership with Cisco and Macquarie University in the field of wireless networks that followed on from the development of CSIRO's patented IEEE 802.11a WLAN technology. It is based upon a PhD project being undertaken by ATNF engineer Suzy Jackson, cosupervised by ATNF and Macquarie University, and aims to develop an integrated receiver (LNA to ADC) using an RF CMOS process. As well as university/industry links, the work on antenna arrays and integrated receivers links closely with work being done jointly with ASTRON and under the EU FP6 program, as well as the MNRF SKAMP project.

1.4 Signal transport
Even a modest-sized receiving array can generate a very large data flow. For example, using a 100-element dual-polarized array and sampling a 32MHz band at 8bit resolution generates around 100 Gbps of data, which must be transported to the receiver backend for processing. Ultimately, in a large telescope, there will be similar data transport issues across a number of scales: within a single antenna tile, at the station level, and a WAN linking stations. Optical fibre technology is the obvious choice to realize this kind of capacity at reasonable cost. CSIRO already has significant expertise in high-bandwidth optical fibre networks, through the ATNF and CENTIE, and the expertise across these two areas is to a large extent complementary. The aim is a cross-divisional interaction to explore different approaches to different parts of the network, to arrive at an optimum solution.

1.5 Signal processing
The DSP technology at the backend of the multi-beam array has much in common with the MNRF CABB project. Typical functions performed by the backend are filtering into sub-bands using polyphase filter banks, forming auto- and crosscorrelation products within each sub-band, and weighted linear summation within each sub-band to form beams, and these functions are largely common to both 56


projects. However, there are a number of different strategies for achromatic beam forming, and research will explore optimum approaches to different levels of beam forming. For example, wideband time-delay beam forming may be appropriate at the antenna tile level, but impractical at the station level. The other key technology is RFI mitigation using adaptive and deterministic beam forming, to suppress unwanted interfering radio signals. The NTD will be an ideal test bed for RFI mitigation algorithms, as well as studying the effect of adaptive beam forming on array calibration.

2. Goals
Primary goals: · To develop a multi-beam radio-telescope demonstrator and to add impetus to the Australian bid for significant involvement in the development of nextgeneration radio telescopes such as LOFAR and the SKA; · To develop expertise in a key technology for next-generation radio science instrumentation; · To generate opportunities for commercial spin-off technology; · To develop a test bed for new RFI mitigation techniques. · Secondary goals: · To enhance existing linkages and to develop new ones across CSIRO (for example, in the area of materials science), with Australian universities (for example through PhD programs linked to this project), and with industry partners (such as CEA P/L and Cisco). · To support postgraduate research and education related to advanced technology for next-generation radio telescopes.

3. Major milestones
Year 200203 200304 200405 200506 200607 Project goal Construction of first prototype spherical lens Demonstrate direct digital receiver concept for digital phased array Choice of NTD concept NTD PDR NTD CDR Complete construction of NTD Milestone 30:06:2003 30:06:2004 30:06:2005 30:06:2006 30:06:2007

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4. Timelines
Year 01-02 Date Dec 2001 Project summary, goals, and deliverables Establish cross-divisional collaboration (CTIP, CMIT, CMS, ATNF) to investigate possible low loss, low density composite dielectric materials. Develop analysis and design software for spherical lenses Demonstrate low-loss dielectric with values suitable for spherical lens. Complete design of prototype spherical lens and wideband feed. Test hybrid array / lens system using FARADAY phased array Develop signal transport model based on LOFAR and SKA specifications. Develop wideband beam-former concept using direct digital sampling. Complete construction of prototype spherical lens and wideband feed. Complete EM testing on prototype lens. Evaluate test results. Develop business plan for possible commercialization of dielectric / lens technology Decision point on further development work on spherical lenses. Demonstrate high-speed direct digital sampling and polyphase filter bank technology. Decide choice of NTD concept (lens; lens + array; phased array) Develop complete EM analysis of lens plus integrated feed. Contrib. in-kind ($m) 0.10 Contrib. cash ($m) 0.00 MNRF Contrib. ($m) 0.00

02-03

0.36

0.25

0.185

03-04

0.61

0.40

0.70

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04-05

Stage 1: NTD design and development of proof-of-concept prototypes. NTD PDR Stage 2: NTD design & development NTD CDR Stage 3: NTD development & construction Complete NTD construction

0.71

0.70

0.95

05-06

0.41

0.15

0.45

06-07 Total

0.26 2.45

0.10 1.60

0.25 2.535

The total income and expenditure is therefore $6.585m. The expected schedule of income and expenditure is as follows: Income: ATNF Cash ATNF in-kind CTIP in-kind CEA in-kind APT in-kind MNRF TOTAL 2001/02 0 100 0 0 0 0 100 2002/03 250 200 160 0 0 185 795 2003/04 400 400 160 25 25 700 1710 2004/05 700 500 160 25 25 950 2360 2005/06 150 200 160 25 25 450 1010 2006/07 100 50 160 25 25 250 610 Total 1600 1450 800 100 100 2535 6585

The expected schedule of future expenditure is as follows, and is based on an assumed ratio of cash expenditure on salaries/capital/other of 40:30:30. Salaries Capital Other In-kind Total 2001/02 0 0 0 100 100 2002/03 174 130.5 130.5 360 795 2003/04 440 330 330 610 1710 2004/05 660 495 495 710 2360 2005/06 240 180 180 410 1010 2006/07 140 105 105 260 610 Total

6585

5. Key personnel
Trevor Bird, CICTC John Bunton, CICTC Richard Donelson, CMIT Karu Esselle, Macquarie University Dick Ferris, ATNF Peter Hall, ATNF Jeffrey Harrison, Macquarie University Douglas Hayman, CICTC / ATNF Suzy Jackson, ATNF Graeme James, CICTC John Kot, CICTC Nasiha Nikolic, CICTC Ray Norris, ATNF 59


Neil Weste, Cisco Systems 6. Issues Microwave lenses ­ high risk technology: To build lenses of the size required for the SKA requires dielectrics of extraordinarily low loss and density, and extraordinarily high isotropy and uniformity. Material science and structural issues may mean that we are not able to achieve these goals. However, initial results suggest that, even if we do not achieve a material of sufficiently low density to meet the SKA target, there will still be major scientific and commercial applications for this technology, and we are pursuing these options in parallel with the developments for the SKA.

7. Project Plan
Year 2001-02 · Establish a cross-divisional CSIRO project to investigate potential low-loss, low-density dielectric materials, bringing together the expertise from CTIP / CICIC (theory of the electromagnetic properties of dielectric mixtures and artificial dielectrics; microwave measurement of dielectric samples), CMS (polymer technology), and CMIT (materials science and manufacturing technology). · Develop analysis and optimization software for the design of spherical dielectric lenses at microwave frequencies. · Develop refracting concentrator multi-beam SKA whitepaper. Year 2002-03 · Demonstrate low loss dielectric suitable for spherical lens · Complete design of prototype spherical lens · Complete design of wideband feed for prototype lens · In conjunction with FARADAY project, test lens + phased array feed system, using FARADAY array and Konkur Luneburg lens. · Complete construction of prototype spherical lens Year 2003-04 · Complete electromagnetic testing of prototype dielectric lens to determine viability of the technology in terms of loss, isotropy, and uniformity. · Continue material development, and make a decision about moving to a 2nd stage prototype. · Develop business plan for dielectric material technology. · Commence PhD project on integrated receiving antenna arrays: complete initial design study. · Complete hybrid SKA submissions. · Complete Australian SKA demonstrator plans. · Demonstrate high-speed direct digital sampling and filter bank technology · Decision point for NTD concept Year 2004-05 · NTD Stage 1: Develop NTD design and proof-of-concept prototypes · Complete NTD PDR · NTD Stage 2: Commence stage 2 NTD design & development

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Year 2005-06 · Complete NTD CDR · NTD Stage 3: Commence NTD development and construction Year 2006-07 · Complete NTD construction + commissioning

8. Intellectual Property and Commercialization
We will seek opportunities to commercialise the technology developed as part of this project. This will be facilitated by our strong links with our several industry partners.

9. Education and Outreach
The NTD project has a significant education component, supporting 2 PhD students. There are significant links both within CSIRO across divisions, with local universities, and with industry partners such as CEA P/L and CISCO. As the capabilities of the technologies become clearer, there will also be a significant effort, via the ATNF, to engage to Australian radio astronomical community to refine and to explore the requirements and capabilities of the NTD.

10. Key Performance Indicators
· · · · · · NTD design successfully pass PDR NTD design successfully passes CDR Successful commissioning of NTD instrument. Successful completion of PhD programs; publications by PhD students. Degree of Australian participation in international radio telescope projects LOFAR & SKA Patents and other evidence of commercialisation.

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Appendix A7: MMIC Development - Project Plan
Project Leader: Warwick Wilson, ATNF Participating Organisation: CSIRO ATNF,

Executive Summary
This program will deliver components for inclusion in the various SKA demonstrators including the Australia Telescope Compact Array Broadband Backend (CABB), the SKA Molonglo Prototype (SKAMP) and other enhancements of ATNF telescopes. These components will include high-speed digital devices for data sampling and transmission, broadband low noise microwave amplifiers and integrated receiver and beam-forming systems. This project will also develop generic technology and expertise for eventual use in the SKA and other next-generation radio-telescopes.

1 Overview
The major part of the program consists of three Microwave/Millimetre-wave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) fabrication runs, using technologies such as Gallium Arsenide, Indium Phosphide and Silicon Germanium. These are the processes which are currently seen as those most likely to contribute significantly to the development of the SKA. ATNF has built up considerable expertise in MMIC design using these state of the art processes over the past few years. This program will provide the means for this expertise to develop further so that Australian engineers can maintain their position at the forefront of SKA technology development. As the design of the various demonstrators proceeds, the requirements for specific MMICs will become clear and the MMIC Development program will be tailored to meet these requirements. Some examples of areas which will rely on, or are likely to benefit from, the inclusion of special purpose MMICs are: · · · · · Integrated receiver systems for the NTD program, aimed at producing highly compact complete receiver systems, as will be required for the SKA. Very broadband low noise microwave amplifiers, where the challenge is to achieve the wide bandwidths which are planned for the SKA. Microwave beamforming networks. Very high speed, high precision samplers and digitisers which will be required for the NTD and CABB programs. Photonic devices for use in the data transfer systems of the NTD and CABB.

2 Goals
· · To develop MMIC components for SKA related applications. To maintain and develop the considerable expertise in MMIC design, using state of the art processes. This expertise has been built up over the past few years in Australia.

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3 Major milestones
Date March 2003 April 2004 December 2004 January 2005 December 2005 December 2006 Milestone Submit designs for first fabrication run Submit designs for second fabrication run First devices available for integration into demonstrators Submit designs for third fabrication run Final devices available for integration into demonstrators Completion of integration into demonstrators

4 Timelines and budget
The funding profile taken from the business plan is as follows: Year Project Goals Milestone Contrib. Contrib. In-kind Cash $m $m 01/02 Stage 1: 0.10 0.00 Preliminary design 02/03 Stage 2: 1.10.02 0.20 0.30 MMIC fabrication 03/04 Stage 3: 1.1.04 0.30 0.20 MMIC fabrication 04/05 Stage 4: 1.1.05 0.20 0.10 MMIC integration in Demonstrators 05/06 Stage 5: 1.7.05 0.10 0.10 MMIC final fabrication 06/07 Stage 6: 1.7.07 0.10 0.10 MMIC Integration in Demonstrators. Total: Total: 1.00 0.80 Facility Contrib. $m 0.00 0.50 0.40 0.30

0.15 0.10

Total: 1.45

Since writing the business plan, we have been able to refine this profile, resulting in a slightly different profile of funding and project goals, but maintaining the same overall plan and funding totals:

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Year 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 Total

Project Summary, Goals and Deliverables Preliminary investigations, purchase design tools First MMIC fabrication run Second MMIC fabrication run Third MMIC fabrication run Integration into demonstrators Integration into demonstrators

Contrib. In-kind ($m) 0.03 0.05 0.2 0.32 0.3 0.1 1.0

Contrib. Cash ($m 0.06 0.02 0.2 0.22 0.2 0.1 0.8

MNRF Contrib . ($m) 0.13 0.32 0.4 0.45 0.15 1.45

We forecast the following cash flow (k$) within this funding profile. MNRF Funded Labour Capital Operating Total ATNF Funded Labour Capital Total 2001/02 0 0 0 0 30 60 90 2002/03 50 30 50 130 50 20 70 2003/04 50 220 50 320 200 200 400 2004/05 50 300 50 400 320 220 540 2005/06 50 350 50 450 300 200 500 2006/07 20 100 30 150 100 100 200 Total 220 1000 230 1450 1000 800 1800

5 Key personnel
Project leader: Dr. Warwick Wilson Senior design engineers: Mr. Russell Gough, Dr. Paul Roberts Design engineers: Ms. Suzy Jackson, Mr. Peter Axtens

6 Issues
At present, all our Indium Phosphide devices have been fabricated at the TRW (Northrop-Grumman) plant in California. Export licences for these devices have become more difficult since September 11. Even though we have designed these devices ourselves, it is necessary to obtain export licences to ship them back to Australia. We are therefore exploring alternative European suppliers, via the EU FP6 Pharos program, in which we are participants.

7 Project Plan
A Gant chart is attached.

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8 Intellectual Property and Commercialisation
This project is self-contained so there is no need for an IP register. We plan to invite CSIRO Business Development and Commercialisation unit to explore potential commercialisation outcomes from this work.

9 Education and Outreach
We will seek opportunities to engage one or more PhD students in this project.

10 Key Performance Indicators
Key performance indicators are the achievement of major milestones, on time and within budget.

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Appendix A8: SKAMP (SKA Molonglo Prototype) Project Plan
Project Leader: Anne Green, Sydney University Participating Organisation: · Sydney University · CSIRO ATNF · CSIRO ICT

Executive summary
In line with the priorities identified in the 2001 mid-Term Review of Australian Astronomy, to develop enabling technologies to strengthen Australia's case to host the SKA, this project is a joint venture between the University of Sydney and CSIRO, entitled the SKA Molonglo Prototype (SKAMP) project. Its overall goal is to upgrade the Molonglo telescope to be a world-class spectral line instrument, at the same time developing technologies of relevance to SKA. It has the following specific aims: 1. Demonstrate SKA-relevant technologies, particularly relating to ultrawideband line feeds for cylindrical geometry antennas, wide field-of-view imaging and high-speed digital signal processing. 2. Provide a new low frequency spectral-line facility in the southern hemisphere, building on the existing Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST), which is owned and operated by the University of Sydney. 3. Undertake supervision and training of postgraduate students as an essential contribution to producing scientists and engineers to design and use the next generation telescopes. Not all of the SKAMP project is included in this MNRF project.

1 Overview
1.1 Context and Significance
Both the location and the technology for the next-generation Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope are still to be decided. Australia has an excellent case for being selected as the site of the SKA. To help capture a share of the $2b SKA program for Australian industry, we need to use the current MNRF program to demonstrate a credible concept for the technology of the SKA itself. The SKAMP project provides the opportunity to test and evaluate the cylindrical reflector concept for the SKA, and to lead into the next stage of advanced prototypes, which will be an excellent strategic pathway to gaining funding for a full SKA in 2010-12. A second major outcome for the SKAMP project will be the commissioning of a powerful new low-frequency facility for radio astronomy in Australia. Funding received from the ARC Research Networks, the RFI mitigation project and the development with industry of an ultra-wideband feed system for a cylindrical antenna are all external to the MNRF program. However, the research objectives and outcomes are all well-aligned with no duplication of resourcing. In addition, ARC funding has been received for 2004 ­ 2006 to support the operation of MOST with the science goals of studying the properties and history of star formation in the Milky Way Galaxy. This project will run in parallel with the SKAMP development and will

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complement the project by providing simultaneous images for close comparison and verification of positions and flux densities.

2 Scope of the SKAMP Project
The outcome from the SKAMP project will be a sensitive telescope equipped with a 2048 channel spectrometer, operating continuously over the frequency range 300-- 1400 MHz, with an instantaneous operating bandwidth of about 50MHz. The potential angular resolution of the telescope will range from 26 to 126 arcsec (provided that the entire length of the telescope is fitted with the new feed structure), with a sensitivity of between 0.02 and 1 mJy/beam. The field of view will be several square degrees. The new technologies to be demonstrated are: · · · · · Implementation of a wideband feed operating over the whole frequency range (this is the biggest technical challenge) Two stage beam-forming to give extremely wide fields of view Digital filter-banks operating at speeds above 100 M samples/sec The correlation of a large number of antenna stations providing high fidelity imaging and polarization capabilities Control, monitoring and data handling of approximately 100 antennas as a step towards LOFAR and the SKA

To achieve these outcomes, the project has been divided into five stages, which can proceed largely in parallel.

Stage I ­ a continuum correlator (partially included in this MNRF project)
The first stage of the project is the construction and installation of a 96 station continuum correlator, with 3 MHz of bandwidth centred at 843 MHz (the current operating frequency of the MOST). This system will be used with the existing frontend feeds and signal pathway of the MOST. The goal is to prove high dynamic range imaging with correlation processing, in parallel with the existing data acquisition systems. Simultaneous observations will allow precise verification of the new signal pathway and continuation of the current science programs, the Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS) and the Galactic Plane Survey. All of Stage I is included in the MNRF project with the exception of the hardware and software design of the correlator, which will be funded from a University of Sydney Sesqui R&D grant.

Stage II ­ a spectral-line correlator (included in this MNRF project)
The second stage of the project is the development and construction of a 2048 channel spectral-line correlator, centred on 843 MHz. This stage will use the existing ring antennas (which determine the 30 MHz bandwidth for this stage of the project) with a new local oscillator, timing, signal distribution, and full optic fibre feeds to each of the 88 independent bays of the telescope. It is planned to digitise the signal at the telescope focal plane using an integrated circuit for the mixers, RF filters and

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samplers. A new 2048 channel polyphase filterbank will input to the correlator, which is a scaled-up version of the Stage I correlator. The entire 1.6 km of the cylindrical reflector will be fitted with new mixers and samplers for one low-noise amplifier (LNA) per independent bay. The present restriction to one hand of circular polarization will remain for this stage. For operation of the MOST under its previous configuration, 4 LNAs are added together for the illumination of a bay. The configuration for Stage II will reduce the effective collecting area of the telescope. However, the consequent reduction in sensitivity is largely offset by the ten-fold increase in instantaneous bandwidth.

Stage III - increase the tuning range (included in this MNRF project, with the exception of the line feed design)
The third stage of the project will produce a 300--1400 MHz continuous spectral line capability, although the instantaneous bandwidth will be limited to about 50 MHz (by the bandwidth associated with the signal processing). This will not compromise the proof of concept for the SKA demonstration, as a new contiguous broadband line feed will be developed and installed on a section of the array as the key new technology (this feed development is funded by the ARC and is not part of this MNRF). What fraction of the 1.6 km is converted is still to be decided. The feeds will be combined in 8-element sections, with two new low cost LNAs for every element, for full polarisation capability, to minimize the system noise. It is proposed that the beamforming, low cost LNAs and digitization circuits will be combined into a sandwich structure, located behind the line feeds, up on the telescope structure. Detailed designs for this stage are under development and may be changed to capitalize on new technologies released to the commercial market. There is also close collaboration with the element combination developments being undertaken at CSIRO.

Stage IV ­ develop new solutions for transferring broadband digital data (not included in this MNRF project)
SKAMP will trial high-speed, fibre-linked data acquisition as a testbed for both the advanced SKA prototype and for the planned LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR). To expedite the linkages and promote the advancement of skills across countries and disciplines, we have submitted an application for seed funding under the new ARC Research Networks initiative. The fibres themselves will have already been installed under phase II of the project, and what is being developed in this project is novel digitisation, optoelectronics, and broadband data transfer techniques.

Stage V ­ RFI mitigation (not included in this MNRF project)
For a telescope as sensitive as the SKA, the growing levels of radio frequency interference (RFI) across much of the radio spectrum have to be tackled. Smart solutions in RFI mitigation are required, and the challenge for the SKAMP project of the planned siting of the operational Headquarters of the Defence Department only a few kilometres from the telescope has provided the impetus for a joint research project. The success of this RFI mitigation project will be an important test for astronomers to manage the interface with Australia's national interests. We will seek funding from Defence and elsewhere to establish a small research group to develop mitigation tools over the period 2004-2006.

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2 Goals
The goal of the SKAMP project is to build a new low frequency spectral-line facility onto the existing MOST. This will be achieved from the design and construction of a 2048 channel spectrometer, polyphase filter-banks and dual-stage beam-forming systems, and a wideband line feed, to enable observation of the sky continuously over the frequency range 300 ­ 1400 MHz. The project will also train young engineers for next generation radio telescopes.

3 Major milestones
The goals and milestones are listed under Section 4 in the Table showing timelines and budgets.

4 Timelines and budget
Each section in this Table represents the achievements anticipated for each year of the project. Each row within a section details particular goals and milestones. The last three columns show respectively the in-kind contribution and the cash contribution from the University of Sydney, and the cash that the SKAMP project will use from the MNRF program. Milestones associated with the ARC Discovery Grant to develop a wideband feed, and the relevant associated funds, are not given in the following Table as they are not directly part of the MNRF program. The funds for this and a related University of Sydney Sesqui R&D Grant (2002) are listed in the Annual Financial reporting under "Other Sources".

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Year 02/03

Date Jul 2002 Sep 2002 Jan 2003 Mar 2003 Jun 2003

Stage I I III II

Milestones & Goals Appoint SKAMP Site Manager Design concept for continuum correlator Specify wideband feed project Build infrastructure & isolate signal pathway Update SKA scope of project document Test continuum correlator design Appoint RF Engineer Design concept for spectral-line correlator Fringes from 96-station continuum correlator Update SKAMP scope of project document Complete design for spectral line correlator Design for polyphase filterbank complete Design concept for LO/IF & samplers Filters and correlator boards manufactured Optic fibre installation implemented Update SKAMP scope of project document Design concept for beam-formers Digital signal to central control room Commission spectral line correlator Prototype feed & front end designed, tested Update SKAMP scope of project document Build prototype feed Document on RFI strategies complete Production & installation of feed systems Commissioning tests on full system Update SKAMP scope of project document

Contrib. In-kind ($'000s)

Contrib. Cash ($'000s)

MNRF Contrib. ($m)

140

0

0

03/04

Dec 2003 Mar 2004 May 2004 Jun 2004 Jun 2004

I I II I

140

90

172

04/05

Sep 2004 Dec 2004 Mar 2005 May 2005 Jun 2005 Jun 2005

II II II II II

140

90

272

05/06

Sep 2005 Oct 2005 Dec 2005 Jun 2006 Jun 2006

III II II III

140

180

226.7

06/07

Sep 2006 Dec 2006 Apr 2007 Jun 2007 Jun 2007

III V III III

140

90

68

5 Key personnel
Key personnel for the SKAMP project are as follows: Dr Anne Green, Director of Molonglo Observatory and Senior Lecturer in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney. Dr Green is the leader of the SKAMP project with overall responsibility for management and direction. Time allocation 0.25 FTE

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Dr Michael Kesteven, Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO, Australia Telescope National Facility. Dr Kesteven is the Senior Project Manager and has been coordinating overall system design and implementation. Time allocation 0.1 FTE. Mr Duncan Campbell-Wilson, Site Project Manager and Officer-in-Charge at the Molonglo Observatory. Mr Campbell-Wilson is responsible for telescope operation and maintenance and for integration of the new signal pathway into and parallel with the present telescope system. He will also oversee sections of the project and the time allocation is 1.0 FTE. The technical officers at the MOST are funded by an ARC Discovery Grant to operate and maintain the facility. They will also contribute to the building and maintenance of SKAMP. Dr John Bunton, Senior Engineer at CSIRO, Telecommunications & Industrial Physics. Dr Bunton is an Advisor and System Specialist who has played a major role in the design of the correlator and the beamforming electronics. It is anticipated that his role will increase. He will co-supervise the work of Mr Tim Adams. Time allocation 0.1 FTE. Dr Andrew Parfitt, Leader of the Space & Satellite Communications Systems, CSIRO Telecommunications & Industrial Physics. Dr Parfitt is an antenna expert who is cosupervising the PhD student Mr Martin Leung. He will also have a supervisory role with the Research Associate appointment on the feed development project as he is a co-PI on the Grant. Time allocation 0.1 FTE. Dr Bevan Jones, Managing Director of Argus Technologies Australia P/L. Dr Jones is the industry partner on the ARC Linkage grant and will be responsible for feed prototype building and testing and some co-supervision of the PhD student. Cylindrical antennas are core business for Argus Technologies. Time allocation 0.1 FTE. There is a contribution on an informal basis from School of Physics staff, principally on scientific issues: Prof Richard Hunstead, Dr Simon Johnston, Dr Elaine Sadler From the CSIRO, Australia Telescope National Facility, there will be additional input from members of the ATNF SKA team, including Prof Ron Ekers, Dr Frank Briggs (located in Canberra) and Dr Peter Hall. Some external scientific and technical advice will be sought from other members of the SKA consortium, Prof John Dickey (U. Minnesota), the Dutch phased array team. The project has a training capacity and student projects include: · Martin Leung PhD student (wideband feed development) · Aaron Chippendale PhD student (high dynamic-range imaging and configuration simulations) · Tim Adams future PhD student & now Research Assistant (correlator & polyphase filterbank design and construction) There will also be additional research and technical appointments made for the project: · Research Associate funded by the ARC Linkage grant (Dr Sergey Vynogradov) to study the theoretical options for an ultra-wideband low frequency feed system. 72


· ·

RF Engineer, funded by the MNRF program and located at the Molonglo Observatory, to design and build the beam-forming sections of the front-end and to implement the signal transport system. Project engineer and system software co-ordination, based in Sydney and working closely with Dr Kesteven. Funding for this position (externally to the MNRF) is being negotiated.

6 Issues
Technical risk Much of the MNRF program funding for this project is for production and implementation of complex systems from components designed in separately funded sub-projects or commercially available at competitive costs. Cost effectiveness is a crucial aspect of the success of the SKAMP project. The most high-risk part of the project arises from the sub-project to develop an ultra wideband feed for a cylindrical antenna. The success of the SKAMP project will not be compromised if the full technical specifications are not achieved in a single feed element. The goals of the project may still be achieved if the feed system is constructed in several contiguous elements (each of modest bandwidth) or if somewhat less than the entire 1.6 km of the existing telescope is fitted with a new low frequency feed. Defence Department Headquarters In late 2002 it was announced that a new Operational Headquarters of the Defence Department was to be constructed only a few kilometres from the Molonglo telescope. Radio signals from this new building have the potential to interfere with the operation of the upgraded telescope, and could be a potential threat to this MNRF project. The Defence Department are working with Sydney University to explore options to remove or mitigate the effects of the interference. Options include funding a joint research project to develop radio frequency interference mitigation techniques over the period 2004-2006.

7 Project Plan
Year 2002-2003 The first year of the project will be spent on conceptual design of the 96 station continuum correlator, Stage 1 of the SKAMP project. Since the correlator design is based on programmable chips, there is a conjunction of hardware and software design. Tools used are Protel and Xilinx. The company now producing Protel (Altium) are interested in offering technical support for the project, which is at the limit of the capability of their products. Another part of the initialisation of the project is the construction of essential infrastructure at the MOST site. A parallel signal pathway is designed to enable ongoing science programs to proceed without interruption and to provide essential calibration and verification of the new system. The appointment of the Site Project Manager (Mr Duncan Campbell-Wilson) has occurred. This is a 5 year appointment. He has supervised the infrastructure changes and has designed and built part of the signal pathway (delay boards and fringe rotators). Other personnel are listed in Section 5. Design costs for correlator and feed project are externally funded. From Table 5: Item 1: Site Project Manager 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 $140,000 73


Year 2003-2004 The second year of the project will see the completion of the narrowband continuum correlator board, comprising 21 Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), to preserve maximum flexibility in the design. Salary costs of correlator designer (Mr Timothy Adams) will be borne externally. The board will be manufactured externally and tested in Sydney. Control software and data acquisition software will be tested. The design concept for the spectral-line correlator will be completed. It is the expectation that a scaled up version of the first board will be the foundation of the new design. Commissioning test on the continuum correlator will be carried out. An RF engineer, to work at the MOST site, will be appointed to build and manage the front end architecture. This appointment is ongoing for 4 years. PhD student Aaron Chippendale will conduct imaging and simulation experiments as part of his thesis project. From Table 5: Item 1: Site Project Manager 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 Item 2: RF Engineer at Molonglo 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 Item 3: Correlator hardware and software development $140,000 $108,000 $154,000

Year 2004-2005 The third year of the project will be spent in designing the 2048 channel polyphase filterbank and completion of the spectral-line correlator. The modification needed to provide the 30 MHz bandwidth front end will be designed by the RF engineer. It is expected that the digitisation will occur out on the telescope. This will simplify the transport of signals via optic fibre to the control centre. Implementation of a full fibrefed network to all 1.6 km of the telescope will be undertaken during the year. From Table 5: Item 1: Site Project Manager 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 Item 2: RF Engineer at Molonglo 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 Item 3: Correlator testing and software development Item 4: Implementation of optic fibre network to feeds Item 5: Production of polyphase filterbank $140,000 $108,000 $54,000 $100,000 $100,000

Year 2005-2006 The fourth year of the project will see the commissioning of the spectral-line correlator backend and the completion of the design for the two stages of beamforming. Evaluation of the spectral imaging capability and the dynamic range achieved will be conducted by Aaron Chippendale as part of his PhD thesis. His project also includes an experiment on the Epoch of Reionisation, carried out at the Australia Telescope National Facility. The prototype of the ultra-wideband feed will be built, and the integrated system of LNAs, mixers and potentially samplers, will be completed. The major tasks will be to prepare the telescope feed structures and build the front end receivers, packaging commercial LNAs and mixers with digitisers. The final feed design and development will be funded by an ARC Linkage Project, and the construction of the final production feeds funded by the MNRF. The cost of this, as is appropriate for an experimental, cutting-edge design, is uncertain. We expect that 500m of line feed will be installed in the telescope, but an unexpectedly

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high production cost may mean that a smaller section will be installed. While this will not compromise the ability of SKAMP to be a prototype demonstrator, it may constrain some scientific programs which require the highest sensitivity available with full area coverage, and so in that case additional funding will be sought from other sources. From Table 5: Item 1: Site Project Manager 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 $140,000 Item 2: RF Engineer at Molonglo 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 $108,000 Item 3: Construction of feed, production of beam-formers & receivers $298,700 Year 2006-2007 The final year of the project will focus on building and commissioning the chosen prototype feed. The PhD student Martin Leung will complete his thesis this year. The selected feed and integrated amplifier/mixer/sampler will be built and installed at the telescope. The full signal pathway will be connected. Commissioning test will be undertaken on the 50 MHz instantaneous bandwidth system, operating over a wide range of frequencies. From Table 5: Item 1: Site Project Manager 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 Item 2: RF Engineer at Molonglo 1.0 FTE overheads costed at 2.0 Item 3: Final installation of feeds and front end systems $140,000 $108,000 $50,000

All salaries for appointments under the project are costed with a factor of 2.0 for overheads.

8 Intellectual Property and Commercialisation
Relationship agreements exist for all the MNRF participants. It is expected that the collaborators in the SKAMP project will develop significant IP connected with wide field of view imaging, high speed digital correlation of signals and techniques associated with a cylindrical reflector array. The IP generated is to be freely shared by all partners in the collaboration for the purposes of the research. In addition, IP agreements exist for the project to develop a wideband dual polarisation feed system, between the University of Sydney, CSIRO and Argus Technologies. Agreements will be negotiated for follow-on projects such as the advanced SKA prototypes Foreground IP will be reviewed regularly to check for patentable material and commercialisation opportunities. Participants will be free to publish and present material, with the appropriate acknowledgements, in relevant research forums, in accordance with University stipulations.

9 Education and Outreach
The SKAMP project has substantial training opportunities. Postgraduate degree projects already underway or planned include: · PhD to develop ultra wideband feed (Martin Leung), · PhD to study RFI mitigation (Daniel Mitchell) · PhD to study high dynamic range imaging and configuration simulations (Aaron Chippendale), 75


· ·

PhD or traineeship to design polyphase filterbank (potentially Tim Adams), PhD and Honours projects to exploit the science goals investigating the neutral hydrogen structures and galaxy populations at redshifts equivalent to the hydrogen line at a radio frequency near 843 MHz.

10 Key Performance Indicators
The key performance indicators for this project are: · the milestones achieved on time and on budget, · the successful completion of the PhD programs associated with this project · the number of scientific publications reporting the results from the operation of the SKAMP facility.

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Appendix A9: SKA Siting Project Plan
Project Leader: M. Storey

Participating Organisations: WA State Govt., CSIRO ATNF

1 Overview
This project has the goal of determining requirements and characteristics for Australian siting for the SKA telescope . The project will respond to requests from the international radio astronomy community for general information regarding Australian siting for next-generation radio telescopes.

These · · ·

studies will define the characteristics which are desirable for an SKA site, study physical characteristics of potential WA sites, perform radio-frequency background level and possible tropospheric stability monitoring in WA as appropriate and as practicable, · study requirements and implementation strategies for a radio-quiet reserve, · commence negotiations with State Governments, landowners, and other stakeholders.

The WA Government is a formal MNRF participant in this project and is contributing its own resources to site studies for future radio telescopes in its State. As a result, this project includes WA-specific outcomes. Studies specific to States other than Western Australia are also being conducted, but are outside the scope of this MNRF.

2 Goals
The purpose of this project of the MNRF Program is to reinforce Australia's bid as the prime location for the SKA through site studies, providing a strong scientific and technical framework to the international community for locating the SKA in Australia. Australia needs to take the initiative in site studies if it is to position itself as a leading contender to host the SKA in the next decade.

2.1 Deliverables:
· · · Site-testing results/reports indicating the radio frequency interference environment of selected potential WA sites Reports, or input to reports for the international radio astronomy community regarding hosting next-generation telescopes in WA. Studies to determine the "radio quietness" of areas selected as possible sites for the SKA in WA. ATNF will provide guidance on site survey requirements while the Government of Western Australia will sponsor measurement programs. Results of the survey will also be reviewed by ATNF. Advice to the International SKA Consortium on the best methodologies and techniques for conducting site studies. A process to choose the best site in Australia for the SKA, and a decision on where this best site is located.

· ·

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2.2 Objectives:
· · · Compile sufficient information on the potential SKA sites in WA to be able to provide required information to the international SKA community to aid in their site selection procedures. Respond as appropriate to requests from the international radio astronomy community for information regarding WA potential sites for future radio telescopes. Position Australian siting favourably as viewed by the international SKA community. This will include identifying complementary projects that would give the potential Australian SKA sites a competitive advantage for attracting the SKA. Work with the international bodies of any complementary projects to identify site selection criteria and establish if there are any suitable Australian sites for these projects.

·

3 Milestones, Timelines and budget
No funding for this project is being supplied by the MNRF, and all funding is "matching" SKA funding, from two sources: 1. The Department of the Premier and Cabinet of the Western Australian State Government has committed $200k p.a. for four years as an in-kind contribution. 2. CSIRO ATNF have made no formal commitment within the scope of this MNRF plan to contribute to this project, as the extent of the site work was unclear at the start of the MNRF. However, significant in-kind resources are in fact expected to be committed by CSIRO ATNF, at or greater than a level of about $200k p.a. The WA Government are providing in-kind support in terms of manpower and by financing the required procedures. CSIRO ATNF is providing manpower support and some equipment and facilities as required. An informal collaboration between the WA Government and ATNF will ensure that appropriate work is done at the appropriate times, recognizing the common and compatible aims of the two bodies. The Project Plan taken from the MNRF business plan is given in the following Table. At the time when the business plan was drawn up, the exact nature of the siting project was unclear, and this is reflected in this table.
Year

Project Goals

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07

Stage Stage Stage Stage

1: 2: 3: 4:

Survey Survey Survey Survey

Milestone WA In-kind Contribution $m 0.00 30.6.03 0.20 30.6.04 0.20 30.6.05 0.20 30.6.06 0.20 0.00 Total 0.80

Contribution Cash $m 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Total 0.00

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We are now in a position to refine the project, resulting in the following table of project goals and milestones. Detailed plans beyond 2004-5 are unclear, as they are contingent on the results of the earlier site testing. Year 20023 Activity Establish clear contact points between OSI (WA Office of Science and Innovation) and CSIRO ATNF Characterize the Mileura Station site with detailed information on landform, vegetation, geology etc Investigate issues of native title, planning permission, EIA etc in relation to the Mileura site. Identify further international concerns and priorities for SKA sites in the Mid West region. Use LOFAR site studies to further illuminate these studies. Work to identify a science support base in WA capable of supporting SKA. Organise international SKA Meeting in Geraldton, 27 July 2 Aug 03, including ISSC visits to Mileura site Respond to ISSC feedback on Initial Site Analysis Document, to characterize sites better. Establish a process for selecting the best SKA site within Australia. Choose one "reference site" for further evaluation. Give input into RFI testing procedure for SKA sites, to ensure an adequate RFI testing procedure Stage 2: Initiate extended RFI tests to be conducted remotely over a full year, at a reference site for Australian site selection. Prepare final submissions for SKA siting if required Milestone/KPI Good contact and working relationship established between OSI and ATNF by 30 June 2003 Produce CDROM by 30 June 2003 with detailed information on the land for the central core at Mileura. Contact made with relevant bodies and discussions held by 30 June 2003 Produce Australian Initial Site Analysis Document for submission to ISSC.

20024 20034

Met with key science groups in WA in order to investigate sources of support and collaboration Successful meeting

Produce report Process finalised and initiated by 30 Dec 2003. Reference site chosen by 31October 2003 International RFI protocol produced with adequate Australian input Remote testing commenced by30Jun04

20045

Final submission completed

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20056

Respond to ISSC on site submission if required Continue extended RFI tests to be conducted over a period of one year Interact with ISSC as appropriate regarding SKA siting, so that Australian site is selected as SKA site Evaluate siting project, and identify improvements

Response produced and distributed to ISSC Remote testing finished by30Jun05 Tests completed and report produced Australian site is chosen as SKA site

Evaluation completed

4 Key personnel
Rob Gates, Acting Manager, International Science Infrastructure, Office of Science and Innovation, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Government of Western Australia is the principal contact in WA. Dr Michelle Storey is the principal contact for this project in CSIRO ATNF. Dr. Don Sinnott, chair of the Siting Working Group subcommittee of ASKAC.

5 Issues
This project is principally concerned with responding to requests as they arise from the International SKA Steering Committee. These requests change over time and so the project must be sufficiently flexible to respond to changing requirements. Until the ISSC formulates its detailed requirements, it is an issue to progress the project sensibly based on likely international requirements. For siting issues, LOFAR has been used as a test case for future radio telescope siting to enable us to be in the best competitive position when detailed SKA siting requirements become known.

6 Project Plan
The project plan is encapsulated in the Table in section 3 above.

7 Intellectual Property and Commercialisation
IP arrangements are per international agreement with SKA project. We do not expect commercial outcomes from this project.

8 Education and Outreach
We will conduct extensive outreach briefings with local communities and produce background documents and presentations as required, and will conduct media interviews. We will also use the SEARFE project as a means of publicising the site studies and the SKA. One publication has been produced: · Thomas, B. MacA. "Progress towards establishing a radio-quiet reserve in Western Australia". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). 80


Appendix A10: SKA Supercomputer Simulations and Baseband Processing (SKASS) - Project Plan
Project Leader: Steven Tingay, Swinburne University of Technology Participating Organisations: · Swinburne University · CSIRO ATNF Version: 4 December 2003

Executive summary
This SKA program at Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) will investigate the ways in which supercomputers can be used to assess and improve the potential capabilities of the SKA, through simulations of sources of radio emission and through the collection and analysis of real radio astronomy data. As a consequence of these activities, tools and hardware will be developed that will significantly enhance the capabilities of existing radio astronomy facilities at the Parkes Observatory and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). Broadly, the SUT SKA group will aim to: 1. Demonstrate baseband recording technologies that can be used as prototypes for baseband processing machines as part of the SKA, including possible applications in beam forming, precision pulsar timing, spectroscopy, and software correlation, as well as other applications; 2. Develop within the Facility resources that will be integrated into the existing radio astronomy national facilities, to significantly enhance these facilities for existing and future users; 3. Produce and support simulations of different aspects of SKA performance, including array configuration work and the effects of RFI, both internally to the SUT SKA group but also via strong collaborations with national and international partners. The activities of the SUT SKA group will revolve around the major resources at its disposal: a supercomputer to be installed at the Hawthorn campus of SUT; an SUTowned supercomputer to be installed at the Parkes Observatory; and an SUT-owned workstation cluster that will be installed at the ATCA. These supercomputing resources are substantial, in terms of global supercomputing capabilities, and especially within the fields of astronomy and astrophysics within Australia. A goal of the SUT SKA program is to make 30% of the supercomputer at the SUT Hawthorn campus available to the Australian and global SKA communities, and encourage guest investigators to use this resource as part of their SKA studies. Due to the rapidly evolving nature of the SKA project, the strong emphasis on national and international collaborations, and the long term timeframe of the work (5 years), it is possible that the details of the SUT work plan may be renegotiated periodically, to ensure that the direction of the project maintains goals that will deliver the best outcome for Australian radio astronomy. Any negotiations in this respect will be made between the SUT and the other MNRF partners. 81


In section 1 below, a summary of the SUT 5-year MNRF work plan is given in tabular form. In section 2, the details of the SUT 5-year MNRF work plan activities and deliverables are given, along with detailed information regarding the SUT MNRF financial arrangements and budget, a description of commitments of key personnel, a description of background IP, and an assessment of risks to the SUT MNRF project.

1) Summary Statement of Work, Deliverables & Payment Table
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Supercomputing Simulations and Baseband Processing Project Date Milestone Summary Statement of Work Deliverables MNRF Payment (AUD millions) 0.2052

30.06.03

SUT SKA workforce established

New hires will be made New hires equivalent to 2.5 FTEs to to undertake the manage and specific work plan as implement the work outlined in this plan as outlined in annexure this annexure A supercomputer will be installed at the SUT, Hawthorn campus, as a major resource for SKA studies. An operational supercomputer at the SUT, verified, benchmarked, and 30% of which is available for SKA studies. An operational supercomputer at the Parkes Observatory, verified for data collection. An analysis and verification of the simulated data, in preparation for more advanced simulations, as input for a software correlator.

SUT and Parkes supercomputers operational.

A supercomputer will be installed at the Parkes Observatory, which will be used to record baseband data. Initial simulations of baseband data including RFI The SUT supercomputer will be used to simulate the sampled voltage output of a radio telescope, including the effects of simple sources of RFI

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Completion of a two-station software correlator running on the SUT supercomputer

A prototype software correlator will be implemented on the SUT supercomputer and used to correlate recorded VLBI data

Verification of the software correlator output, in comparison to the ATNF LBA correlator and an initial scientific analysis of the correlated data, in preparation for a large-scale software correlator in later years A document evaluating the suitability of the new ATNF digital filter bank as a component of a next generation baseband recorder. Documentation describing the outcomes of this meeting and evidence of collaborative projects underway High level representation in the SKA Simulation Working Group A software correlator capable of correlating real and simulated data from both single-dish telescopes and N-element interferometers A completed Masters thesis, based on the initial software correlator work. 0.2052

Investigation of new ATNF digital filter bank

A study of the plans for the new ATNF wide bandwidth digital filter bank will be undertaken

A meeting of Australian groups undertaking SKA simulations Participation in global coordination of SKA simulation activities Software correlator operational

The Australian groups involved in SKA simulation work will be brought together to promote collaborations

30.06.04

An effort will be made to represent the SUT at a high level within the global SKA simulation field. The two-station software correlator will be generalised to N stations, for use in simulating the response of the SKA to radio frequency interference and for use in correlating real radio astronomy data

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Workstation cluster to Narrabri

A set of computers will be removed from the SUT and installed at the ATCA to provide a significant computing resource at that Observatory, for use as a baseband recorder similar to that installed at Parkes. Approximately 2.5 terabytes of disk space will be installed at each of two Australian radio telescopes, for use in baseband recording applications, in conjunction with associated hardware.

A set of computers removed from the SUT and installed at the ATCA, operational and verified for data collection

A baseband recording system that can be deployed at any Australian radio telescope

Mass storage installed and verified for data collection at two Australian telescopes. These systems will be portable and usable as a baseband recorder at any Australian radio telescope. Documentation describing the outcomes of this meeting

A meeting of international groups undertaking SKA simulations

An international meeting of SKA simulation workers will be organised, in conjunction with the 2003 SKA Workshop in Geraldton, Western Australia, to follow on from the Australian meeting and to plan an efficient work program for the global SKA simulation community Collaborate with the MIT LOFAR simulation group to install the LOFAR package on the SUT supercomputer, verify the operation of the package, and develop the software in order for it to fill the role of standard simulation

Establish the LOFAR simulation software package as the standard SKA simulation package

MIT LOFAR package installed on the SUT supercomputer, verified for operation by the MIT group, and available to national and international users as an SKA simulation resource.

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30.06.05

Complete development of the LOFAR package as the standard simulation package for SKA RFI mitigation studies at Parkes and the ATCA

A plan for the development of the LOFAR software to specifically address the needs of SKA simulations. The LOFAR simulation A software package which supports the package will be simulation of SKA developed into the technical concepts, standard SKA available for the simulation package international SKA according to the plan community produced in year 2 Characterisation of RFI at both the Using the Parkes Observatory supercomputers at the Parkes Observatory and and the ATCA and the ATCA, RFI surveys availability of tools for observers to will be undertaken at monitor RFI levels these sites. Simulated RFI will be correlated on the SUT software correlator and integrated with array configuration studies of the SKA RFI mitigation strategies that can operate in real-time at the Parkes Observatory and the ATCA will be developed RFI mitigation strategies will be developed as part of the SKA simulations that integrate the SUT software correlator and array configuration studies RFI mitigation techniques will be applied to spectral line observations at the Parkes Observatory and the ATCA. Simulated datasets that combine the effects of RFI with other environmental and astronomical effects. A demonstration of RFI mitigation at both the Parkes Observatory and the ATCA A demonstration of RFI mitigation as part of the SKA simulations

package for SKA studies

0.2052

30.06.06

Software correlator integrated with array configuration studies Demonstrate RFI mitigation in simulated and real data

0.2052

30.06.07

Real and simulated spectral line observations with RFI mitigation

An evaluation of the utility of RFI mitigation for spectral line observations at the Parkes Observatory

0.2052

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and the ATCA Spectral line SKA observations will be simulated, using the RFI mitigation algorithms developed to minimise the effects of simulated RFI. An evaluation of the utility of RFI mitigation for spectral line observations using the SKA

Table 1: Summary Statement of Work, Deliverables & Payment Table

2) Project Plan
A. Details of financial contributions to the Swinburne University of Technology Gemini and SKA Programme and approximate programme budget The SUT is a participating organisation in the MNRF program. Therefore, as per the Facility Business Plan, the SUT will provide $1.15m of in-kind funding to the Facility, in addition to a $50k cash contribution (over the 5 years of the program). Dell Computer Pty Ltd will make a one-off $85k cash contribution to the Facility to support the SUT program. As Dell Computer Pty Ltd will be making a cash contribution to the Facility and will provide expert technical advice when required and requested, it is inappropriate to assign Dell Computer Pty Ltd a specific work plan as a partner in the MNRF. To match these in-kind contributions to the Facility, the SUT will receive $1.026m of MNRF funds over the 5 years of the program, $205.2k per year. In addition, although not a participating organisation in the MNRF, contingent upon participation of the SUT in the MNRF program, the State Government of Victoria has committed $262.5k over an 18 month period in 2003/2004, in three-monthly instalments of $43.75k, to support the Victorian Node of the Gemini and Square Kilometre Array program at the SUT. The SUT in-kind contribution to the Facility will take the form primarily of the supercomputer resources at the Hawthorn campus of the SUT, the Parkes Observatory, and the ATCA. In particular, 30% of monies spent by the SUT on the supercomputer based on the SUT campus in Hawthorn will be considered as an inkind contribution to the Facility, in proportion to the percentage of the supercomputer available for SKA work. Currently approximately $600k per year is budgeted by the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing for maintenance and upgrades of the supercomputing facilities. The in-kind contribution over 5 years simply due to this component of spending will almost cover the SUT commitment to the Facility. Other components of in-kind contribution include 100% of other monies spent on the supercomputing resources at the Parkes Observatory and the ATCA, as well as any salaries relevant to supercomputer maintenance and administration over the 5-year period.

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Table 2 contains an approximate schedule for SUT in-kind contributions to the Facility. This schedule includes a large initial outlay on establishing supercomputer facilities at SUT Hawthorn and at Parkes in the first year, a large outlay in the second year on establishing a workstation cluster at the ATCA, ongoing upgrades of the facilities at SUT Hawthorn, annual cash contributions to the Facility, and on-going support salary costs. It should be noted that the schedule in table 2 the in-kind contributions total significantly more than is strictly required of the SUT. Further, the SUT may contribute significantly more in in-kind contributions to the Facility, depending on future developments in the project work plan. YEAR 1 2 3 4 5 SUT Hawthorn supercomputer upgrades ($k) 300 100 100 100 100 Parkes/ATCA supercomputer upgrades ($k) 200 100 0 0 0 Cash Salaries contribution ($k) ($k) 10 100 10 15 10 15 10 15 10 15

Table 2: Approximate SUT in-kind budget The MNRF monies received by the SUT, and those received from Dell Computer Pty Ltd, will be used to support salaries and ancillary costs for staff hired to undertake the work program detailed in this Annexure. An approximate anticipated budget for the MNRF monies is shown in table 3 below and described in the accompanying text. The budget is dominated by base salary costs and associated university overheads on base salary. Travel costs associated with travel to telescopes and other facilities for extended periods to install, test, and operate equipment, as well as attendance at national consortium meetings and the annual International SKA Workshop meetings, is the next largest item of expenditure. Since the SUT group aim to publish the results of their MNRF work, expected publication costs have been included. Any minor infrastructure and equipment expenditure deemed necessary to meet our goals will be made from either MNRF monies (approximately $10k per year budgeted for computing related costs), Victorian State government monies, or as an in-kind contribution from the SUT. The SUT group will adopt strict accounting procedures to maintain up-to-date records of all expenditure under three separate headings: Federal government MNRF contribution; Victorian State government contribution; or SUT inkind contribution.

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YEAR

Base Salary ($k)

University on-costs ($k)

Income ($k)

Staff Relocation ($k)

Computing ($k)

Travel ($k)

Publications ($k)

1 2

134 137

52 53

3 4 5
Totals

140 146 120 - 150 677 - 707

55 57 47 - 59 217 - 229

205.2 205.2 + 85 (MNRF + Dell) 205.2 205.2 205.2 1111

20 0

10 10

15 15

5 5

0 0 0 20

10 10 10 50

15 15 15 75

5 5 5 25

Total income ($k) Total expenditure ($k)

1111 1064 - 1008

Table 3: Approximate anticipated SUT MNRF 5-year budget The base salaries in table 3 are estimated by taking into account 1 FTE initially at SUT classification A7, 1 FTE initially at SUT classification B1, and 0.5 FTE initially at SUT classification B6. Normal progress through the SUT salary scale is assumed. The range in estimated salary cost shown in year 5 reflects an uncertainty in the level of resources available in that year at the 0.5 FTE level, the availability of funds in this year being dependant on the requirements of the program and the program expenditure in previous years. The difference between the base salary expenditure in each year and the $205.2k of MNRF money available to the SUT in any given year is budgeted towards ancillary costs and overheads. A large fraction of the overhead costs will be the 10% university overhead on all grant money coming into the SUT and the 29% on-cost for base salaries. Remaining monies, approximately $100k to $150k in total over the 5 year period will support the activities of the SUT SKA team, including relocation expenses for postdoctoral workers arriving from overseas, computing resources, travel budgets, publication charges etc as discussed above. It is expenditure on these ancillary items in the first three years that will determine if 2.0 or 2.5 FTE salaries are available to the SUT SKA program in year 5. It should be noted that the above budget is approximate only and may be impacted by future enterprise bargaining agreements, cost of living salary increases etc that are beyond the control of the SUT SKA group. The contracts of the SUT SKA group members are being managed appropriately with these uncertainties in mind, with the option to reduce or increase salary costs in the last two years of the 5-year project. Where appropriate, the SUT SKA group will aim to fund expansion of its research program through various grant opportunities, outside the structure of the MNRF. For example, an ARC Discovery proposal which aims to use supercomputers to form high-resolution, wide-field images from the largest and most complex VLBI datasets

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ever recorded is pending. This proposal will test data storage and image processing algorithms that have direct relevance to the operation of the SKA. Also, an ARC Linkage ­ International proposal is pending which aims to bring a leading figure from the Korean VLBI Network (currently being constructed) to the SUT, to explore the possibilities of software correlators as an operational component of real VLBI arrays. This work has a direct link to the SUT SKA program. A proposal to the Innovation Access Programme ­ International Science and Technology ­ to support some aspects of SKA research is currently being planned. B. Description of activities and deliverables to be provided by the Swinburne University of Technology Year 1 (ends 30 June, 2003) The activities of the SUT SKA group in the first year concentrate on obtaining, setting up, and verifying the resources required for the work program of latter years, and providing them to external workers as well as workers in the SUT group. Included in these activities will be the setting of detailed strategies and the identification of collaborative ventures with other Australian and international groups working on the SKA. This collaborative aspect of the work of the SUT SKA group is particularly important in the context of the SKA as a national and international project. Currently the SKA is driven at the highest levels by a global consortium - the SKA is the first major radio astronomy resource to be born as a global enterprise. However, the bulk of technical progress towards the SKA is being driven by a number of national consortia, of which the Australian consortium is particularly strong and well organised. As a consequence of the national and international activity in SKA studies, a great many groups and individuals around the world are working on various aspects of the SKA. A number of considerations make it vital that the SUT group work closely with both our national and international colleagues. Firstly, the Australian consortium is already a coherent unit which provides a framework for the efficient use of MNRF resources, since the work programs of the individual consortium members are highly complementary and aimed toward certain common goals. In the case of the SUT SKA program, we will work especially closely with staff of the ATNF and the ANU to achieve meaningful simulations of the projected performance of the SKA, given a range of design parameters and scientific goals. Secondly, simulating the SKA is a vast task. With limited resources, the Australian SKA community will have to work as efficiently as possible to achieve this task. The same is true of the international community. The SUT SKA effort will therefore aim to be aware of global developments in the field of SKA simulations and will attempt to take a leading role in the organisation of the international SKA simulation effort. The resources and facilities to be established as part of the SUT SKA project in the first year of operation will be:

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1. The SUT SKA workforce, personnel hired specifically to contribute to the SUT SKA work plan, as described here. The SUT SKA work plan will support 2.5 FTEs over the 5 year period. These hires will specifically be: a. An SKA Project manager at a 0.5 FTE level to manage the direction of the project, the budget, required reporting, and contribute to the scientific output of the project; b. Postdoctoral workers at the 2.0 FTE level to implement the bulk of the work plan. 2. An operational supercomputer at the Hawthorn campus of the SUT that will be benchmarked against the top 500 machines around the world, and 30% of which will be available to both national and international collaborators for SKA simulation studies. This supercomputer will be capable of supporting the types of software applications and tools that are outlined in detail below. Specific steps toward this milestone are: a. Purchasing of the machines and components for the supercomputer. The supercomputer will consist of up to 106 dual processor machines, based on Pentium 3 and 4 processors; b. Installation of the supercomputer at the SUT, including operational software and hardware; c. Verification of supercomputer operations by performing standard benchmark tests on the supercomputer; d. Comparison of the supercomputer to the list of the top 500 global supercomputers. The aim for the machine is a top 200 place in the top 500 list; e. 30% of the final supercomputer resource at SUT to be made available for SKA-related studies to both internal and external (national and international) users. 3. An operational supercomputer at the Parkes Observatory, for use as a baseband recorder in pulsar and RFI studies, as a prototype for baseband recorders that may be used as part of the SKA. Specific steps toward this milestone are: a. Purchasing of the machines and components for the supercomputer. The supercomputer will consist of up to 30 dual processor machines, based on Pentium 4 processors; b. Integration of the supercomputer into the Parkes radio telescope; c. Verification of supercomputer operations through collection of pulsar timing data; d. Initial documented scientific analysis of baseband data recorded and processed using the supercomputer. Based on the experience gained installing the supercomputers at SUT and at Parkes, the supercomputers will be used to perform initial simulations that will be relevant for later years of the SUT SKA program and also develop software tools that will be relevant for later years. In particular, these activities will be: 4. Initial simulations of the sampled voltage output of a radio telescope with arbitrary system temperature and gain characteristics, including the effects of simple RFI signals. Specific steps toward this milestone are:

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a. Production of an efficient algorithm to generate random Gaussian noise as a model for the sampled voltage output of a radio telescope and implementation of this algorithm in software; b. Production of power spectra from the simulated data with an arbitrary temporal and frequency sampling; c. Verification that the power spectra give the correct signal to noise ratios when added coherently; d. Insertion of frequency structure into the simulated voltage data by adding simple sources of RFI to the data simulation algorithm. 5. Implementation of a prototype two station software correlator on the SUT supercomputer. In later years this software correlator will be generalised to N baselines and used to correlate real astronomy data, as a technology demonstration for the SKA, but also as a correlator for simulated baseband measurements of RFI that will be incorporated into array configuration studies of later years. Specific steps toward this milestone will be: a. Development of software that will correlate data initially recorded using the S2 VLBI system, on the SUT supercomputer. This software will account for all geometric effects usually considered in VLBI and will return fringe-rotated complex visibilities as a function of time with arbitrary temporal and frequency sampling, on a single baseline; b. Verification of the software via comparison with the correlation results for the same recorded data from the ATNF LBA correlator at ATNF headquarters in Sydney. 6. A study of the new digital filter bank at the Parkes Observatory, to assess its suitability as part of a next generation baseband recorder, will be undertaken. A document describing the suitability of the digital filter bank will be produced. In addition, the steps the SUT group will take to encourage collaboration within the Australian and international SKA simulation communities will be: 7. Host a meeting of all Australian researchers involved in SKA simulation studies at the SUT and make the results widely available to both the Australian SKA Consortium and international SKA study groups. A document recording the outcomes of this meeting will be produced. These outcomes may be reflected in revisions of the detailed SUT SKA work plan, from time to time; 8. Develop SKA simulation strategies with collaborative partners that will make efficient use of MNRF resources. A document will be produced that will describe the nature of these collaborations. The outcomes of these initial collaborative consultations may be reflected in revisions of the detailed SUT SKA work plan, from time to time. 9. Gain high-level representation on the SKA Simulation Working Group, a working group constituted by the International SKA Steering Committee, and contribute to the direction of the international SKA simulation effort, enhancing Australia's and SUT's exposure in the international project;

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Year 2 (ends 30 June 2004) In the second year of operation the SUT SKA group will use the computational capabilities built up during the first year of operation to develop those tools that will be used in simulations of the SKA, and further explore prototype hardware that may eventually be used as part of the SKA. The SUT SKA program will also continue to build further resources and facilities. In particular: 1. The prototype single-baseline software correlator developed during year 1 will be extended into a generalised N baseline correlator during year 2. This correlator will be capable of correlating both simulated data and real data collected from arrays of radio telescopes. In later years of the SUT SKA program, the software correlator will be used to correlate simulated SKA data, in particular estimating the response of the SKA to RFI, and will demonstrate the correlation of real-time data from the ATCA or the Australian VLBI array. It will be possible to project forward to the SKA era and determine if software correlation, in some form, could be a useful technique for the SKA itself. Specific steps to this milestone will be: a. Taking the single baseline correlator and devising an efficient algorithm for replicating it across the entire SUT supercomputer, maximising data transfer rates across supercomputer nodes; b. Verification that the correlator output is correct by correlation of a multi-baseline VLBI experiment and comparison to the output of the ATNF LBA correlator which correlates the same recorded data; c. Demonstration that the software correlator can correlate simulated sampled voltages, including simulated data that involves the effects of RFI; d. A completed Masters thesis based on some aspects of the software correlator development, including scientific results of relevance to the SKA. 2. A sub-cluster of the SUT supercomputer will be removed from the SUT Hawthorn campus and installed at the ATCA, in Narrabri. This cluster of machines will be used to develop a baseband recording capability at the ATCA, similar to that developed at Parkes during the first year of the SUT program. In later years the Narrabri baseband recorder will be used to investigate baseband recording using a phased array, rather than a single dish, again as a prototype recorder for SKA configurations that use phased arrays of elements. In later years both the baseband recorders at Parkes and Narrabri will be used to characterise the RFI environments at those sites. Specific steps to this milestone will be: a. Removal of a sub-cluster of machines from the SUT cluster and relocation at the Narrabri Observatory; b. Installation of the machines and integration into the Observatory infrastructure in order that the machines can be used as a baseband recorder for data from the tied ATCA; c. Verification of the machines as a baseband recorder via collection and analysis of data from the tied ATCA, probably as part of a VLBI observation used to test the software correlator.

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3. Approximately 2.5 Terabytes of disk storage will be installed at each of two Australian radio telescopes, in order to store large volumes of radio astronomy data at baseband. This facility could be used for the RFI survey activities of later years or for use in collecting VLBI data for use with the software correlator. It is envisaged that 2.5 Terabytes of disk storage will go to the Parkes Observatory. The other 2.5 Terabytes of disk storage could go to either the DSN Tidbinbilla installation or the ATCA, depending on feasibility and utility at the site. A study will be completed to determine if Tidbinbilla or the ATCA is the best location for the disk storage. By using hardware sourced from Finland that interfaces to the current VLBI data acquisition system, these disks will be configured as portable baseband recorders that can be used at any of the Australian radio telescopes. Specific steps toward this milestone will be: a. Developing specifications for the disk-based baseband recording system, including the Finnish hardware, the mass storage devices, and the PCs required to drive the hardware; b. Purchasing the required hardware; c. Testing the portable baseband recorder at the Parkes radio telescope and verifying that the system performs as expected by collecting and analysing baseband data i.e. conducting a spectral line observation using the system and comparing the results to the results from the Parkes correlator; d. Performing a two-station VLBI experiment using the two baseband recorders and analysing the recorded data using the software correlator on the SUT supercomputer. In order to meaningfully follow on from the meeting of Australian researchers working in SKA simulation studies, to build on the representation of the SUT SKA project within the international SKA project, and to further promote broad collaborations within the international SKA community: 4. An international meeting of the SKA simulation research community will be organised. At this meeting a plan by which the international SKA simulation workforce can efficiently collaborate towards coordinated outcomes will be discussed. This meeting will promote the SKA in general and specific collaborations between international groups in particular. 5. Establish the LOFAR software simulation package as the standard software package for SKA simulations. The LOFAR package is being developed specifically for the LOFAR consortium by the LOFAR group at the MIT and the SUT group, in collaboration with the MIT group, propose to develop and support the LOFAR simulator to a level at which it will be able to simulate all of the various proposed SKA concepts. The SUT group aim to make this resource available to all national and international SKA groups as an aide to their SKA design studies. Specific steps toward this milestone will be: a. Installation of all secondary software required by the LOFAR simulation package; b. Host a visit to SUT by a member of the MIT LOFAR group, in order to have the LOFAR simulation package installed on the SUT

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supercomputer and for the SUT SKA group to obtain training in the use of the package; c. Make the LOFAR simulator on the SUT supercomputer available to the global SKA community, to aide in global SKA design studies; d. Development of a plan, in collaboration with the MIT LOFAR group, to further develop and support SKA capability in the LOFAR simulator. Year 3 (ends 30 June 2005) In year 3 the software tools developed on the various supercomputers that were installed and developed over years 1 and 2 at the SUT, the Parkes Observatory, and the ATCA will be put to work to analyse simulated SKA data, to begin an evaluation of the realistic performance of the SKA, and also to analyse real radio astronomy data, as prototype analysis tools for the SKA itself. These activities will include: 1. The LOFAR simulation package will be fully developed into the standard simulation package for the SKA, according to the plan developed in year 2. 2. The characterisation of the RFI environment at the Parkes Observatory and the ATCA. This work will entail an RFI survey as a function of frequency and time, identifying the sources of RFI and providing a mechanism by which observers at these Observatories can monitor the RFI environment at the time of their observations; 3. The integration of the software correlator developed during years 1 and 2 with array configuration simulations of the SKA to provide simulated SKA datasets that contain realistic representations of environmental effects (atmospheric and ionospheric effects, radio frequency interference, geography, etc) as well as astronomical effects (source strengths, positions, sizes, spectra, etc). The integration of the software correlator and the array configuration simulations will require the generation and combination of separate uv datasets containing 1) the response of the SKA to RFI and 2) the response of the SKA to the radio astronomy signal plus corrupting effects. It is hoped that by combining the correlation of simulated RFI with datasets simulated from array configuration studies, it will be possible to learn in detail the effect of RFI on deep images of the radio sky made by the SKA. This work will be done in close collaboration with staff of the ATNF. By integrating the array configuration simulations and the software correlator simulations, it should be possible to produce SKA images with and without the corrupting effects of RFI, to estimate the conditions under which the images become seriously degraded by RFI. From this analysis, it should be possible to learn which approaches to RFI mitigation are likely to be most successful and useful to the SKA. Year 4 (ends 30 June, 2006) Once RFI surveys have taken place at the Parkes Observatory and the ATCA, the SUT SKA group will have built a library of recorded RFI signals on which to test RFI mitigation schemes and algorithms. Due to the experience and ongoing work in this field at the ATNF, the SUT group will work closely with ATNF staff on:

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1. Implementing RFI mitigation tools for use with the baseband recorders based at the Parkes Observatory and the ATCA and software correlators, for realtime single dish, phased array, and perhaps interferometric observations. These RFI mitigation tools, running on the baseband recorders will be prototypes for similar tools to be potentially used on the SKA; 2. Implementing similar RFI mitigation tools on the SUT software correlator, for use in the SKA simulations, to determine how well RFI can be removed from SKA datasets and to evaluate the improvement in image quality provided by various RFI mitigation schemes, using controlled tests. Year 5 (ends 30 June 2007) After demonstrating the RFI mitigation tools at the Parkes Observatory and the ATCA, and as part of SKA simulations, as tests of mitigation schemes, we will: 1. Implement real-time RFI mitigation and correlation of data at the ATCA and Parkes for spectral line observations, evaluating the effects in the final datasets and images; 2. Implement RFI mitigation as part of the integrated software correlator and array configuration SKA simulations of spectral line observations with the SKA, applying RFI mitigation on the simulated RFI input, to evaluate the effects in the final SKA datasets and spectral line images. C. Key personnel and commitments Key personnel for the SUT SKA project are as follows: · Prof Matthew Bailes, Director of the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing and member of the Australian SKA Consortium (ASKAC). Prof Bailes has overall responsibility for the activities within the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing and will spend approximately 5% of his time in SKA related activities, primarily as a member of the ASKAC. Dr Steven Tingay, SUT SKA Project Leader. Dr Tingay has day-to-day responsibility for the activities of the SUT SKA group, including supervising students and postdoctoral workers in the group, developing and coordinating the group's work program, allocating the group's budget, and providing reports to the State and Federal governments. Dr Tingay will spend 50% of his time managing the SUT SKA project. Dr Richard Ogley, Postdoctoral Fellow, SKA research and development. Dr Shinji Horiuchi, Postdoctoral Fellow, SKA research and development (appointment pending). Drs Ogley and Horiuchi will spend 100% of their time on SKA related research and development, implementing the bulk of the work plan as it appears in this annexure; they will be tenured initially on 3 year appointments with a further 2 year renewal of contract possible, depending on budgetary and project progress considerations. 95

·

· · ·


As well as the key personnel listed above, several others members of the SUT Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing will contribute indirectly to the success of the SKA project. These staff members will generally provide computing and system administration support and general administrative support to the project. D. Background IP and assessment of project risks The SUT SKA group intend developing significant intellectual property, building on its experience in baseband recording in radio astronomy. In particular, the development of a large-scale software correlator running on a supercomputer is potentially useful as an operational element in small to medium scale interferometric arrays, in particular VLBI arrays, with possible commercial opportunities. The SUT SKA group will protect their IP in this area, and other areas, in a way which is consistent with the IP policy of the MNRF "Gemini and SKA National Facility". Since the basic approach of the work of the SUT SKA group will be collaborative, adding value to the work of collaborators and deriving value for our own work, a potential risk to our work will be external factors. For example, it is possible that installing SUT-owned equipment into Observatory situations may be delayed for unforeseen technical reasons or changes in the Observatories operations or equipment with time. Also, since the SUT SKA group's work relies heavily on cutting-edge computational power, the availability of various components to upgrade and maintain the supercomputers at the SUT and the Observatories could potentially limit or delay the types or scales of SKA simulations which may be possible over the lifetime of the project. Attempting to predict the types of hardware that will be available 3 years into the project is difficult and if great improvements in data storage or processor speed take place, these improvements may prompt us to change our strategy and work plans to best take advantage of technology developments.

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APPENDIX B: INDIVIDUAL PROJECT REPORTS
Each of the ten MNRF projects were asked to provide an annual report. These ten separate reports have been summarised in the body of the overall MNRF report. In addition, each of the ten reports are appended here to give a greater level of detail than is contained in the overall MNRF report.

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Appendix B1: MNRF OFFICE - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003
Project Leader: Ray Norris, CSIRO ATNF Participating Organisations: CSIRO ATNF

Executive Summary
The MNRF Office is set up to administer the Australian Astronomy MNRF. This report is brief and describes only administrative functions, as most of the functions of the MNRF are embedded within the nine other projects of the MNRF and are described in their respective annual reports. As expenditure on the MNRF Office started in FY2001-2, when the MNRF was being set up, this report covers both 20012 and 2002-3.

1. Milestones
Progress against milestones is shown in Table 1. Milestone MNRF Deed (between CSIRO and DEST) to be signed by 31 December 2002 MNRF Relationship Deed (between all MNRF participants to be signed by 31 December 2002 Project Plans to be in place, and MNRF Participation Deeds (one each between CSIRO, on behalf of the MNRF office, and each participant) to be signed by 31 December 2002 Progress in FY2002-3 Deed signed on 4 November 2002. Deed signed between participants in late October to early November 2002.

Al though the Participation Deeds were ready for signing on schedule, it proved difficult to extract Project Plans (which need to be attached to the Deed as a Schedule) from participants. Participation Deeds are being signed in November-December 2003. New board composition to be agreed by 4 Composition agreed by a vote of all June 2003 participants completed on 29 May 2003. Annual report to be provided to DEST within Annual Report has been delayed this three months of the end of each financial year by difficulty found by year. participants in providing required information. AABoM to meet at least four times per year Much of AABoM's business has been conducted by email, necessitating only infrequent face-to-face meetings. In 2001/2 AABoM exchanged 250 emails and had 5 face-to-face meetings. In 2002/3 AABoM exchanged 331 emails and had only one face-to-face meeting.

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2. Other establishment issues
There are two significant establishment issues: · Difficulty of setting up collaborations between government bodies. DEST, CSIRO, and ARC each have their own procedures and expectations, and are relatively inflexible in dealing with other organisations. This made setting up an agreement involving these three bodies to be much harder than was expected. Happily, these challenges are now resolved, but remain as a lesson for other similar programs that may be set up in the future. No similar problems were encountered in dealing with any of the other participants (universities and industry) in this MNRF. · Difference between DEST expectations and participant expectations. Some participants have found it difficult to provide the level of detailed reporting required by DEST, resulting in this annual report being delayed. It is expected that after the learning experience this year, subsequent years will run much more smoothly, resulting in annual reports being delivered on schedule. The Australian Astronomy MNRF has a board named AABoM (Australian Astronomy Board of Management), but its initial composition was an interim one, as the MNRF participants were unable to find a composition that satisfied all requirements within the limited time available prior to the signing of the MNRF Deed. That deed stated that the initial board would last for a period of six months from the date of signing the Deed (4 November 2002), and within one month of the end of that period would produce recommendations on the future composition of the board. The participants would then vote on that recommendation. So it was necessary to agree on a recommendation, in consultation with participants and other stakeholders, by 4 June 2003, and then set up this new board. At the AABoM meeting of 7 March 2003, the MNRF Director proposed a possible composition which was discussed and agreed on, resulting in a position paper and a subsequent email discussion by AABoM members. That discussion reached a broad consensus resulting in a further position paper which was voted on by all MNRF participants, resulting in support by 11 of the 12 participants, with one abstention. After approval by DEST, this was used as the basis of the formation of a new AABoM, which has now been appointed.

·

3. Collaboration and Linkages
This MNRF has strong links to the national peak bodies in its areas of influence (Gemini: Australia Gemini Steering Committee; SKA: Australia SKA Consortium Committee) through their nomination of members to AABoM, and through other informal linkages. In addition, the MNRF Director was active in promoting links between the MNRFs, and co-organised a successful meeting of all MNRF Directors at the Australian Academy of Science to explore potential sharing of expertise between MNRFs.

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4. Financial Reporting
Tables 1-6 provide details of the MNRF expenditure and in-kind contributions, and may be summarised as follows: According to Section 3.2.3 of the MNRF Business Plan, outline planned expenditure for 2001-3 is as follows:
Year 01/02 02/03 Deliverables Milestone Contribution In-kind $m 0.00 0.05 Contribution Cash $m 0.00 0.00 MNRF Contribution $m 0.2755 0.1565

Facility management services in Agreement.

30.6.03

The $50k in-kind contribution is entirely from the ATNF, and was expected to consist of $34k in salaries and $16k in other expenditure. Actual expenditure, taken from the PSS (Project Support System), is as follows:
Salaries Capital Other Totals

2001/2 117.6 0 90.4

2002/3 43.3 0 52.1

Total 160.9 0.0 142.5 303.4

CSIRO ATNF uses effort logging to record salaries in its PSS. Because of an error, no salary for the MNRF Director was costed against this project in 2002/03. It is estimated that the facility director spent 15% of his time on MNRF in 2002/3, resulting in an additional salary cost (including on-costs) to the MNRF of $20.8k, resulting in the following cash expenditure:
Salaries Capital Other Totals

2001/2 117.6 0 90.4

2002/3 64.1 0 52.1

Total 181.7 0.0 142.5 324.2

This amount is charged as cash expenditure and entered in table 3a of the financial tables. To this should be added the overheads, calculated as 0.67 of salary, as described in Section 4.1 of the main annual report, as follows:
Overheads

2001/2 78.8

2002/3 42.9

Total 121.7

This amount is charged as in-kind expenditure and entered in table 1a of the financial tables. Overall income and expenditure may then be summarised as follows:

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Year

01/02 02/03 TOTAL

Budgeted matching contribution from ATNF $m 0.00 0.05 0.05

MNRF funding $m 0.2755 0.1565 0.4320

Total Budget $m 0.2755 0.2065 0.4820

Actual Expenditure $m 0.2868 0.1591 0.4459

Variance %

4 2 3

Notes on finances: · Variance = (expenditure-income)/(income) · Of the expenditure on this project, $19,437 in 2001/2 and $45,716 in 2002/3 was spent on legal fees.

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Appendix B2: INCREASED SHARE OF GEMINI - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003
Project Leader: Ray Norris, CSIRO ATNF Participating Organisations: · CSIRO ATNF · ARC · ANU RSAA · Sydney University · UNSW · University of Melbourne · Swinburne University of Technology

Executive Summary
The Gemini Partnership is an alliance of seven countries, including Australia, which operates two of the world's largest optical/infrared telescopes: the 8m Gemini telescopes located in Hawaii and Chile. The primary goal of the Gemini Project within the MNRF is to increase Australian access to Gemini, resulting in: more telescope nights for Australian astronomers; an increased potential for Gemini instrumentation contracts to Australian institutions; a higher Australian profile on the international stage, resulting in a greater degree of Australian influence on global science. In addition, there is a longer-term strategic goal to increase Australian access to nextgeneration optical/infrared telescopes. The additional telescope nights will be made available to all Australian astronomers through the peer-review process already used for the existing Gemini telescope nights and the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). Specifically, the process is conducted by the "Australian Time Allocation Committee" (ATAC) which is supported by the Australian Gemini Office (AusGO) and the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO). Construction contracts for Gemini instrumentation are awarded by the Gemini Partnership in an open, competitive tender process. Australian expertise gained by use of Gemini facilities will increase the innovative character of Australian instrumentation, increasing the likelihood that an Australian instrument will be selected. The primary achievement of the MNRF Gemini Project in FY2002-3 was the purchase of an additional 1.43% share in the Gemini Partnership, resulting in additional nights on the Gemini telescopes being available to Australian astronomers. Other achievements which are just as important in their own right, and impact significantly upon this project, although they are not strictly part of it, include: · The near completion of the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) instrument for Gemini by ANU RSAA. Sadly, this was destroyed by the Mount Stromlo fires. Happily, RSAA have retained the contract and the 102


· ·

designs were preserved, so that a new NIFS is now under construction, and is likely to be delivered to Gemini in early 2005. The award of a US$3.27m contract to RSAA to design and build the GeminiSouth Adaptive Optics Imager for Gemini. Significant design work and exploration of enabling technologies by the AAO for next generation telescopes. In particular, the AAO completed a contract for a wide-field multi-object spectrograph ("MOMFOS") valued at US$20k for the Gemini New Initiatives Office in 2002/2003, has European Union support valued at 70k for the exploration of self-propelled focal plane robots ("starbugs") in 2003/2004, and is proposing additional EU funds to support exploration of large telescope spectrograph concepts in 2003/2004.

This report covers only the payments for access to Gemini, and does not include the instrument construction which is described in separate workplans from the AAO and RSAA. As the additional Gemini time that has been purchased under this MNRF program is used indistinguishably from the Gemini time that had already been purchased by Australia, results in this report refer to results from Australian Gemini usage as a whole.

1. Milestones
Progress against milestones is shown in Table 1. We note in particular the significant primary goal of this Project of the MNRF, which was to increase Australian access to the Gemini telescopes. This has been successful in the first year of the MNRF program, resulting in a 1.43% increase in the Australian share of Gemini from 4.76% to 6.19%. Milestone The agreement with Gemini for increased access to Gemini will be signed by ARC, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government, by November 2003. Australian astronomers will have access to an increased number of nights on Gemini by January 2003 A decision will be made on the strategic use of the balance of the MNRF Gemini funding by mid 2004 Progress in FY2002-3 A 1.43% increase in Australian share of Gemini has been successfully negotiated, contracts signed, and payments made, by October 2003. Increased access to nights, resulting from the increased share, started on 1 February 2003. Discussions are starting.

2. Other establishment issues
There are four significant establishment issues: · Exchange rate fluctuations. As our income from DEST is in A$, but our payments to Gemini are in US$, exchange rate fluctuations were considered to be a potential hazard for long-term viability of this project. Hedging was considered as an option. Fortunately, in view of the strengthening Australian dollar, no funds were hedged. This remains an option if the Australian dollar shows signs of weakening. · Unspent Gemini funding. For reasons detailed in the Project Plan, the amount of additional Australian share of Gemini that we have so far been able to

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·

·

negotiate is less than expected in the MNRF proposal, resulting in a balance of cash carried forward. A decision must be made on whether to use this balance to explore further opportunities for access to Gemini, or whether changing circumstances make it more attractive to explore, subject to DEST approval, alternative ways of gaining Australian access to other large telescopes. AABoM will consider this question in 2003/4. Ability of Australian scientists to produce world-class science from the use of Gemini. This project buys Australia a larger share of the Gemini telescopes. The ability of Australian scientists to make effective use of this share will depend on both (a) the provision of first-class instrumentation on the Gemini telescopes, and (b) the ability of scientists to mount first-class projects on these instruments. While Australian astronomers have an enviable track record of performing world-class science, the instrumentation on Gemini has been delayed for a variety of reasons (including the Mt Stromlo fires). The capabilities of the Gemini telescopes have been slower in ramping up than envisaged by the user community in all partner countries. This has been reflected in a relatively slow start-up in usage of the Gemini telescopes by Australian scientists. As the capabilities of the telescopes increase, we are confident that Australian scientists will take their accustomed place at the front of the global field. Entry of the UK into the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The UK is a 25% (approx.) partner in Gemini and thus plays a significant role in its destiny. Recently the UK astronomy community was successful in a bid for major additional funding to allow the UK to become a full partner in ESO, which operates the Very Large Telescope (VLT), a cluster of 4 8-meter optical/IR telescopes in Chile that are directly competitive with Gemini-South. The UK has indicated to the Gemini Board its firm commitment to Gemini. This may generate opportunities for Australia in a number of ways. The longstanding bi-national Anglo-Australian Telescope Agreement provides an important complementary venue for the two countries to pursue common objectives in Gemini and beyond.

3. Facility's Access regime
Access to Australian Gemini time, including the additional Australian Gemini time purchased under this MNRF project, is allocated by an open peer review system, operated by the Australian Gemini Office, with additional administrative support provided by the Anglo-Australian Observatory, as described in the MNRF Business Plan. Proposals for the use of the telescope time are invited from all Australian scientists two times each year, and these proposals are assessed and ranked by the Australian Time Allocation Committee (ATAC). As is established practice in astronomy, no charge is made to users for access to the facility. Evidence that this access has been well exploited by Australian astronomers is provided via statistics on the demand for and use of time on the Gemini telescopes over the last 5 semesters (covering 2001, 2002, and the first half of 2003). During that time, a total of 64 proposals were submitted to the ATAC for observing time on the Gemini telescopes. This involved a total of 38 Australian researchers from 10 different institutions; the distribution of those astronomers (in academic, research scientist and postdoctoral positions) and the number of proposals they submitted across these institutions is as follows: 104


Institution ANU UNSW Swinburne AAO USyd UMelb Macquarie Monash UQld ATNF Total

No. of researchers 13.5 6 5 4 3 2.5 2 1 0.5 0.5 38

No. of proposals 25.5 12 7 4 4 9 1 0 1 0.5 64

% of proposals 40 19 10 6 6 14 2 0 2 1 100

Of these 64 proposals, 45 were for time on Gemini North, requesting a total of 356 hours. With ATAC having a total of 184 hours to allocate, time on this telescope was therefore oversubscribed by a factor of 1.93. Similarly, the 19 proposals for Gemini South requested a total of 131 hours, oversubscribing the 92 hrs that ATAC had to allocate by a factor of 1.43. Overall, both telescopes were oversubscribed by a factor of 1.76. The number of proposals ATAC awarded time to and were subsequently approved by the Gemini Director (on the basis of the recommendations made by the Gemini International Time Assignment Committee ­ ITAC) totalled 46, of which 29 were on Gemini North and 17 on Gemini South. The imbalance in the number of proposals for the northern and southern telescopes is because the latter was unavailable for the first 6 months of the period covered here, and had a more limited choice of instruments. Also with both telescopes being in a commissioning phase over the period analysed, the amount of time made available for scientific observations was only at the 40-50% level for Gemini North, and 35-45% level for Gemini South. From semester 2003B onwards, both telescopes will allocate a minimum of 70% of their time to science. Despite these limitations to their operation, the Gemini telescopes have nonetheless been used to pursue an extensive range of astrophysical programs.

4. Collaboration and Linkages
In addition to the enhanced links Australia has developed with the other partner countries through its membership in Gemini, there is strong evidence that the science programs being pursued by Australian researchers on the Gemini telescopes involve a high level of international collaboration. Two-thirds (43/64) of the proposals that were submitted in the 2001-2003 period involved collaborations with researchers outside Australia. The following table gives a profile of what countries these collaborators were from, and the number of institutions and researchers involved.

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Country USA UK Canada Germany France Chile Gemini Obs Italy Belgium Netherlands Japan Argentina

Number of institutions 22 8 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Number of researchers 41 21 5 6 2 7 2 1 1 1 1 1

Collaborations involving astronomers in countries which belong to the Gemini Partnership have the opportunity of getting multiple allocations of time for their project through being able to apply to the individual time assignment committees in each of the partner countries. Australian astronomers have been effective users of this "joint proposal" mechanism, with more than a third (23/64) of Australian proposals being in this category, and the majority of cases being successful in winning sizeable allocations of time (up to 5.5 nights).

5. Facility's Contribution to Research and Training
The Gemini telescopes are playing an important role in the training of Australian postgraduate students. Of the 64 proposals submitted, 24 (38%) involved observations that were part of a student's thesis project. The following table lists the number of such students according to institution; it can be seen that there has been particularly strong postgraduate involvement in Gemini at the Universities of Melbourne and NSW. Institution University of Melbourne UNSW ANU University of Sydney Monash Total Number of postgrad students 8 5 4 1 1 19 % 41 26 21 6 6 100

Postdoctoral researchers supported on Gemini-related ARC grants (mostly in the Discovery Program) will number nine by mid-2003, at ANU, Swinburne, U Melb, UNSW and U Qld.

6. Contribution to Australian industry
The aspect of Gemini operations covered by this report does not impact directly on Australian industry. Instead the strong linkages built up with Australian industry through the Gemini instrumentation programs is listed in the separate AAO and RSAA reports.

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7. Promotion of the Facility
The world-leading position of Australia in global astronomy has the capacity to inspire young Australians and contribute to the development of a Science, Engineering and Technology focused society. The Australian astronomical community has capitalized on this and regularly uses results from its telescopes in press releases and in programs such as the ABC's "Catalyst" and the Science Show. One example was the dedication of the Gemini South telescope, attracting coverage on ABC TV's main evening news. The Australian Gemini Scientist (AGS), Prof. W. Couch, was also interviewed on Channel 9's "Today" show about the first major scientific results to be obtained with the Gemini telescopes, highlighting Australian involvement. There have also been considerable efforts to raise awareness of Gemini and its significance to Australian astronomy amongst the public, within government, and throughout the professional and amateur astronomy communities. The AGS has given a number of public talks at a variety of venues which include the Australia Museum, primary schools, and amateur astronomy societies. The AusGO (Australian Gemini Office) also packaged up a number of stories based on scientific results that Australian astronomers had obtained through their use of Gemini, for the CEO of the ARC to present to the Prime Minister. The International Astronomical Union's General Assembly, which was held in Sydney in July 2003, was also used as an opportunity to promote Gemini, with the AusGO having a stand prominently located within the exhibition area, which was visited by hundreds of visiting astronomers as also members of the public. The AusGO continues to promote the Gemini telescopes and their facility instruments to Australian astronomers through special workshops and its website (http://www.ausgo.unsw.edu.au). In the 2002/2003 year, the AGS ran a Gemini `users' workshop at the University of Queensland, attended by all interested astronomers within that state. He also initiated a nation-wide response and planning process for The Second Gemini Future Instrumentation Workshop held in Aspen in June 2003. Here the Gemini Partnership came together to determine what its scientific aspirations are for the latter half of this decade and beyond, and hence what new instrumentation needs to be acquired for the Gemini telescopes. Given Australia's desire to increase its engagement in the Gemini instrumentation program (one of the primary goals of the Gemini MNRF project), it was essential that it participate vigorously and effectively in this workshop. This was achieved by a 9 month long planning process, which involved a series of workshops and meetings at all the major astronomical centres within Australia, where scientific visions were pooled and instrument concepts formulated. This culminated in the production of an Australian "Science Cases" document, the contents of which were presented by Australia's seven representatives at the Aspen meeting. As it turns out, the outcomes of the Aspen process overlap considerably with Australia's desires and interests in new Gemini instrumentation, and we can look forward to having strong involvement in the design study and procurement process.

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8. Commercialisation and Information Transfer
Gemini instrument construction will lead to commercialisable Intellectual Property and this is listed in the separate AAO and RSAA reports. Intellectual property generated by this Project of the Facility is in the form of astronomical discoveries which are placed in the public domain. As Gemini is only now being fully equipped with world-class instrumentation, publications are only just starting to appear in the international refereed literature and are listed below. Published Davidge, Da Costa, Jorgensen and Allington-Smith. `The M31 dwarf spheroidal companion And V: g', r' and I' imaging with GMOS on Gemini North' Astron. J. 124, 886, 2002 (GMOS imaging from GMOS-North system verification, taken before formal GMOS Time Assignment commenced) Papers submitted or in preparation Bridges et al. `Photometry and Spectroscopy of Globular Clusters in M60' Bridges et al. `Spectroscopy of Globular Clusters in NGC 524' Bridges et al. `Spectroscopy of Globular Clusters in NGC 3379' Croom et al. `Gemini imaging of QSO host galaxies at z=2' Drinkwater et al. `Stellar populations of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies' Francis, Webster, Drinkwater `High redshift galaxies with flat radio spectra' Harris, Schmidt et al. `The Hawaii deep survey' Melatos et al. `Milli-hertz variability in sub-arcsecond wisps and knots in the Crab Nebula' Tonry, Schmidt et al. `High-z supernova search: Fall 1999 results' Wood, van de Steene, Weldrake `Infrared emission lines in the PAGB star candidate IRAS 16115-5044' Technical publications related to Gemini involvement Hart, McGregor and Bloxham `NIFS concentric integral field unit' Proc. SPIE 4841, 34, 2002. McGregor, Conroy, Bloxham and van Harmelan `Near-infrared integral field spectrograph (NIFS): an instrument proposed for Gemini' Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust. 16, 273, 1999. McGregor, Dopita, Wood and Burton `Science with NIFS, Australia's first Gemini instrument' Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust. 18, 41, 2001. McGregor, Hart, Conroy, Pfitzer, Bloxham, Jones, Downing, Dawson, Young, Jarnyk and van Harmelan, `Gemini near-infrared integral field spectrograph (NIFS)' Proc SPIE 4841, 178, 2002.

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9. Financial Reporting
Tables 1-6 provide details of the MNRF expenditure and in-kind contributions. Explanatory notes to the payments may be found in the MNRF Gemini Project statement of Work. Income and expenditure for this project may be summarised in FY2002-3 as follows: MNRF GEMINI PROJECT BUDGET 2002-3 (1) Institutional subscriptions: $k CSIRO ATNF 32 ANU RSAA 245 Sydney Uni 65 UNSW 210 Uni. Melbourne 52 Swinburne 10 (2) ARC linkage grant 1637 (3) MNRF funding 2051 TOTAL BUDGET 4302 MNRF GEMINI PROJECT EXPENDITURE 2002-3 $k (1) Matching funding paid into Sydney 2469 University trust fund for payment of existing $4.76% Gemini subscription. This consists of the $1855k ARC grant (shown in Table 2 of Appendix G, and audit document 7) plus $614k total institutional subscriptions shown in Table 2 of Appendix A2, and audit document 6) (2) Cash payment to NSF for the 0 additional 1.43% share TOTAL EXPENDITURE 2469 Payment to NSF for FY2002-3 was held up by contractual delays (in the USA), and so payment for FY2002-3 was not made until October 2003, and will be formally reported in the MNRF annual report for FY2003-4. Thus, formally, expenditure of MNRF funds on this project in FY2002-3 is zero. Thus the MNRF income of $2051 shown above has all been carried forward to next financial year. For information, the amount paid to Gemini from the MNRF in October 2003 was US$1,095,320.00 A letter certifying payment of all the institutional contributions is appended to this report in Appendix F, and a note from Sydney University confirming payment of the ARC Linkage grant is on file and can be supplied on request. Expenditure profile for the following years is still uncertain because of the uncertain spending profile associated with remaining Gemini funds, and has therefore been left unchanged from the business plan.

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Appendix B3: RSAA GEMINI INSTRUMENTATION - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003
Project Leader: Prof. P. D. Sackett, ANU RSAA Participating Organisations: ANU RSAA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The RSAA (Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics) of the Australian National University (ANU) participates in the Australian Astronomy MNRF through: · support for the operating costs of the Gemini Telescopes through the period of the MNRF, · in-kind contributions associated with the construction of the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) for the Gemini South 8m telescope, and · the completion of the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) for the Gemini North 8m telescope. ANU and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) of the USA presented competing designs for GSAOI at the Conceptual Design Review held in Hawaii in August 2002. ANU was chosen in November 2002 to develop the detailed design and construct the instrument. The Preliminary Design Review was held in May 2003. The construction contract between ANU and the Gemini Observatory was signed in September 2003. The Critical Design Review was held in October 2003, after which the Gemini Observatory gave its approval for construction to proceed. GSAOI is currently on track for an on-time delivery in late 2005. NIFS was undergoing final alignment tests when it was destroyed in the Canberra bushfires of Jan 2003, just six months before shipment was scheduled. The Gemini Observatory has since signalled its confidence in ANU by agreeing to have NIFS rebuilt by the Canberra-based aerospace company, Auspace, in collaboration with ANU. The bushfires were a major setback for the NIFS project. However, it is now expected that NIFS-II will be shipped to Hawaii as soon as December 2004.

1. MILESTONES
Milestone Complete each of the remaining milestones for the completion of NIFS. 2Deliver NIFS to Gemini. Milestone Date
NIFS-I: July 2003 NIFS-II: December 2004 February 2005

Outcome The NIFS contract with the Gemini Observatory was amended as a result of the Canberra bushfires. Delivery of NIFS-II to ANU is now scheduled for 13 September 2004. Auspace are on track to meet this milestone. Delivery of NIFS-II to Gemini is expected 5 months later.

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Successfully commission NIFS on Gemini North. 4Award of a new instrument contract from Gemini. Contingent on 4.) above, complete each of the milestones associated with the design and construction of said instrument. Contingent on 4.) above, deliver said instrument. Contingent of 4.) above, successfully commission said instrument.

June 2005 Before July 2004 September 2005

GSAOI contract awarded in November 2002 GSAOI completed its Critical Design Review on 27-28 October 2003, before the scheduled date of 5 December 2003.

November 2005 May 2006

2. OTHER ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES
The RSAA Technical Projects Manager, Liam Waldron, has taken over as GSAOI Project Manager so that Jan van Harmelen can act as Project Engineer for GSAOI and continue to be the Project Manager for the NIFS rebuild. A mechanical engineer, Glen Jones, has been hired to oversee procurement of outsourced cryostat components for GSAOI and NIFS-II. An instrumental astronomer position has been advertised to assist the GSAOI/NIFS Project Scientist, Peter McGregor, in these tasks that must now be performed in parallel as a result of the destruction of NIFS-I. Advertisements for the position closed on 31 October 2003.

3. RESEARCH, ACCESS & COLLABORATION
3.1 Facilities Access Regime
This is not presently applicable. RSAA is constructing two instruments for Gemini telescopes. Access to the Gemini telescopes is detailed in Project 2.

3.2 Collaboration and Linkages
Auspace Pty Ltd is rebuilding NIFS under subcontract from ANU.

3.3 Facility's Contribution to Research and Training
On-time acceptance of GSAOI by the Gemini Observatory will generate 20 nights of guaranteed time using the instrument on the Gemini South telescope. This guaranteed time decreases by one night for every 2 weeks acceptance is over-schedule to a minimum of 8 guaranteed nights.

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Acceptance of NIFS will generate 12 guaranteed nights using the instrument on Gemini North. These nights are available for use by the Australian instrument teams of GSAOI and NIFS, respectively. Sixteen RSAA engineers projects. Involvement in components, procedures, would not have access if and technicians are working on the GSAOI and NIFS these projects exposes these technologists to design tools, and international collaborative discussions to which they it was not for these projects.

The recent GSAOI Critical Design Review is one example where instrument scientists and engineers from USA, Canada, and Chile visited ANU to review the design and exchange information.

3.4 Contribution to Australian industry
NIFS is being rebuilt by Auspace Pty Ltd, which is a small enterprise based on advanced space technology with an international focus. Auspace recognizes that astronomical instrumentation demands similar technological skills to space instrumentation, and that it commands a significant international market with over US$10 billion set to be invested internationally in astronomical hardware over the next decade. The rebuild of NIFS has resulted in technology transfer from ANU to Auspace that has strengthened Auspace's market position.

4. PROMOTION OF THE FACILITY
4.1 Marketing
This is not currently directly applicable to RSAA.

4.2 Promotion
Two papers promoting NIFS to an international audience of technologists were presented at the August 2002 SPIE meeting in Hawaii: · McGregor et al, 2002, SPIE 4841, 1581-1591, "Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS)" · Hart et al, 2002, SPIE, 4841, 319-329,"NIFS Concentric Integral Field Unit" NIFS won the ACT Government New Technology and Innovation Award and a Highly Commended Award at the 2003 Engineering Excellence Awards, Canberra Division. ANU made a national press release ("ANU wins competition to build $6.3m sharpeyed imager") upon the award of the GSAOI construction contract in December 2002. ANU's success in winning the GSAOI construction contract in competition with the premier optical astronomy observatory in the USA promoted Australia's science and technology to the entire Gemini partnership of USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil.

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The early, thorough, and successful completion of the GSAOI Critical Design Review by ANU has set new standards for instrumentation achievement within the Gemini partnership and further promoted Australian scientific and technological capability. ANU participated in the Industry Day associated with the International Astronomical Union General Assembly in Sydney in July 2003 where the NIFS and GSAOI projects were promoted to Australian industry.

5. COMMERCIALISATION
This is not applicable to RSAA in the report period.

6. FINANCIAL REPORTING
Subject to the caveats listed below, RSAA agreed to provide the following contributions to the Australian Astronomy MNRF in FY2002/3 as part of the RSAA Gemini Instrument Building (Project 3). Note that RSAA also paid an institutional subscription of $245k to Gemini, which is included in Project 2 (and listed in Table 2 of the overall financial tables). # 1 2 Item GSAOI cash contribution In-kind contributions from unreimbursed contributions to NIFS, GSAOI, and others instruments. Commitment (from Project plan) ($k) 70 (subject to caveats) 294.4 Outcome ($k) 0 (see note 1) 420.384 (see note 2)

Note 1: Item 2 was contingent upon RSAA winning a new bid to supply instrumentation to Gemini and on the AUD/USD exchange rate remaining at or below the rate assumed in the instrument contract (see the MNRF Business Plan). RSAA won a contract to provide GSAOI for Gemini South, with an assumed exchange rate of 1AUD = 0.63USD. During the report period, the AUD strengthened; at October 2003 it stood at 0.70USD, and by late November is even higher. On the contract price of some US$3.2m, this fluctuation represents at least A$508k, or A$102k p.a. over 5 years, which must be absorbed by RSAA. Given the contingency in the conditions under which this cash contribution would be made, RSAA is not in a position to make this contribution. Note 2: In-kind salary contributions amount to $420k, which contains a) unclaimed NIFS overhead from July 2002 to June 2003 calculated from hours work and base salary of all staff working on the project, b) donated NIFS labour of Project Scientist, and c) donated GSAOI labour of Project Scientist and Project Manager. This amount is entered in Table 1 of the overall financial tables. In summary, RSAA have committed $420k of in-kind contributions to this project within this financial period, compared to the $243k committed in the business plan, or

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the $294k committed in the Project Plan. Due to exchange rate fluctuations, RSAA was not able to make the $70k cash contribution associated with the GSAOI contract. These in-kind contributions may be summarised as follows:
Salaries Capital Other Totals

2002/3 420 0 0 420

There is no cash expenditure in this project. Because of the nature of this project, expenditure is equal to income.

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Appendix B4: AAO Instrumentation - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003
Project Leader: Chris Tinney, AAO Participating Organisation: AAO

Executive Summary
The Anglo-Australian Observatory has participated in the Australian Astronomy MNRF through its support for the `back office' functions for Australian applications for telescope time on the International Gemini Observatory, and the Gemini widefield multi-object spectrograph (KAOS) pre-concept study. During FY2002-3, its principal contribution has been in responding to scientific input requirements to the pre-concept study and contributing to the KAOS Purple Book.

1. Milestones
Milestone 1. Provide `back office' support 2. Pre-concept study for the Gemini wide-field multiobject spectrograph, KAOS. Milestone Date Continuing activity 30 June 2003. Outcome Support provided at the agreed level Pre-concept study documentation delivered on time.

2. Other establishment issues
The key AAO personnel involved with MNRF activities during the reporting year were: Brian Boyle, Director Chris Tinney, Head of Astronomy Joss Hawthorn, Head of Instrument Science Roger Haynes, Acting Head of Instrumentation Anna Moore Stuart Ryder No new appointments were made during the year specifically as a result of MNRF activities. If the AAO is successful in the new instrumentation contracts referred to in the Project Plan, there may be new appointments made during FY2003-4.

3. Research, access and collaboration
Facility's access regime AAO provides `back office' support consisting of (1) operating the Australian Gemini time-application web server, and (2) providing technical assessments, phase 2 proposal support and secretarial services. Collaborations and linkages AAO has fostered a linkage with NOAO in preparing the KAOS pre-concept study.

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Facility's contribution to research and training No activity in the reporting year. Contribution to Australian industry No activity in the reporting year.

4. Promotion of the facility
Marketing The AAO is pursuing an aggressive regime in marketing its instrumentation work, based on personal contacts with institutions like the UKATC, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. Promotion The AAO stand at the IAU Astro Expo in July 2003 attracted much interest, as did the brochure Novel solutions for your astronomy, published to outline AAO's capabilities in instrument-building and design. AAO also participated in the Industry Day at the IAU General Assembly. The KAOS Purple Book, embodying the results of the pre-concept study, has been widely circulated. Some instrumental advances related to the pre-concept study are being prepared for presentation at the SPIE Instrumentation Symposium in June 2004.

5. Commercialisation
Not applicable, except inasmuch as has been referred to already (e.g. in transfer of information to users).

6. Financial reporting
The contributions for 2002/3 consist only of in-kind contributions, for (a) Gemini "back-office" support, and (b) a pre-concept study for the Gemini wide-field multiobject spectrograph, KAOS.. These matching contribution consist of salaries plus overheads (calculated as in Section 4.1 of the main report).

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# 1

Item

2

3

Provide `back office' support for 2002/3 (S. Ryder, C. Tinney, H. Woods) Pre-concept study 52.0 for the Gemini wide-field multiobject spectrograph, KAOS. (J. Brzeski, J Hawthorn, A McGrath, A. Moore) 30-metre telescope 0 development (C. Evans, J. Hawthorn, R. Haynes) TOTAL 64.0
2001/2 0 0 0

Commitment (from Project plan) ($k) 12.0

Base Oncosts salary ($k) ($k) 13.2 3.4

Other costs ($k) 9.7

Total ($k) 26.3

41.6

10.8

30.8

83.2

12.7

3.3

9.4

25.4

67.5
2002/3 85.0 0 49.9

17.5

49.9

134.9

These in-kind contributions may be summarised as follows:
Salaries (including on-costs) Capital Other Totals

Total 85.0

0.0 49.9 134.9

There is no cash expenditure in this project. .

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Appendix B5: Australia Telescope Compact Array Broadband Backend (CABB) - Annual Report for FY2002-2003
Project Leader: Warwick Wilson, CSIRO ATNF Participating Organisations: CSIRO ATNF

1. Overview
The major milestone for 2002/3, the completion of the digital filter bank demonstrator, has not been achieved. Good progress has been made towards this goal but unexpected problems with the complex Field Programmable Gate Array design software have caused delays. Although ATNF has considerable experience and expertise in the design of FPGAs, the much-increased level of complexity of the DFB FPGA circuits called for a new approach to the design process. New design tools were purchased and installed and considerable effort was expended on learning the new system. Although this has resulted in significant delays to the early stages of the project, the experience gained should pay dividends as the project progresses, particularly due to the widespread application of FPGAs in many areas. Delays have also occurred in other areas due to a lack of ATNF funded manpower arising from over-runs in other unrelated projects. There have, however, been cases where work on other projects has been directly applicable to the CABB project. An example is the successful installation of very wide-band analogue data links over fibre optic cables on the Compact Array. The experience gained with these links will provide invaluable input to the decision, yet to be finalised, on the means of transporting the data in the CABB project. A revised Gantt chart, which takes account of these delays, is attached. The final completion date remains unchanged.

2. Milestones
Progress against milestones is shown in Table 1, with estimated revised dates for these milestones.

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Milestone Commencement of project ­ conceptual design Demonstration of DFB demonstrator spectrometer Completion of 2GHz DFB (digital filterbank) Testing of prototype photonic data transmission system Testing of prototype conversion system Commencement of installation at Narrabri Six antenna ATCA operational with new backend Broadband ATCA tied array operational

Date shown in Project Plan January 2002 April 2003

Outcome Commenced on schedule Delayed by learning process on new FPGA design tools

Revised date January 2002 October 2003

February 2004 April 2004 July 2005 January 2006 July 2007

April 2004 Delayed by over-runs in August unrelated areas 2004 Delayed by over-runs in October unrelated areas 2004 July 2005 July 2006 January 2007

3. Other establishment issues
None encountered.

4. Collaboration and Linkages
The development work for this MNRF enabled a prototype digital polyphase filterbank spectrometer to be developed. Building on this, UNSW have successfully applied for ARC funding to construct a full production filterbank spectrometer for the Mopra telescope. Thus, as a spin-off from this project, the Mopra telescope will be upgraded to be the most versatile millimetre single-dish telescope in the world.

5. Financial Reporting
Financial projections from the project plan are as follows:
Year 01/02 02/03 TOTAL Contribution In-kind $k 100 300 400 Contribution Cash $k 0 250 250 MNRF Funding $k 0 500 500

Thus the total income for the project was $1150k. The cash and in-kind contributions are entirely from the ATNF. Actual expenditure, taken from the PSS (Project Support System), is as follows:
Salaries Capital Other Totals

2001/2 0 37.0 0

2002/3 146.5 76.3 0

Total 146.5 113.3 0 259.8

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This amount is charged as cash expenditure and entered in table 3a of the financial tables. To this should be added the overheads, calculated as 0.67 of salary, as described in Section 4.1 of the main annual report, as follows:
Overheads

2001/2 0

2002/3 98.2

Total 98.2

This amount is charged as in-kind expenditure and entered in table 1a of the financial tables. Overall income and expenditure may then be summarised as follows:
Year

01/02 02/03 TOTAL

Budgeted Matching ATNF funding $k 100 550 650

Budgeted MNRF funding $k 0 500 500

Total Budget $k 100 1050 1150

Actual Expenditure $k 37 321 358

This project therefore shows a significant underspend, the causes of which are discussed above in Section 1 of this Appendix. As a result of this slow start-up, we have revised the budget profile as follows. The funding profile has been revised from the business plan, but the total amounts, goals, and timescales for completion are identical. The descriptions of deliverables have been finalised. . Year Project Summary, Goals and Contrib. Contrib. MNRF In-kind Cash Contrib Deliverables ($k) ($k) . ($k) 01/02 Conceptual design studies 40 0 0 02/03 Conceptual design continues 115 40 190 Develop DFB demonstrator 03/04 Develop prototypes of final system 295 260 535 04/05 Move from prototyping to full 350 600 750 production 05/06 Production and installation 450 600 750 06/07 Tied array installation 50 100 150 1300 1600 2375 Total To calculate the fractions of these future budgets that will be used on salaries, capital, and other, it has been assumed that salaries account for 41%, capital for 32%, and other for 27%. These figures are based on experience to date with this project.

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Appendix B6: New Technology Demonstrator - Project Report for FY2002-3
Project Leader: Peter Hall, ATNF Participating Organisations: · CSIRO ATNF, · CSIRO ICT Centre (CICTC), · CSIRO TIP (CTIP) · CSIRO Manufacturing and Industrial Technology (CMIT) · Macquarie University · CISCO Systems (Australia) · CEA Pty Ltd. · APT Pty. Ltd.

Executive summary
The Luneburg Lens prototyping work is progressing well. A new artificial dielectric material has been developed, and the manufacturing process for this has been patented. There has been some slippage in the lens project milestones due to the challenges involved in developing the new manufacturing process. Delivery of a prototype 0.9 m Luneburg Lens constructed from the new dielectric material is now anticipated by December 2003 instead of July 2003. It is still expected that the choice of demonstrator concept will be made by 30 June 2004, as proposed in the MNRF Business Plan. Further work is required to determine whether the Luneburg Lens concept is appropriate for the SKA context or whether its use will be confined to commercial development only. A new feed translator system for the Lens has been designed and manufactured. Software to control the feed translator has been written. Two Australian SKA Concept description whitepapers have been written. The "Eyes on the Sky" whitepaper is based on Luneburg Lens antennas as a method for exploring a multifielding SKA concept.

1. Milestones
Progress against the project goals and milestone dates for the NTD Project for financial years 2001­2 and 2002­3 are listed in the following tables. Milestone/goals Establish cross-divisional collaboration (CTIP, CMIT, CMS, ATNF) to investigate possible low loss, low density composite dielectric materials. Develop analysis and design software for spherical lenses Demonstrate low-loss dielectric with values suitable Target date December 2001 Outcome Collaboration set up and flourishing

30 June 2002 30 June 2003

Software constructed on target (see Section 9 below). New dielectric developed with very low loss. (see Section 9 122


for spherical lens. Construct first prototype spherical lens Test hybrid array / lens system using FARADAY phased array. Develop signal transport model based on LOFAR and SKA specifications. Develop wideband beamformer concept using direct digital sampling.

30 June 2003 30 June 2003 30 June 2003 30 June 2003

below). Prototype constructed November 2003 Tests conducted using Konkur lens in February 2003 Development of this model is in progress This development is behind schedule.

2. Other establishment issues
· The focus of this project so far has been the development of the Luneburg Lens. It is not yet clear whether this will in fact be a suitable technology for the SKA, although we note that this development has already produced a patent and which we expect to be commercialised. A decision point will be reached in 2003/4 whether to continue work on the Luneburg lens, or whether to concentrate instead of phased array technology. The phased array work in this area is complementary to the European Union Faraday and Pharos programs, and to the LOFAR program. ATNF and CICTC are participants in all these programs, thus developing a high degree of synergy and cross-fertilisation.

·

3. Research, Access & Collaboration
3.1 Facility's Access regime
The NTD prototype will be available for other engineering science developments. If it is suitable for astronomical use, it will be incorporated into the ATNF telescopes and will be open for use by all astronomers using the National Facility.

3.2 Collaboration and Linkages
This project has been joined by new collaborators who were not part of the initial MNRF proposal: Cisco Systems, Macquarie University Centre for Electromagnetic and Antenna Engineering, and Connell-Wagner, who have made a $500k donation of their billable time. Discussions were held between CSIRO, CEA and Dutch collaborators on achromatic phased array design in early 2003, while Arnold van Ardenne, an ATNF Distinguished Visitor from ASTRON in the Netherlands was visiting ATNF. A digital array prototype was defined and areas for potential further work were identified. APT has supplied Al2O3 nanoparticle powder for testing purposes. Currently APT is unable to supply the TiO2 nanoparticle powder required for testing the current materials but may be able to supply this in future. This will be pursued after further research and tests with TiO2 macro structures produced with new CMS manufacturing process.

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4. Facility's Contribution to Research and Training
This project programs: · Two · Two · One has contributed to the training of young engineers through the following PhD students (Suzy Jackson & Doug Hayman) vacation students (Paul Conner & Simon Nawrot) industry experience program student (Adam Deller)

5. Promotion of the Facility
There have been many promotional activities, including: · Presentation of material at the "IAU industry day" at the IAU General Assembly, Darling Harbour · Outreach to high-school students through the SEARFE project (see http://www.searfe.atnf.csiro.au/ ) · TV programs such as the ABC "Catalyst" program · Publication of popular articles in national newspapers and magazines such as the Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Canberra Times, the Financial Review, the Weekend Australian, and the West Australian. Some 63 articles have appeared in the press on the SKA during this reporting period. · Publications in specialist journals and international magazines. These include o Cole, M., "Engineering the Square Kilometre Array" in EA magazine, January 2003. o Hall, P. J. : The Square Kilometre Array - An Australian Perspective, ITEES (Aust) Monitor, 26(3), 2001, pp. 18 - 20. o Hall, P. J. : Square-Kilometre Array Radio Telescope May Come to Australia, What's New in Radio Communications, April/May 2001, pp. 35-38. o Brouw, W. "Australian research effort for the SKA". Astrophys. Space Sci., 278, 205-208 (2001). o Ekers, R.D. "Square Kilometre Array". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). o Ferris, R.H., Bunton, J.D. & Stuber, B. "A 2GHz digital filterbank correlator". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). o Hall, P.J. "Australian SKA: progress and directions". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). o Hall, P.J., Bunton, J. & McConnell, D. "SKA demonstrators: new roles for today's telescopes". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). o Hall, P.J., Kutuzov, S. & Dagkesamanskii, R. "A prototype Luneburg lens antenna". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). o Roberts, P. "Impulse sampling and photonic A/D conversion in the SKA". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). o Sault, R.J. & Kesteven, M.J. "Postcorrelation interference mitigation - practical demonstrations". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). o Beresford, R.J, Chippendale, A., Ferris, R.H., Hall, P.J., Jackson, C., James, G.L., & Wieringa, M.H. "Eyes on the sky : a refracting concentrator approach

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·

to the SKA". In: SKA 2002 Conference, Groningen, 13-15 August, 2002, (2002). o Hall, P. J. "Square Kilometer Array (SKA) prototyping in Australia - an overview". In: URSI XXVIIth General Assembly, Maastricht, 17-24 August, 2002, p1326.pdf (2002). o Hall, P.J. "The Square Kilometre Array - Australian directions". In: Workshop on Applications of Radio Science (WARS 2002), Leura, 20-22 February, 2002, (2002). o Mitchell, D.A., Sault, R.J. & Kesteven, M.J. "Post correlation versus real-time adaptive RFI cancellation". In: URSI XXVIIth General Assembly, Maastricht, 17-24 August, 2002, p0115.(2002). o HALL, P. J. "Square Kilometer Array (SKA) prototyping in Australia - an overview". In: URSI XXVIIth General Assembly, Maastricht, 17-24 August, 2002, p1326.pdf (2002). (S) Reports to the International SKA Consortium or other bodies, including: o Hall, P. J. (Ed.): The SKA -- Initial Australian Site Analysis, May 2003. (http://www.skatelescope.org/documents/swp.shtml) o Chippendale, A. P., Storey, M. C. and Hall, P. J. : Low Frequency Array -- RFI Site Test Report Mileura Station WA, Report to the LOFAR International Steering Committee, March 2003. (http://web.haystack.mit.edu/lofar/siting_docs/AUS_RFI.pdf) o Hall, P. J. (Ed.): Eyes on the Sky -- A Refracting Concentrator Approach to the SKA, Submission to International SKA Steering Committee, July 2002. (http://www.skatelescope.org/documents/dcwp.shtml)

6. Commercialisation
We are working with our industry partners to commercialise the patented new material that we have developed for the Luneburg lens.

7. Financial Reporting
The financial projection for income for this reporting period, taken from the project plan, is as follows: ATNF Contrib'n In-kind $k 01/02 100 02/03 200 Total 300 Total Income: $895k Note that CEA and APT were
Year

ATNF Contrib'n Cash $k 0 250 250

CTIP Contrib'n In-kind $k 0 160 160

MNRF Funding $k 0 185 185

not expected to make a contribution in this reporting period.

Actual ATNF expenditure, taken from the PSS (covered by costcodes FN58 and FN59) is as follows:

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Salaries Capital Other Totals

2001/2 0 0 0 0

2002/3 406.2 7.5 356.6 770.3

Total 406.2 7.5 356.6 770.3

This amount is charged as cash expenditure and entered in table 3a of the financial tables. To this should be added the ATNF overheads, calculated as 0.67 of salary, as described in Section 4.1 of the main annual report, as follows:
Overheads

2001/2 0

2002/3 272.1

Total 272.1

This amount is charged as in-kind expenditure and entered in table 1a of the financial tables. CTIP made an in-kind contribution (costcode DS48) as follows:
Salaries Capital Other Totals

2001/2 0 0 0 0

2002/3 156.9 0 421.8 578.7

Total expenditure is therefore as follows: Cash
Salaries Capital Other Totals

Total 406.2 7.5 356.6 770.3

In-kind
Salaries Capital Other Totals

Total 156.9 0 693.9 850.8

Overall income and expenditure may then be summarised as follows:
Year

01/02 02/03 TOTAL

Budgeted ATNF matching contrib'n $k 100 770.3 550

Budgeted CTIP matching contrib'n $k 0 160 160

Budgeted MNRF funding $k 0 185 185

Total Budget $k 100 795 895

Expenditure $k

0 1621.1 1621.1

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8. Detailed Project Activity
Dielectric lens materials and manufacture Activity / planned activity Outcomes / Status as at 30 Jun 2003 Investigate possible Two candidate materials identified: cubic crystalline composite dielectric lattices of short metal wires, and random mixtures of materials with isotropy, high aspect-ratio dielectric particles in low density low loss and low density polymer foam over a wide bandwidth. Manufacture small Wire crystals and Al2O3 platelets both give promising samples and test in results for loss and density, but dielectric constant is waveguide cavities. low. Isotropy and high dielectric constant hard to achieve simultaneously. Dielectric mixtures look better at present, so proceed with this type of material, using TiO2 to achieve higher dielectric constant. Continue with waveguide Initial results with TiO2 in extruded PP foam do not testing of TiO2 samples show increase in dielectric constant. More careful analysis reveals relationship between dielectric contrast and aspect ratio, showing that 10:1 is OK for Al2O3, but TiO2 needs >30:1 Continue with waveguide Some increase in dielectric constant, but not sufficient. testing of TiO2 samples Investigation of samples shows that the large aspect ratio of larger aspect ratio platelets are being broken up by the extrusion process. Trials arranged with different extrusion equipment. Continue with waveguide Samples produced using twin-screw extruder show testing of TiO2 samples sufficiently high dielectric constant to proceed to design of larger aspect ratio of prototype lens, using the range of dielectric constants 1.1 to 1.55 QC testing of material New material passed lab tests (see Donaldson SKA2003 using waveguide cavities paper): Repeatable, isotropic, very low loss materials (tan 10-4) with required dielectric permittivity (r = 1.1 to 1.69) fabricated from artificial dielectric but currently with density too high ( = 0.45) for SKA use (too heavy to make even 4 m diameter lens). The material is too expensive for SKA use as its cost is proportional to its density. More fundamental work is required to achieve lower density materials. Medium density material able to be extruded and construction of 0.9 m diameter lens in progress. Design complete for layered tessellated construction process using extruded diamond shaped tiles. Expected delivery of 0.9 m diameter lens in December 2003. Low loss fibreglass shell identified as suitable for protective covering. Year 20012002

20012002

20012002

20012002 20022003 20022003

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Dielectric lens antenna analysis Activity / planned activity Develop software for analysis & design of layered spherical lens with simple feed Develop simple ray-tracing analysis of layered spherical lens for verification

and design Outcomes / Status as at 30 Jun 2003 Analysis software for full EM analysis of a spherical lens with multiple, lossy shells + simple feed models completed. Includes optimization Developed ray-tracing code & confirmed agreement with full EM model

Year 20012002 20022003

Prototype Luneburg Lens Feed Translator A prototype feed translator system with two independent feeds for the 0.9 m Luneburg Lens has been designed and manufactured. Software to control the feed translator has been written and tested in operation with the translator.

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Prototype Feed translator system

Control software for prototype feed translator system

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Prototype zig-zag antenna Phased array development Activity / planned activity Develop wideband optical signal transport concepts for phased array Develop digital signal processing and beam forming concepts for phased array Test ASTRON phased array in conjunction with Luneburg lens in CTIP NFATR Outcomes / Status as at 30 Jun 2003 Year Signal transport models developed for LOFAR and 2002for SKA whitepapers 2003 Wideband beam-former concept based on direct digital sampling developed for SKA, and presented at international SKA meeting in Groningen (??) Test report 20022003 20022003

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SKA Design Concept Whitepapers · · Eyes on the Sky: A Refracting Concentrator Approach to the SKA, Chippendale et. al. Contribution to Cylindrical Reflector SKA, Bunton et. al.

Remote area power
Remote area power provision has been identified as a crucial design factor for SKA and LOFAR, particularly for the proposed Australian sites and also for remote areas in the other proposed SKA sites. Australia is a world leader in remote area power provision and it is expected that the NTD will demonstrate advanced remote area power provision compatible with the extreme radio requirements of the next generation radio telescopes. Further work in this area is planned, including a workshop bringing together Australian research and industry experts to address this topic scheduled for early September 2003.

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Appendix B7: MMIC Development - Annual Report for FY2002-2003
Project Leader: Warwick Wilson, ATNF Participating Organisation: CSIRO ATNF,

Executive summary
The major goal of this project is to provide MMIC devices for the various MNRF technology demonstrators, whilst maintaining and developing the ATNF expertise in MMIC design. As the design of the demonstrators proceeds, the MMIC requirements become clearer and the specific goals of the MMIC project have been adjusted to meet these requirements. The first year of the project has been successful, not only in beginning the planned first MMIC fabrication run on time but also in laying the foundation for future activities.

1. Overview of Progress in 2002-3
The major achievement in this period was the completion of a number of InP MMIC designs and their submission for a fabrication run in March 2003. Designs included a range of broadband low noise microwave amplifiers covering the 1 to 12 GHz band and a 40GHz data amplifier aimed at multi-Gbit data transfer systems. Wafers from this run are due to be returned for testing in September 2003. A number of purchases were made to improve and diversify the ATNF's MMIC design software resources. Negotiations were also completed with a number of MMIC fabrication houses aimed at obtaining propriety design information. This data is used in the design operation to facilitate the selection of the optimum process for each design. We were successful in attracting a new PhD student (Suzy Jackson) to this project.

2. Milestones
This project is on schedule and has met this year's milestone. As the design of the demonstrators proceeds, the MMIC requirements become clearer and the specific goals of the MMIC project have been modified to meet these requirements, as follows:

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Date in project plan March 2003

Original Milestone Submit designs for first fabrication run

Outcome/revised milestone Designs for the first InP fabrication run were submitted in March 2003. The fabricated wafers are due for delivery in September 2003. Submit designs for sample and hold circuit. (Devices in second fabrication run now specified) Submit designs for integrated receiver prototypes Submit designs for integrated receiver assemblies On schedule On schedule Begin production fabrication of integrated receivers Samplers available for integration into demonstrators Complete final integration of devices into demonstrators

Revised milestone date completed

April 2004

Submit designs for second fabrication run.

January 2004 April 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 January 2005 November 2005 January 2007

(new milestone) (new milestone) December 2004 January 2005 (new milestone) December 2005 Final devices available for integration into demonstrators Completion of integration into demonstrators First devices available for integration into demonstrators Submit designs for stage 2 InP fabrication run

December 2006

3. Promotion of the Facility
Several publications have been produced, including: · Chippendale, A.P. "SiGe LNA noise temperature projections for the Square Kilometre Array". In: URSI XXVIIth General Assembly, Maastricht, 17-24 August, 2002, (2002). · Chippendale, A.P. "Technology issues for SKA receiver design". In: Workshop on Applications of Radio Science (WARS 2002), Leura, 20-22 February, 2002, (2002).

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4. Financial reporting
The projected budget for this project for this reporting period, taken from the project plan (Appendix A7), is as follows. Note that the spending profile for this project differs significantly from that shown in the business plan, as described in Appendix A7, although the total expenditure over the lifetime of the MNRF remains unchanged. Year Project Summary, Goals and Deliverables Contrib. Contrib. MNRF In-kind Cash Contrib. 01/02 Preliminary investigations, purchase 30 60 0 design tools 02/03 First MMIC fabrication run 50 20 130 TOTAL 80 80 130 Actual expenditure, taken from the PSS (Project Support System), is as follows:
Salaries Capital Other Totals

2001/2 23.5 10.6 50.2 84.3

2002/3 63.5 0 94.3 157.8

Total 87.0 10.6 144.5 242.0

This amount is charged as cash expenditure and entered in table 3a of the financial tables. To this should be added the overheads, calculated as 0.67 of salary, as described in Section 4.1 of the main annual report, as follows:
Overheads

2001/2 15.8

2002/3 42.5

Total 58.3

This amount is charged as in-kind expenditure and entered in table 1a of the financial tables. Overall budget and expenditure may then be summarised as follows:
Year

01/02 02/03 TOTAL 2001-3

Budgeted ATNF contrib'n $k 30 145 175

MNRF contrib'n $k 70 95 165

Total Budget $k 100 240 340

Actual Expenditure $k 100 200 300

The revised cash flow, showing actual expenditure to June 2003 and projected expenditure for the remainder of the project is: Annual Cash Flow (k$) MNRF 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 Funded Salaries 40 0 70 70 Capital 30 45 285 300 Operating 40 40 70 95 375 390 Total

2005/06 60 300 40 390

2006/07 30 80 20 130

Total 270 1040 140 1450

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ATNF Funded Labour Capital

30

100 45

200 200

300 225

300 200

100 100

1000 800 Total 1000 800 0 1800

This results in the following revised schedule of future ATNF contributions Cash 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 Salaries 100 200 300 300 100 Capital 30 45 200 225 200 100 Other 0 0 0 0 30 145 400 525 500 200 Total In-kind Overheads

67

134

200

200

67

668

135


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Appendix B8: SQUARE Kilometre Array Molonglo Prototype (SKAMP) - Project Annual Report for FY2002-2003
Project Leader: Dr. Anne Green, Sydney University Participating Organisation: · Sydney University · CSIRO ATNF, · CSIRO ICT

Executive summary
The SKAMP Project is divided into five stages, which can proceed largely in parallel. A substantial part of the first year has been spent in initialling and defining the scope of the project. Stage 1 is a 96 station continuum correlator, with a 3MHz bandwidth centred at 843 MHz. This system will be used with the existing front-end feeds and signal pathway of the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST). This year we have essentially completed the infrastructure, specified and designed the subsystems, and completed the correlator design. The isolation of an independent signal pathway has been achieved, to allow ongoing observations with the present technology to proceed. We have made decisions on the data format and analysis packages. The hardware and software design of the correlator was funded from a University of Sydney Sesqui R&D grant, and is not part of this MNRF. Stage 2 will be a 30 MHz bandwidth spectral-line correlator, centred on 843 MHz. Existing ring antennas will used, with a new intermediate frequency distribution system. Specification of this stage is well-advanced. Stage 3 will implement a wide bandwidth capability and frequency agility in the range 300 ­ 1400 MHz, with an instantaneous bandwidth of 50 MHz and a wide fieldof-view imaging capability. Concept designs for this part are in progress. Feed development for a dual polarisation line feed is proceeding, funded by an ARC Linkage Project Grant. Stage 4 (not included in this MNRF project) will trial high-speed, fibre-linked data acquisition as a testbed for both the advanced SKA prototype and for the planned LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR). Stage 5 (not included in this MNRF project) is to develop sophisticated solutions to the growing problem of radio frequency interference (RFI). A small research group will be established to develop mitigation tools over the period 2004-2006.

1. Milestones
Milestones for the Year 2002 ­ 2003 have been completed on schedule:

· ·

Appointment of SKAMP Site Manager , Mr. Duncan Campbell-Wilson Complete design of 96 station continuum correlator

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· · ·

Specify wideband feed project Build infrastructure and isolate a second signal pathway Update of SKAMP scope of project document to include design modifications

2. Other establishment issues
The appointment of SKAMP Site Project Manager (Mr. Duncan Campbell-Wilson) has been accomplished. It is planned to advertise a position for an RF engineer, based at the Molonglo Observatory. This appointment is to design and implement the two stages of beam-forming and carry out the fibre-feeding of the new front end. ARC funding (through a Discovery Grant) has been awarded for the operation of the telescope for the period 2004 to 2005 inclusive, to undertake a scientific program to observe the southern sky. Observations at the present stage of the SKAMP project will not impede its progress. On the contrary, maintenance of a working instrument is essential for intermediate testing of SKAMP sub-systems. Staff supported by this ARC grant are Mr. John Barry and Mr. Greg Kingston. Additional funding is being sought for a software engineer. There are currently three young engineers working and training in the project (Aaron Chippendale, Martin Leung, Timothy Adams).

3. Research, Access & Collaboration
3.1 Facility's Access regime
The MOST is owned and operated by the University of Sydney as a research and educational facility. Adequate access for testing of developments for the SKAMP project has been organized via the establishment of a parallel signal pathway. This will allow current science programs to proceed while the SKAMP project continues. While MOST is not itself a National Facility, it is made available to all astronomers on an informal basis. When SKAMP is complete, it is important that all Australian astronomers are able to access it, and a plan will be drawn up during the course of SKAMP construction to achieve this. On completion of the SKAMP project, it is planned that proposals for observations will be submitted to the Australia Telescope Time Assignment Committee (TAC) for peer review. Observing time will be allocated based on the TAC ranking, with some time set aside for maintenance, development, and Director's discretionary time.

3.2 Collaboration and Linkages
The SKAMP project is an essential part of Australia's contribution to the SKA development plan. Hence, it is linked to a major international consortium at several levels ­ through both scientific and technical working groups. The wideband feed project is a three-way collaboration between the University of Sydney, CSIRO and Argus Technologies Australia.

3.3 Facility's Contribution to Research and Training
The MNRF Programme objective of access for Australian astronomers to a worldclass low frequency imaging spectral-line radio-telescope will be achieved at completion of the SKAMP project. In the year FY2002-2003 the opportunity for R&D has come with the planning and progress in implementation of a 10-layer high-speed continuum correlator. The wideband feed development is a joint industry project,

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sharing technology expertise in antenna design with CSIRO and the University of Sydney. Both these projects are training young engineers. Future appointments at MOST of RF and software engineers will increase the technology skills base in regional NSW. In addition, two PhD students (Aaron Chippendale and Martin Leung) are already engaged in SKAMP as part of their thesis studies.

3.4 Contribution to Australian industry
The wideband feed project will benefit the Australian SME Argus Technologies P/L in providing a cost effective line feed for a cylindrical antenna, operational over a 5:1 wavelength range. It is also training a potential new employee and will provide the company with the opportunity to tender for relevant projects associated with the SKA and LOFAR projects. Fruitful discussions were held with the software tools company Altium (previously Protel). Their Marketing and Technical executives are interested in providing advanced support and software to enable faster progress in the logical routing of signals in the correlator.

4. Promotion Of The Facility
The SKAMP website has been linked to the international SKA website and the project was presented at the international SKA conference held in July, 2003 in Geraldton, W.A. The project was also displayed at the Technology Day and during the International Astronomical Union General Assembly, held in Sydney in July 2003. Papers were also presented at the meeting "SKA: Defining the Future" held in Berkeley, California, on 9-12 July 2001. A full list of papers is available on http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/astrop/ska/. One refereed paper has been published based on the MNRF work: · Warr, G.B., Bunton, J.D., Campbell-Wilson, D., Cram, L.E., Davison, R.G., Green, A.J., Hunstead, R.W., Mitchell, D.A., Parfitt, A.J. & SADLER, E.M. "Prototyping SKA technologies at the Molonglo radio telescope". In: Workshop on Applications of Radio Science (WARS 2002), Leura, 20-22 February, 2002, (2002). The following additional publications have also been produced: · Warr, G.B., Bunton, J.D., Campbell-Wilson, D., Davison, R.G., Hunstead, R.W., Mitchell, D.A. & Parfitt, A.J. "Prototype SKA technologies at Molonglo. 2. Antenna and front end". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001). · Green, A.J., Bunton, J.D., Campbell-Wilson, D., Cram, L.E., Davison, R.G., Hunstead, R.W., Mitchell, D., Parfitt, A.J., Sadler, E.M. & Warr, G.B. "Prototype SKA technologies at Molonglo. 1. Overview". In: SKA: Defining the Future, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 9-12 July 2001, (2001).

5. Commercialisation
The commercialization strategy of SKAMP is described in Section 3.4 (above).

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6. Financial Reporting
For the FY 2002-2003, no funds were expended from the MNRF contribution. The appointment of the Site Project Manager (Mr. Duncan Campbell-Wilson) was covered by the University of Sydney contribution . Hardware and software design for Stage 1 continuum correlator was funded from the University of Sydney Sesqui R&D grant, external to the MNRF grant (and not listed in Table 5). The budget projection for this reporting period, taken from the project plan, is as follows.
Year

01/02 02/03 TOTAL

Matching Contrib'n In-kind $k 0 127.5 127.5

Matching Contrib'n Cash $k 0 90 90

Facility Contrib. $k 0 0 0

Actual expenditure for 2001-3 on SKAMP is as follows.
Year

01/02 02/03 TOTAL

Contrib. In-kind $k 0 134 134

Contrib. Cash $k 0 0 0

Facility Contrib. $k 0 0 0

Actual expenditure is as follows: Cash ­ no expenditure In-kind
Salaries Capital Other Totals

2001/2 0 0 0

2002/3 67 0 67

Total 67 0 67 134

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Appendix B9: SKA SITE STUDIES - PROJECT REPORT FOR FY2002-2003
Project Leader: Dr Michelle Storey Participating Organisations: CSIRO ATNF, Government of Western Australia Executive summary The project has been very successful thus far, and has received a boost from our WA candidate site being chosen as a potential site for LOFAR As a result of this, suitable regions of the Mid West region of WA have been excluded from mining exploration, and these regions have been carefully characterized, using LOFAR siting as a test case for SKA siting, as LOFAR can be viewed as a phase 1 SKA telescope. The LOFAR International Steering Committee recently ranked the WA site as the best site in the world on science and technical grounds for the LOFAR radio telescope. As a result, this site is now being carefully characterised, and this process may serve as a model of best practice when characterising other potential SKA sites. LOFAR has also had the effect of publicising the siting issue, and we are happy to report that local communities strongly support future radio telescope siting in the area. An Initial Site Analysis Document was prepared and submitted to the International SKA Steering Committee including significant material from WA, and was very well received.

1. Milestones
Year 20023 Activity Establish clear contact points between OSI (WA Office of Science and Innovation) and CSIRO ATNF Characterize the Mileura Station site with detailed information on landform, vegetation, geology etc Investigate issues of native title, planning permission, EIA etc in relation to the Mileura site. Identify further international concerns and priorities for SKA sites in the Mid West region. Use LOFAR site studies to further illuminate these studies. Milestone/KPI Good contact and working relationship established between OSI and ATNF CDROM produced with much detailed information on the land of the central core for SKA on Mileura Station. Contact made with relevant bodies and discussions held. An Australian Initial Site Analysis Document was submitted to the ISSC. A White Paper and Final Siting Proposal was prepared for LOFAR siting, further characterizing the SKA site on Mileura Station, including an RFI report on Mileura Station. Much information was collected from local and Government sources in the preparation of these reports. A visit by a delegation from the LOFAR 141


Consortium was hosted in February 2003, in order to receive feedback on Mileura Station and WA as a site for nextgeneration radio telescopes. Input was provided as requested for the Australian Initial Site Analysis Document. Work to identify a science support OSI have hosted visits by Dr Michelle base in WA capable of supporting Storey and organized meetings with key SKA. science groups in WA in order to investigate sources of support and collaboration and to collect information to outline the relevant support base in WA for SKA siting. Prepare Initial Site Analysis Document for International SKA Steering Committee Organise international SKA Meeting in Geraldton, 27 July -2 Aug 03, including ISSC visits to Mileura site Document prepared and submitted on time SKA2003 successfully organized, sponsored and run in Geraldton WA. ISSC visit to Mileura arranged and paid for by OSI and CSIRO.

20024

2. Other establishment issues
Contributions and Personnel:
An informal collaboration between the WA Government and ATNF will ensure that appropriate work is done at the appropriate times, recognizing the common and compatible aims of the two bodies. The collaboration has been productive and constructive thus far, and has involved assistance from the Mid West Development Commission based in Geraldton. The principal stakeholders are the WA Govt, CSIRO, the International SKA Steering Committee and the Australian SKA Consortium Committee, especially the Siting Working Group subcommittee of ASKAC.

3. Collaboration and Linkages
The project involves a close collaboration between CSIRO ATNF and the Government of Western Australia. It has also involved assistance from the Mid West Development Commission. In addition, several industry sponsors were involved in the planning and preparation for the 2003 international SKA conference held in Geraldton, including Cray Australia, Stott and Hoare, Connell Wagner, SGI Australia, Telstra Countrywide and the WA branch of the Institute of Engineers.

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The project involved working closely with the International Steering Committees of the SKA and LOFAR radio telescope projects, as the purpose of the project is to respond to the requirements of these bodies in characterizing and presenting information on potential future radio astronomy sites in WA.

4. Marketing
In a collaboration with the Government of WA, CSIRO ATNF planned and ran the 2003 international SKA conference in Geraldton, WA. The conference was very successful and showcased regional Australia as a site for future radio astronomy facilities.

5. Promotion
We have conducted briefings for local Councils and the local indigenous community on radio telescope siting issues, as well as radio interviews and newspaper interviews. We ran the SEARFE project in a school in Geraldton in order to raise awareness of radio-quietness and its importance to radio astronomy.

6. Finance
The only formal financial commitment is the in-kind matching funding from WA State Government, and this is listed in the table below. In addition, an in-kind contribution was made by CSIRO ATNF, but has not been accounted separately in this financial year from the NTD project (project 6 of this MNRF) and so is included in those financial tables. In future years this will be accounted separately. During this reporting period, the WA Government have committed $117k compared to the $200k commitment in the Business Plan. The Western Australian Government, through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, has elected to internally absorb some of the salary costs of contributing to the MNRF and not allocate them to the project. This will enable funds to be carried forward into 2004 in anticipation that those funds will be allocated to a comprehensive field testing program. Actual expenditure is as follows: In-kind
Salaries Capital Other Totals

2001/2 0 0 0

2002/3 73.30 0 43.55

Total 73.30 0 43.55 116.85

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Appendix B10: SKA Supercomputer Simulations and Baseband Processing (SKASS) - Project Report for FY2002-3
Project Leader: Dr Steven Tingay Participating Organisations: · Swinburne University of Technology · Dell Computer Pty/Ltd · State of Victoria · CSIRO ATNF

Executive Summary:
The first year of the Major National Research Facilities (MNRF) Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project at the Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) has been a success. All stated research goals for the first year of the project have been met. Operational supercomputers have been established, verified, and benchmarked at the Hawthorn campus of the University and at the Parkes Observatory. These machines are now operational and available for use by the MNRF consortium as well as outside users, both domestic and international, providing increased opportunities for scientific research and development to Australian scientists, and potential commercial opportunities for SUT. These machines have been used to complete the first year research milestones for the project, which will be expanded in subsequent years, as detailed below and in the SUT MNRF Participation Deed. Up to date information on results from the SUT SKA project are available from http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/SKA.

1. Milestones
The numbering below corresponds to the statement of milestones in the Swinburne Participation Deed. Milestones 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 have been fully addressed and completed. Milestone 1, relating to the establishment of the SUT SKA workforce, is 2/3 complete and expected to be fully completed by 20 October, 2003. · The SUT SKA workforce has largely been established, specifically to carry out the work plan described in the SUT MNRF Participation Deed. The work plan will support 2.5 FTEs over the 5 year period of the project. Staff hire activity in the first year of the project has included: Appointment of an SKA Project Manager at a 0.5 FTE level, to manage the direction of the SUT SKA project, administer the project budget, produce required reports to Federal and State governments, and contribute to the scientific output of the project. Dr Steven Tingay was appointed to this position and commenced duties on January 6, 2003, under a 5 year contract.

·

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Appointment of one postdoctoral worker, to implement the bulk of the detailed work plan. Dr Richard Ogley was appointed to this position on April 1, 2003, under an initial 3 year contract. Another postdoctoral worker was offered a position, to implement the bulk of the detailed work plan, but was unable to commence duties before the end of the 2002-03 financial year, due to delays in obtaining visas for himself and his family. Dr Shinji Horiuchi has been appointed to this position and will commence duties on October 20, 2003, under an initial 3 year contract.

An operational supercomputer has been established at the Hawthorn campus of the SUT and benchmarked against the top 500 machines around the world. Thirty percent of the capacity of this supercomputer has been made available for use by both Australian and international groups involved in SKA research and development. Specific steps resulted in the completion of this milestone: · Machines and components that make a major contribution to the capacity of the supercomputer cluster were purchased, primarily 60 dual processor Pentium 4 server class machines. Thirty percent of the purchase cost of this equipment has been counted as an in-kind contribution to the MNRF project and is accounted for in the accompanying financial tables. The full supercomputing cluster at the Hawthorn campus comprises 106 dual processor 3 and 4 server class machines. · The supercomputer was installed at the Hawthorn campus of SUT, including full installation of operational software and hardware. Figure 1 shows part of the installed supercomputer. · Verification of supercomputer operations was achieved by performing standard benchmarking tests and running various types of existing parallel codes. For example, in the quarter following installation of the supercomputer, the machine hosted a total of 35 separate users, 51% of which were staff and students of the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing (including the SKA research group), 26% of which were external to the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing but staff or students of SUT, and 23% of which were users external to SUT, including users from 3 foreign institutes. The supercomputer therefore came online quickly and was utilised for a variety of studies, including SKA work. · The supercomputer was benchmarked against the top 500 supercomputers around the world, achieving a ranking of #180 in this list, as of November 2002 (http://www.top500.org/lists/2002), at this time the 2nd fastest supercomputer in Australia. This result achieved the goal of a top 200 position for the SUT supercomputer. The supercomputer is only one of two machines in the top 500 list dedicated to astrophysical studies. The SUT supercomputer was officially opened by Craig Barrett, the CEO of the world's largest manufacturer of processor chips, Intel, on September 3, 2002. Following installation and verification procedures, 30% of the capacity of the supercomputer was made available as part of the MNRF to Australian and overseas groups involved in SKA-related research and development. The availability of this supercomputing resource was advertised widely to the Australian community at an SKA simulation meeting held at SUT in May 2003 (see item 7 below) and internationally through the SKA Simulation Working Group (SSWG; see item 9 145


below). Several collaborations have been initiated between Swinburne and external groups due to this resource being made available, creating new opportunities for Australian researchers and attracting overseas researchers to the National Facility (see item 8 below). An operational supercomputer has been established at the Parkes Observatory, for use as a baseband recorder in pulsar and RFI studies, as a prototype for baseband recorders that may be used as part of the SKA. Specific steps resulted in the completion of this milestone: Machines and components that make a major contribution to the capacity of the supercomputer cluster were purchased, primarily 30 dual processor Pentium 4 server class machines. 100% of the purchase cost of this equipment has been counted as an in-kind contribution to the MNRF Programme and is accounted for in the accompanying financial tables. The supercomputer was installed at the Parkes Observatory and integrated into the Observatory's observing system. Figure 2 shows the installed supercomputer at the Observatory, known as the Caltech Parkes Swinburne Recorder II (CPSR-II), the second generation baseband recorder produced through a collaboration between the Caltech Institute of Technology, SUT, and the ATNF. CPSR-II is a baseband recorder, meaning that it samples the raw voltages produced by the telescope receiver and down-conversion system at the Nyquist rate, allowing complete reconstruction of all the information (both amplitudes and phases) present in the signal. This generates a huge amount of data (128 Megabytes per second in the present configuration), the recording and analysis of which requires a small supercomputer. The operation of CPSR-II was verified by the collection and processing of pulsar timing data using software developed at SUT, yielding the first scientific results from CPSR-II. CPSR-II is now producing the most precise pulsar timing observations in the world. The supercomputer baseband processing system has been used as part of a number of scientific investigations of pulsars, including the Ph.D. thesis work of two students, Mr Haydon Knight, and Mr Aidan Hotan, and the postdoctoral work of Dr Stephen Ord. For example, Figure 3 shows the signature of Shapiro delay in the newly discovered binary system J1909-3744. This figure shows the extra delay imparted to the pulses radiated from the pulsar as they travel through the deformed space-time surrounding the companion star. The shape and height of the Shapiro delay provides information about the inclination of the binary system and the mass of the companion. Results like this can be combined with other relativistic observables to perform precise tests of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. New observations made with CPSR-II have also revealed giant pulses in J1824-2452. Giant pulses have only been observed in two millisecond pulsars. They are difficult to observe because they are very localised in time, requiring extremely high time resolution observations. CPSR-II has the precision to observe this phenomena, and has done so with considerable success. Figure 4 shows a profile of the millisecond pulsar J1824-2452. Superimposed upon the profile is an observation of a giant pulse from this object. The giant pulse shown in the figure has been resolved with CPSR-II and shown to be 2 microseconds wide. A considerable portion of this width maybe actually be due to scatter broadening of the giant pulse during its propagation through the interstellar medium, its intrinsic which may well be much narrower.

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The SUT supercomputer at the Hawthorn campus has been used in initial simulations of baseband data (sampled voltage output) from a single radio telescope with arbitrary system temperature and gain characteristics. These simulations have included simulating the effects of radio frequency interference (RFI) on single antenna observations. The single antenna simulations will be expanded in later years to include the simulation of baseband data for antenna arrays. These simulations will produce baseband data that will be processed on a software correlator running on the SUT supercomputer (item 5), to investigate the likely effects that RFI will have upon the correlator output of the SKA. In later years, methods that can be used to mitigate the effects of RFI will also be explored. RFI is likely to be one of the potential limiting factors for operation of the SKA and a great deal of international effort is being expended on studies of how the effects of RFI can be avoided and mitigated. Specific steps were made toward this milestone of the SUT SKA project: An efficient algorithm for the generation of random Gaussian noise (simulating the sampled voltage output of a radio telescope) was implemented on the SUT supercomputer. In order to simulate baseband data, the simulated voltage output of a radio telescope must be produced at the Nyquist frequency for the bandwidth being considered. For example, to simulate a single polarisation bandwidth of 1 GHz, voltages must be sampled at the Nyquist rate of 2 GHz, which is equivalent to a 0.5 ns period between samples. If we wish to simulate 2000 spectral channels across the full 1 GHz bandwidth from a single antenna output, then 4000 data samples must be created in order to form the autocorrelation function. Therefore the total required time period for the simulated data is 2 micro-seconds. A single supercomputer node produces the simulated data slower than real-time, by a relatively large factor (10 to 1000, depending on the node and the load on the node). The generation of simulated data corresponding to a realistic SKA observation will therefore push the SUT supercomputer to the limit of its capacity. Simulated baseband data, as described above, have been used to form single antenna power spectra, as a precursor to forming cross power spectra on interferometer baselines. These power spectra have been generated in software and have simulated: 1) a continuum radio source plus antenna system noise; 2) a continuum radio source plus a source of RFI plus antenna system noise (see below Figure 5); 3) an astronomical spectral line radio source plus antenna system noise (Figure 6). These power spectra can be produced using arbitrary temporal and frequency sampling. The single antenna baseband data simulations have been verified by simulating a known radio telescope, the Parkes radio telescope. Values of the Parkes system temperature and gain were used in a simulation run, along with a continuum radio source of a known power. Power spectra were produced from these simulated data and averaged over a series of integration times, allowing a study of the measured mean signal amplitude, the RMS deviation around the measured mean amplitude, and the signal to noise ratio for the amplitude. It was found that the signal to noise ratio varied in proportion to the inverse square root of the integration time, as theoretically expected. Also, calculated values of the noise and signal to noise ratio match extremely well to the corresponding theoretically determined quantities for the empirically determined Parkes radio telescope system parameters (Figure 7). These

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results show that the approach taken to simulate baseband data is correct and can now be extended to simulating baseband data for arrays of antennas. As mentioned in b above, baseband data have been simulated that represent a continuum source in the presence of RFI and system noise. These simulations are performed by adding random Gaussian noise (sampled voltages representing a continuum radio source plus system noise) to a sampled pure sinusoid that represents a source of radio frequency interference at a single frequency. Complex RFI can be approximated as a linear combination of pure sinusoids. These simulations will be extended in the second year of the SUT SKA project to a study of how RFI appears on interferometer baselines typical of the SKA baselines. A prototype two-station software correlator has been implemented on the SUT supercomputer. In later years this software correlator will be generalised to Nbaseline operation, for use in cross correlating real radio astronomy data recorded at radio telescopes using baseband recording technology, as well as correlating simulated baseband data of the type discussed above in item 4. Specific steps toward this milestone were made: · Software was developed which can capture data recorded using the S2 VLBI recording system onto hard disk, ready for correlation on the SUT supercomputer. Software was then developed on the supercomputer that implements a full geometric delay correction model for any two given radio telescopes on Earth over any given period of time and for any given celestial coordinates, applies the delay corrections to the recorded baseband data, forms cross correlation functions for an arbitrary frequency channelisation and arbitrary correlator integration time, and finally forms fully corrected and calibrated complex cross power spectra (amplitude and phase over the recorded bandpass). This software forms the basis of the two station software correlator. Figure 8 shows an initial result from the software correlator work, the amplitude and phase as a function of time for the strong quasar PKS B0826-373 on the Parkes to Tidbinbilla baseline at a centre frequency of 2290 MHz and a 16 MHz bandwidth.. The software correlator output (amplitude and phase as functions of frequency and time) were compared to the output of the LBA correlator at ATNF headquarters in Sydney, for the same recorded data. Correlation of test data for the Vela pulsar and the quasar PKS B0826-373 show that the LBA correlator output and the SUT software correlator output agree extremely well with each other and with theoretical expectations for noise and signal to noise as a function of coherent integration time (Figure 9). The development of the software correlator forms part of the Masters thesis of Mr Craig West.

·

As part of the first year of operation of CPSR-II at the Parkes Observatory (item 3), consideration was given to the suitability of the planned polyphase filter bank at Parkes as part of a next generation pulsar timing machine. The polyphase filter bank will capture the raw sampled data from the telescope front end and perform a hardware FFT in order to channelise the bandpass. Given the signal corruption caused by aliasing, a simple direct FFT is not a suitable mechanism to channelise the bandpass for pulsar observations. Notwithstanding, there is considerable interest in the application of polyphase filterbanks to astronomical observations [1]. These 148


instruments would be effective for pulsar observations only if sufficient oversampling is performed so as to minimise aliasing [2]. References: [1] Ferris, R. H., Bunton, J.D., Stuber, B., http://www.atnf.csiro.au/SKA/techdocs/DFCHandout.pdf [2] John Bunton ALMA memo 447 http://www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-memos/abstracts/abs447.html A meeting of Australian individuals and groups involved in SKA-related simulation studies was held on May 23, 2003, at SUT. The meeting consisted of eight presentations on SKA and LOFAR simulations followed by an open discussion of how the various Australian SKA simulation efforts can benefit from collaborations, identify areas of common interest, and avoid significant duplications of effort. An outcome of the meeting was the initiation of a significant collaboration between SUT and the ATNF (see item 8 below) and a set of presentations that are now available to the global SKA community via the world wide web. Information on the meetings and online versions of most of the meeting presentations are available from http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/SKASSWG/SSWG.html. The guest of honour at the meeting was Prof. Richard Schilizzi, International Director of the SKA project, who gave a colloquium presenting an overview of the International SKA project. These meeting will continue on a six monthly basis over the course of the MNRF. A consequence of the close communication between different groups in Australia involved in SKA simulation work, fostered by the meetings initiated by the SUT SKA group (item 7 above), is that collaborative work is now being undertaken between these groups. A major collaboration between the SKA simulation group of the ATNF and the SUT group aims to marry efforts in order to produce realistic simulations of SKA observations that include the effects of RFI. The ATNF group concentrates on array configuration simulations for the SKA, using computers to place SKA elements into an optimal configuration for the SKA science goals. These simulations generate "fake" visibility data that can be imaged and analysed in order to assess the performance of different array configurations. The SUT group is concentrating on lower level simulations of baseband data that include RFI and measure the effects on visibility data produced in correlators. Thus, it is feasible to combine the ATNF array configuration visibility data with the RFI-affected visibility data output by the SUT software correlator into a single dataset that will simulate the realistic astronomical performance of the SKA in the presence of a hostile RFI environment. The array configuration work of the ATNF group is highly computationally intensive and they are making substantial use of the SUT supercomputer in order to carry out this work, under the supercomputer time dedicated to the MNRF. Regular visits of ATNF staff to Swinburne are planned for the next 12 months. This collaborative effort makes the best use of MNRF resources and draws upon outside resources, in order to address important work in SKA simulations. In 2003 the International SKA Steering Committee (ISSC) constituted an advisory working group dedicated to performing SKA simulations, the SKA Simulations Working Group (SSWG). This working group brings together groups and individuals

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from all partner countries in the SKA international project in order to assist with the SKA design and definition process, by way of performing SKA simulations which will illuminate advantages and disadvantages of the different SKA concepts that have been proposed. In May 2003 Dr Steven Tingay, the SUT SKA project leader, was appointed as the first Chair of the SSWG, fulfilling a goal of achieving high level representation for Australia on the SSWG. Dr Tingay expects to be able to make a significant contribution to the direction of the international SKA project as Chair of the SSWG, enhancing Australia's and SUT's exposure within the international project.

2. Other establishment issues
The main administrative target to be reported on, the appointment of staff, is covered as item 1 of the preceding section. As stated in that item, two staff appointments were made in the first year of the Swinburne MNRF project, compared to the three that were expected to be made. The third appointment was delayed beyond the end of the first financial year due to delays in visa issue. This third appointment has been completed and the new staff member will commence duties on 20 October, 2003. The following staff members have contributed, are currently contributing, or will contribute in the future to the Swinburne MNRF program operations. MNRF funded staff Dr Steven Tingay (Swinburne SKA project leader) Dr Richard Ogley (Postdoctoral fellow, SKA research and development) Dr Shinji Horiuchi (Postdoctoral fellow, SKA research and development ­ to commence in October 2003) Drs Ogley and Horiuchi have been attracted to Australia from England and Japan, respectively, to participate in the Swinburne MNRF project. Centre funded staff Prof. Matthew Bailes (Centre Director, ASKAC member) Dr Stephen Ord (Postdoctoral fellow, pulsar astrophysics) Dr James Murray (Supercomputer manager) Ms Michelle Jolley (General administrative support) Mr Andrew Jameson (Supercomputer support) Mr Craig West (Supercomputer support) Affiliated students Mr Haydon Knight (Ph.D. student, pulsar astrophysics) Mr Aidan Hotan (Ph.D. student, pulsar astrophysics) Mr Craig West (Masters student, software correlator studies) Dr Willem van Stratten (Ph.D. student, pulsar astrophysics ­ since graduated)

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3. Research access and collaboration
3.1 Facility's access regime
The main physical resource utilised by the SUT MNRF project are the supercomputers at the Hawthorn campus and the Parkes Observatory. The supercomputer on campus is used by many different groups in different capacities, ranging from undergraduate teaching and training, through ARC funded research projects, and for commercial activities. The 30% of the supercomputer capacity that is reserved for MNRF use is available, free-of-charge, to any individual or group anywhere in the world who wishes to undertake SKA-related research and development. In practice this access would involve some level of at least initial collaboration with Centre staff. Time is allocated to users depending on the nature of the project they wish to undertake and any deadline that exists on the work. The supercomputer is highly flexible and many projects can be run in parallel (this is generally how the supercomputer is used) or the entire machine can be dedicated to a particular project if required. No formal time allocation procedure is imposed on users, however consultation with the supercomputer manager and support staff is required before very large projects are started. This very open access policy to the supercomputing facilities is in accordance with the Facility Business Plan and allows users to utilise the supercomputer for their greatest benefit and convenience.

3.2 Collaboration and linkages
The SUT MNRF project contributes to the scientific, technological, and strategic goals as part of the national and international SKA projects, as set out in the Facility Business Plan, in the following ways: · Scientific ­ The SUT MNRF project is focused on providing resources to extend the capabilities of Australia's existing radio astronomy community, particularly in those areas of study that are relevant to the science case for the SKA. An example of this focus is in the use of the SUT supercomputer to undertake cosmological and galaxy formation simulations that can be used to predict what the SKA will be required to observe. This research aids in refining the scientific case for the SKA and provides scientific direction for technical design efforts. This work is part of a broad effort, involving all international partners, to define the physical characteristics of the SKA and the scientific questions that the SKA will address. · Technological ­ The SUT MNRF project is focused on evaluating the technical limitations of the proposed SKA concepts, also as part of a broad international effort. Through SKA simulations that will be undertaken on the SUT supercomputer in collaboration with national partners such as the ATNF and international partners such as groups in Europe and at MIT, we will gain an understanding of how the SKA will operate and the factors that will limit its performance. The SUT SKA group is also focused on real, rather than abstract, technological aspects of the SKA, developing new baseband 151


·

recording and processing instruments that will be used to demonstrate technologies of relevance to the SKA. These demonstrators will be deployed on existing Australian radio telescopes, to the advantage of existing users and will provide commercial opportunities for SUT. The prime example of this in the first year of the SUT MNRF project is the CPSR-II machine at the Parkes Observatory. Strategic ­ Through the scientific and technological aspects of the SUT SKA project, the SUT group is contributing to a strong SKA framework in Australia that demonstrates to the international community Australia's excellent capability as potential host to the SKA, and Australia's ability to play a lead role in the design and construction of the SKA. Further, the SUT SKA project has gained strategic high level representation within the international project, through the Chairmanship of the SSWG by Dr Steven Tingay. Dr Tingay's appointment to this position by the International SKA Steering Committee enhances and strengthens Australia's visibility within the international project.

3.3 Facility's contribution to research and training
The research milestones listed in section 1 contribute directly to the stated goal of the MNRF, to demonstrate enabling technologies for the SKA, to provide increased observing capacity for existing Australian facilities, and resources for Australian astronomers, and to promote Australia as a leading candidate to host the SKA. The relevant research undertaken is described in detail in section 1 above. For example, the development and deployment of CPSR-II at the Parkes Observatory has both demonstrated technologies that could be used for highly advanced pulsar studies with the SKA and also currently contributes to the capability of existing Australian facilities, as evidenced by the early research output of the instrument. In future years of the SUT MNRF project, similar baseband recording technologies will be demonstrated for very long baseline interferometry, pulsar timing, spectroscopy, and RFI mitigation. Also, the open access policy for the SUT supercomputer allows Australian scientists access to a unique facility with which to investigate aspects of SKA science and technology, as evidenced by galaxy formation simulations being made by SUT researchers, or the array configuration work being undertaken by partners at the ATNF. As pointed out in subsection b above, the best way to promote Australia as eventual host of the SKA is to contribute strong national research programs to the international SKA effort, which is what the SUT SKA project has successful initiated in the first year of the MNRF. The facilities provided by Swinburne under the MNRF are contributing to two Ph.D. theses (Aidan Hotan and Haydon Knight) and one Masters thesis at SUT (Craig West), as indicated in section 2 above. This is a significant degree of skills training at the highest level, within the context of Australian radio astronomy.

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3.4 Contribution to Australian industry
Not applicable in the case of the SUT SKA project. We have no direct contact with local technology companies, deliver no services to particular industry sectors, or foster the development of small and medium sized enterprises.

4. Marketing and promotion of the Facility
At SUT a high importance is placed on promotion and outreach activities. While no opportunities for commercial marketing have arisen during the first year of the MNRF, we have actively promoted the goals and results of the SUT SKA project, as well as the national and international SKA projects, to both professional and public audiences.

4.1 Professional activities
A set of web pages have been produced, describing the SUT SKA project, as well as aspects of the international project. This web site is updated regularly with research results, as well as announcements for future meetings. The URL is http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/SKA. SUT hosted a meeting of Australian SKA simulators on May 23, 2003. Presentations were given on the range of SKA simulation programs in Australia and the meeting closed with an open discussion session which concentrated on possible collaborations that could be initiated between Australian groups. Information on the meeting is available from the URL above. Three presentations at this meeting were made by SUT staff members. SUT hosted an invited colloquium on the international SKA project by the Director of the international project, Prof. Richard Schilizzi, on May 23, 2003. SUT hosted an invited colloquium on the SKA project by the Secretary of the International SKA Steering Committee, Prof. Russ Taylor, on 26 July, 2002.

4.2 Public outreach
Herald Sun newspaper, Tuesday October 29, 2002, "Galaxy quest: travel beyond the solar system". The Age newspaper, Thursday September 12, 2003, "Australia looks to the ultimate in telescopes". The Australian newspaper, Wednesday September 11, 2002, "Supercomputer sets its sights on the stars". Swinburne campus review, 2002/03, "Supercomputer is unveiled at Swinburne" ABC TV, Catalyst, Dr Tingay interviewed as part of SKA feature for episode 22, series 4, to go to air in August 2003. Dr Tingay interviewed by Guardian and New Scientist journalists, June 2003.

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5. Commercialisation
The baseband recorder SUT have developed in conjunction with the California Institute of Technology, which is installed at the Parkes Observatory, is the major new product developed under the SUT SKA project in 2002/03. Commercial opportunities exist to provide similar instruments to parties outside the MNRF Programme. In particular, interest has been registered from Observatories in China, India, and the USA for baseband recorders and processors of this type and commercial discussions will be initiated in the 2003/04 financial year.

6. Financial reporting
The commitment for this reporting period listed in the Project Plan is as follows:
Year Contrib. Contrib. Facility

In-kind ($k)
01/02 02/03 Total 0 600 600

Cash ($k)
0

Contrib . ($k)
0 205.2 205.2

0
0

In-kind contributions from Swinburne are as follows:
Budget 2002/2003 Actual 2002/2003

Salaries Capital Other Total

100 500 0 600

150.6 309.5 1.7 461.8

Cash expenditure is as follows:
Budget 2002/3 Salaries Capital Other Totals Actual 2002/2003

186 10 40 236

0 226.5 0 226.5

A summary of budgeted and actual expenditure for 2002/3 is as follows:
Budget MNRF In-kind commitment Totals Expenditure In-kind Cash Total

205.2 600 805.2 461.8 226.5 688.3

In addition, a grant of $131.25k was received from the Victorian State Government, but that is not yet built into the business plan.

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7. Detailed Project Reports and Research Highlights

Figure 1: Part of the SUT supercomputer installed at the Hawthorn campus, 30% of which is dedicated for use as part of the MNRF.

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Figure 2: The installed CPSR-II at the Parkes Observatory. The leftmost rack contains the actual digital sampler that is connected to the observatory downconversion system, fed by the receivers in the focus cabin. This sampler board was built by collaborators at Caltech in the US. It accepts two independent 64 MHz bands with dual polarisations for each band. Full polarimetry is therefore possible. The other rack slots contain the supercomputer, a 30 node cluster of dual CPU Dell 2650 rackmount servers, running at a clock speed of 2.2 GHz. The two machines on the top of these racks have 3 GB of RAM and act as "primary nodes". They are responsible for distributing data to the rest of the cluster by means of high speed gigabit Ethernet. In all the cluster has over four terabytes of disk storage space, and enough processing power to coherently de-disperse the data from most low dispersion measure pulsars in real time. Data gets from the sampler to the supercomputer by means of direct memory access cards (EDT 60's) installed in both primary nodes.

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Figure 3: The signature of Shapiro delay in the binary pulsar J1909-3744. As the individual pulsars travel through the distorted space-time surrounding the companion they are delayed. This delay is detected as an excursion from the predicted time of arrival as a function of orbital phase.

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Figure 4. An observation of the millisecond pulsar J1824-2452. Horizontal axis is pulsar phase and vertical axis is uncalibrated power. Superimposed on this plot is an observation of a giant individual pulse from this object. The giant pulse has been resolved with the CPSR-II instrument and found to be 2 microseconds wide.

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Figure 5: the single antenna power spectrum for a bandwidth of 128 MHz, produced from simulated baseband data that includes contributions from radio telescope system noise, a constant strength astronomical continuum radio source, and a source of RFI. The interference is the strong spike 100 MHz from the lower edge of the bandpass.

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Figure 6: the single antenna power spectrum over a 5 MHz bandwidth produced from simulated baseband data that includes contributions from radio telescope system noise and an astronomical spectral line radio source with a complicated frequency structure.

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Figure 7: an analysis of the noise and signal to noise ratio on the amplitude measured for simulated baseband data from a single radio telescope, as a function of integration time. The horizontal axis is integration time in milliseconds. The vertical axis is in Jy (RMS noise level, source strength). The red points show the measured amplitude, converging to 5 Jy at long integration times (the strength of the continuum source used in the simulation). The green points show the RMS noise around the mean amplitude, decreasing as the square root of the integration time, as expected. The blue points show the signal to noise ratio for the amplitude measurement, increasing as the square root of the integration time, as expected.

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Figure 8: The amplitude and phase output of the SUT software correlator (coherent average over the 16 MHz bandwidth of the observation and a 0.1 second integration time) as a function time over a 2 minute period for the quasar PKS B0826-373, on the Parkes to Tidbinbilla baseline at 2290 MHz. The amplitudes are fully calibrated.

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Figure 9: An analysis of the SUT software correlator. Each point on the plot represents the RMS residual (in Jy) on the amplitude (coherently averaged across the full 16 MHz bandwidth and coherently averaged over the indicated integration time) derived from an observation of PKS B0826-373, on the Parkes to Tidbinbilla baseline at 2290 MHz. The green points are theoretically determined values using nominal values for the Parkes system temperature and gain at this frequency and bandwidth. The black points are the measured values from the software correlator, using the nominal Parkes system parameters to calibrate the data. The pink points are the measured values for the same data, but processed on the ATNF LBA correlator in Sydney, again using the nominal Parkes system parameters to calibrate the data. Both the software correlator and LBA correlator values deviate from the theoretically expected values at long integration times due to the presence of unmodelled variations in the individual instrumental bandpasses. The blue points are the ratios of the theoretical to software correlator RMS residuals.

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APPENDIX C: COMPOSITION OF INTERIM AABOM
Prof Brian Boyle Dr Martin Cole Dr Warrick Couch Prof Lawrence Cram Dr Gary Da Costa Prof Ron Ekers Dr Bob Frater Prof Penny Sackett Prof Ray Norris Dr Elaine Sadler Dr Rachel Webster, chair Anglo-Australian Observatory (independent) University of New South Wales Australian Research Council ANU RSAA CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility (independent) ANU RSAA CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility University of Sydney University of Melbourne (NCA nominee)

APPENDIX D: COMPOSITION OF CURRENT AABOM
Name Brian Boyle Ray Norris (MNRF Director) Matthew Colless Lawrence Cram Penny Sackett Roger Franzen Ron Ekers Martin Cole (chair) as at November 2003 Institution CSIRO CSIRO AAO ARC ANU Auspace Pty Ltd CSIRO Cole Innovations Pty Ltd Nominated by CSIRO CSIRO NCA ARC AGSC AGSC ASKAC ASKAC

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APPENDIX E: GLOSSARY
AABoM ADC AGSC The Australian Astronomy Board of Management, which is the Board of this MNRF. See http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/mnrf2001/ Analogue to Digital Converter Australian Gemini Steering Committee, a body set up to coordinate and maximise the effectiveness of Australian interactions with the Gemini partnership, and Australian usage of the Gemini telescopes. See www.ausgo.unsw.edu.au Australian National University, the host institution of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA). See www.anu.edu.au Australian Research Council, which is not itself a participant in this MNRF but is a significant stakeholder and the ultimate provider of much of the matching funding. See www.arc.gov.au Australian SKA Consortium, a body set up to coordinate Australian SKA (and LOFAR) activities. See http://askac.atnf.csiro.au/ Australia Telescope Compact Array, the flagship radio-telescope of the Australia Telescope National Facility. See http://www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/ Australia Telescope National Facility, which is a Division of CSIRO and the operator of Australia largest radio-telescopes at Parkes and Narrabri. See www.atnf.csiro.au Critical Design Review, the stage of a project immediately preceding the start of construction. CSIRO ICT Centre. A new CSIRO Division formed from parts of CMIS and CTIP (q.v.) See http://ict.csiro.au/ . CICTC are a participant in this MNRF, having taken over those parts of CTIP which were initially participating in the MNRF. CSIRO Maths and Information Sciences. See http://www.cmis.csiro.au/ CSIRO Division of Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology. CMIT have been primarily responsible for the manufacturing process for the Luneburg lens. See http://www.cmit.csiro.au/ Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, a type of technology used to fabricate chips. CSIRO Division of Molecular Science. A Division of CSIRO who have been working on the material used to make the Luneburg Lens. See http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?type=division&id=Molecular%20Science Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial research Organisation, Australia's largest research organisation. See www.csiro.au CSIRO Telecommunication and Industrial Physics. A Division of CSIRO which was initially a participant in this MNRF, but whose functional areas involved in this MNRF have now been transferred to CICTC. See http://www.tip.csiro.au/ The NASA Deep Space Network, used to track NASA's spacecraft. One of the three major DSN stations worldwide is located at Tidbinbilla, Australia. See http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/ Field Of View of a telescope ­ the angular extent of the sky which can 165

ANU ARC ASKAC ATCA ATNF CDR CICTC

CMIS CMIT CMOS CMS CSIRO CTIP

DSN FOV


GaAs Gbps InP ISSC LBA LNA LOFAR

MIT MMIC

MOST NCA

NTD PDR RF RFI

be simultaneously viewed by the telescope. Gallium Arsenide ­ a material used to make very fast, very low-noise chips and devices Giga bits-per-second ­ used to express the bandwidth of a transmission medium. Indium Phosphide ­ a material used to make very fast, very low-noise chips and devices International SKA Steering Committee, which is effectively the Board of the International SKA Project. See http://www.skatelescope.org/ska_committees.shtml Long Baseline Array ­ a name given to Australia's network of VLBI antennas. See http://www.atnf.csiro.au/vlbi/ A Low Noise Amplifier, the sensitive "front-end" of a radio telescope. The LNA design is a critical factor in the overall sensitivity of the telescope. Low Frequency Array. A next-generation internationally-funded telescope which is a precursor to SKA and which Australia is making a bid to host, partly because hosting LOFAR significantly increases the probability that the SKA will be located in Australia. Construction is planned to start in 2005 at a cost of A$200m, and it is hoped that it will be located in Western Australia. LOFAR is currently outside the scope of this MNRF. See http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/ska/general/lofar.html Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world's premier Universities and a participant in the LOFAR and SKA projects. See http://www.mit.edu/ Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit. A state-of-art chip which, unlike the low-frequency silicon chips used in computers, is designed to handle the high frequency microwave signals used in radio-astronomy and other commercial applications. Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope, an instrument owned and operated by Sydney University, and being upgraded under the SAMP project of this MNRF. See http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/astrop/most/ National Committee for Astronomy, a subcommittee of the Australian Academy of Science. It is responsible for coordinating Australian astronomy activities. See http://astro.ph.unimelb.edu.au/~rwebster/nca/index.html New Technology Demonstrator. Project 6 of this MNRF. Preliminary Design Review. The stage of a project at which preliminary designs are reviewed, prior to make a final detailed design. Radio Frequency ­ an electromagnetic signal in the frequency range 100 kHz to 1000 GHz Radio Frequency Interference, which might come from mobile phones, taxis, TV stations, satellites, aircraft, or any number of other transmitters. RFI can potentially destroy the performance of a radiotelescope, and we avoid this by (a) siting the telescope away from sources of RFI, such as in inland Australia, and (b) by using sophisticated RFI mitigation techniques to remove it. In practice, a combination of these techniques will be needed for next-generation

166


RSAA SKA

SKAMP SUT VLBI

radio-telescopes such as LOFAR and SKA. Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, which is a Research School of the ANU (Australian National University) and which is headquartered at Mt. Stromlo. See www.mso.anu.edu.au Square Kilometre Array. A next-generation internationally-funded radio-telescope. Construction is planned to start in 2010 at a cost of A$2b, and it is hoped that it will be located in Australia. See www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/ska Square Kilometre Array Molonglo Prototype. One of the projects of this MNRF, in which the Molonglo telescope (MOST) will be upgraded as a prototype for SKA. Swinburne University of Technology, one of the participants in this MNRF. See http://www.swin.edu.au/ Very Long Baseline Interferometry, in which signals from radiotelescopes hundreds or thousands of kilometres apart are combined to synthesise a telescope capable of very high spatial resolution. See http://www.atnf.csiro.au/vlbi/

167


APPENDIX F: CERTIFICATIONS & AUDITS
These certifications are to confirm some of the figures shown elsewhere in this document. Original documents are available upon request.

168


169


170


171


172


173


174


175


APPENDIX G: FINANCIAL TABLES
The following notes should be read in conjunction with the spreadsheets.

G1 Differences in spreadsheets from those supplied by DEST
As far as possible, we have retained the format of the template spreadsheets supplied by DEST. However, this was not completely possible for the following reasons: · The spreadsheets supplied by DEST contained some errors (e.g. some of the cells containing "Totals" had typos in them) and these have been corrected. · The spreadsheets supplied by DEST do not contain a column for 2001/2, although this is in fact covered within the MNRF (see Section 4.1.3 of this report), and in our business plan and project plans, and so we are required to report against it. We were not sure how to deal best with this, as to handle it properly means changing all spreadsheets, and DEST have asked us not to do this. Therefore, we have folded all 2001/2 figures into 2002/3 figures and reported on the total.

176


Table 1 In-Kind Contributions from Participating Parties ($'000s) Participating Party Actual Agreement Variance 2001/2003 2001/2003 CSIRO ATNF Salaries Capital Other Total CSIRO TIP Salaries Capital Other Total AAO Salaries Capital Other Total UNI OF SYDNEY Salaries Capital Other Total ANU Salaries Capital Other Total SWINBURNE Salaries Capital Other Total APT Salaries Capital Other Total CEA Salaries Capital Other Total W.A. STATE DEPT Salaries Capital Other Total Grand Total In-kind Salaries Capital Other Total

Agreement 2003/2004

Agreement 2004/2005

Agreement 2005/2006

Agreement 2006/2007

Cumulative Cumulative Projected Contributions Contributions Agreement 5 Difference Grand Total (Total to Date - (Total to Date Years over 5 Years 5 Years Actual) Agreement) 0.0 0.0 550.3 550.3 156.9 0.0 421.8 578.7 67.5 0.0 67.5 135.0 67.0 0.0 67.0 134.0 420.0 0.0 0.0 420.0 150.6 309.5 1.7 461.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 73.3 0.0 43.6 116.9 935.3 309.5 1151.9 2396.7 760.0 0.0 250.0 1010.0 96.0 64.0 0.0 160.0 50.7 0.0 25.3 76.0 128.0 0.0 0.0 128.0 173.0 0.0 0.0 173.0 98.0 491.0 0.0 589.0 15.0 0.0 5.0 20.0 15.0 0.0 5.0 20.0 100.0 75.0 25.0 200.0 1435.7 630.0 310.3 2376.0 2990.0 0.0 1010.0 4000.0 480.0 320.0 0.0 800.0 1741.4 0.0 870.6 2612.0 596.0 0.0 0.0 596.0 865.0 0.0 0.0 865.0 334.0 818.0 0.0 1152.0 75.0 0.0 25.0 100.0 75.0 0.0 25.0 100.0 400.0 300.0 100.0 800.0 7556.4 1438.0 2030.6 11025.0 2990.0 0.0 1010.0 4000.0 480.0 320.0 0.0 800.0 1741.4 0.0 870.6 2612.0 596.0 0.0 0.0 596.0 865.0 0.0 0.0 865.0 334.0 818.0 0.0 1152.0 75.0 0.0 25.0 100.0 75.0 0.0 25.0 100.0 400.0 300.0 100.0 800.0 7556.4 1438.0 2030.6 11025.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 550.3 550.3 156.9 0.0 421.8 578.7 67.5 0 67.5 135.0 67.0 67.0 134.0 420.0 0.0 420.0 150.6 309.5 1.7 461.8

760.0 250.0 1010.0 96.0 64.0 160.0 50.7 25.3 76.0 128.0 418.7

830.0 280.0 1110.0 96.0 64.0 160.0 200.0 100.0 300.0 131.0

830.0 280.0 1110.0 96.0 64.0 738.7 274.7 137.3 412.0 135.0

340.0 120.0 460.0 96.0 64.0 160.0 541.3 270.7 812.0 135.0

230.0 80.0 310.0 96.0 64.0 160.0 674.7 337.3 1012.0 67.0

-459.7

59.0

128.0 173.0

6.0

131.0 173.0

135.0 173.0

135.0 173.0

67.0 173.0

173.0 98.0 491.0 589.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 100.0 75.0 25.0 200.0 1435.7 630.0 310.3 2376.0

247.0

173.0 101.0 327.0

173.0 106.0

173.0 29.0

173.0

-127.2

428.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 100.0 75.0 25.0 200.0 1661.0 466.0 415.0 2542.0

106.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 100.0 75.0 25.0 200.0 1744.7 139.0 452.3 2336.0

29.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 100.0 75.0 25.0 200.0 1444.3 139.0 425.7 2009.0

0.0 15.0 5.0 20.0 15.0 5.0 20.0

0.0

-20.0

0.0 73.3 43.6 116.9 935.3 309.5 1151.9 2396.7

-20.0

-83.1 -500.4 -320.5 841.6 20.7

0.0 1270.7 64.0 427.3 1762.0

177


Table 2
Cash Contributions From Participating Parties ($'000s) Participating Party Actual 2001/2003 Agreement 2001/2003 Variance Agreement 2003/2004 Agreement 2004/2005 Agreement 2005/2006 Agreement 2006/2007 Cumulative Total to Date - Actual Cumulative Total Projected Agreement 5 Difference to Date Grand Total Years 5 Years Agreement 5 Years

CSIRO ATNF ANU UNI OF SYD UNSW SWINBURNE UNI OF MELB DELL COMP. Total

103 24 6 21 1 5

2.0 5.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 2.0

1614.0

32.0 15.0 55.0 10.0 10.0 52.0 85.0 1659.0

8 3 1 2

200.0 -70.0 -90.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -85.0 -45.0

1032.0 315.0 155.0 210.0 10.0 52.0 1774.0

15 3 1 2

32.0 15.0 55.0 10.0 10.0 52.0

432.0 315.0 155.0 210.0 10.0 52.0 1174.0

3 3 16 2

32.0 15.0 55.0 10.0 10.0 52.0

2274.0

2574.0

1032.0 245.0 65.0 210.0 10.0 52.0 0.0 1562.0

32.0 15.0 55.0 10.0 10.0 52.0 85.0 1659.0

8 3 1 2

4 1 2 1

160.0 575.0 275.0 050.0 50.0 260.0 85.0 9455.0

4160.0 1575.0 2275.0 1050.0 50.0 260.0 85.0 9455.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Other Sources

Actual 2001/2003

Agreement 2001/2003

Variance

Agreement 2003/2004

Agreement 2004/2005

Agreement 2005/2006

Agreement 2006/2007

Cumulative Total to Date - Actual

Cumulative Total Projected Agreement 5 Difference to Date Grand Total Years 5 Years Agreement 5 Years

ARC LINKAGE Victorian govt. SU Sesqui R&D Uni of Southern Qld. Total

1855.1 131.3 0.0 5.0 1991.4

1637.0

218.1 131.3 0.0 5.0 354.4

1637.0

1637.0

1637.0

1637.0

1855.1 131.3 0.0 5.0 1991.4

1637.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1637.0

8185.0 131.3 0.0 5.0 8185.0

8185.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8185.0

0.0 131.3 0.0 5.0 0.0

insert additional Other Items above this line 1637.0 1637.0 1637.0 1637.0 1637.0

Actual 2001/2003

Agreement 2001/2003

Variance

Agreement 2003/2004

Agreement 2004/2005

Agreement 2005/2006

Agreement 2006/2007

Cumulative Total to Date - Actual

Cumulative Total Projected Agreement 5 Difference to Date Grand Total Years 5 Years Agreement 5 Years

MNRF Grant

2340.0

2340.0

0.0

4760.0

8000.0

7500.0

900.0

2340.0

2340.0

23500.0

23500.0

0.0

Grand Total of Cash Contributions

Actual 2001/2003

Agreement 2001/2003

Variance

Agreement 2003/2004

Agreement 2004/2005

Agreement 2005/2006

Agreement 2006/2007

Cumulative Total to Date - Actual

Cumulative Total Projected Agreement 5 Difference to Date Grand Total Years 5 Years Agreement 5 Years

5945.4

5636.0

309.4

8171.0

11911.0

10311.0

5111.0

6322.8

5636.0

41140.0

41140.0

0.0

178


Table 3
Cash Heads of Expenditure ($'000s) Total of Heads of Expenditure Salaries Capital Other Totals Actual 2001/2003 Agreement 2001/2003 Agreement 2003/2004 Agreement 2004/2005 Agreement 2005/2006 Cumulative Cumulative Projected Agreement Agreement 5 Difference Total to Date Total to Date Grand Total 5 Years 5 Years 2006/2007 Years - Actual - Agreement

Variance

821.4 357.9 3112.6 4291.9

483.0 560.0 5323.0 6366.0

338 -202 -2210 -2074

.4 .1 .4 .1

1 17 67 86

55.0 60.0 08.0 23.0

155.0 1760.0 6949.0 8864.0

155.0 1759.0 7157.0 9071.0

155 1809 6248 8212

.0 .0 .0 .0

821.4 357.9 3112.6 4291.9

483.0 560.0 5323.0 6366.0

1441.4 7445.9 30174.6 39061.9

1103.0 7648.0 32385.0 41136.0

338.4 -202.1 -2210.4 -2074.1

179


Table 4
Summary of Resources Applied to Activities of MNRF ($'000s)
Agreement 2001/2003 Agreement 2003/2004 Agreement 2004/2005 Agreement 2005/2006 Agreement 2006/2007

Actual 2001/2003

Variance

Cumulative Cumulative Projected Agreement Difference Total to Date - Total to Date - Grand Total 5 Years 5 Years Actual Agreement 5 Years

Grand Ttl 5 Yrs Inkind from Tble 1 Grand Ttl 5 Yrs Cash Expd from Tble 2 Ttl Resources Cash & Inkind Income

2396.7

2376.0

20.7

2542.0

2336.0

2009.0

1762.0

2396.7

2376.0

11045.7

11025.0

20.7

5945.4

5636.0

309.4

8171.0

11911.0

10311.0

5111.0

5945.4

5636.0

41449.4

41140.0

309.4

8342.1

8012.0

330.1

10713.0

14247.0

12320.0

6873.0

8342.1

8012.0

52495.1

52165.0

330.1

Allocation of Total Resources Applied to Activities of MNRF Between Heads of Expenditure ($) Cumulative Cumulative Projected Agreement Difference Total to Date - Total to Date - Grand Total 5 Years 5 Years Actual Agreement 5 Years

Actual 2001/2003

Agreement 2001/2003

Variance

Agreement 2003/2004

Agreement 2004/2005

Agreement 2005/2006

Agreement 2006/2007

Total Salaries Cash & Inkind Total Capital Cash & Inkind Total Other Cash & Inkind Grand Total (Cash & Inkind)

1756.7

1918.7

-162.0

1816.0

1899.7

1599.3

1425.7

1756.7

1918.7

8497.4

8659.4

-162.0

667.4

1190.0

-522.6

2226.0

1899.0

1898.0

1873.0

667.4

1190.0

8563.4

9086.0

-522.6

4264.5

5633.3

-1368.8

7123.0

7401.3

7582.7

6675.3

4264.5

5633.3

33046.8

34415.6

-1368.8

6688.6

8742.0

-2053.4

11165.0

11200.0

11080.0

9974.0

6688.6

8742.0

50107.6

52161.0

-2053.4

180


181


Table 6
Cash Cost (net of GST) of Purchased Capital Equipment ($'000s) Fin Years Description
List items separately > $50K

Location Swinburne/ATNF Molonglo ATNF ATNF ATNF ATNF ATNF CSIRO TIP W.A. DPC

Quantity 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 6.0

Value ($) 536.0

Total ($) 536.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 259.8 25. 0. 0. 821. 2 0 0 1

2001/03

Supercomputer & IF, Parkes Molonglo filterbank/correlator SKA demonstrator Test equipment Software W 'band correlator
Group items < $50K

259.8 25.2

In-kind capital items
Total List items separately > $50K

2003/04

Supercomputer ATCA Molonglo filterbank/b'former Semiconductor fabrication SKA demonstrator Test equipment Software W 'band correlator
Group items < $50K

Swinburne/ATNF Molonglo ATNF ATNF ATNF ATNF ATNF CSIRO TIP W.A. DPC

1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

In-kind capital items
Total List items separately > $50K

\ Molonglo filterbank/b'former SKA demonstrator W 'band correlator Semiconductor fabrication
Group items < $50K

2004/05

Molonglo ATNF ATNF ATNF CSIRO TIP W.A. DPC

1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

In-kind capital items
Total List items separately > $50K

2005/06

Molonglo filterbank/b'former Molonglo feeds & LNAs Semiconductor fabrication SKA demonstrator W 'band correlator
Group items < $50K

Molonglo Molonglo ATNF ATNF ATNF CSIRO TIP W.A. DPC

1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

In-kind capital items
Total List items separately > $50K

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 821.1

2006/07

Molonglo feeds & LNAs W 'band correlator
Group items < $50K

Molonglo ATNF CSIRO TIP W.A. DPC

1.0 1.0

In-kind capital items
Total Grand Total

182


Table 5: Summary of Planning/Construction/Upgrade/Operating Expenditure ($'000s) Projected Agreement Grand Total 5 Years 5 Years

Actual 2001/2003 NTD MMIC Siting SKASS

Agreement 2001/2003

Variance 2002/2003

Agreement 2003/2004

2004/2005 Agreement

2005/2006 Agreement

2006/2007 Agreement

Total to Date Actual

Total to Date Agreement

Variance To Date

SKA Planning Phase

1621.0 300.0 117.0 688.0

895.0 1100.0 200.0 877.9

SKA Construction/ Upgrade Phase SKA Total Planning & Construction

CABB SKAMP

358.0 134.0

1150.0 217.5

726. -800. -83. -189. 0. 0. -792. -83. 0. 0. 0. 0.

0 0 0 9 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0

1710. 900. 200. 633.

0 0 0 8

2360. 600. 200. 311.

0 0 0 6

1010.0 350.0 200.0 234.2

610.0 300.0 0.0 205.2

1475.0 441.0

1800.0 434.5

450.0 523.2

400.0 167.0

1621. 300. 117. 688. 0. 0. 358. 134. 0. 0. 0. 0.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

895. 1100. 200. 877. 0. 0. 1150. 217. 0. 0. 0. 0.

0 0 0 9 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0

726.0 -800.0 -83.0 -189.9 0.0 0.0 -792.0 -83.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -1222.4 -36.0 -1633.0 -1669.0 -2891.4

7311.0 2450.0 717.0 2072.8 0.0 0.0 4483.0 1699.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 18733.5 1062.0 0.0 29462.0 30524.0 49257.5

6585.0 3250.0 800.0 2262.7 0.0 0.0 5275.0 1783.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 19955.9 1098.0 0.0 31095.0 32193.0 52148.9

3218.0
Office

4440.4 482.0 4657.0 5139.0 9579.4

-1222.4 -36.0 -1633.0 -1669.0 -2891.4

5359.8 154.0 6182.0 6336.0 11695.8

5706.1 154.0 6583.0 6737.0 12443.1

2767.4 154.0 7191.0 7345.0 10112.4

1682.2 154.0 6482.0 6636.0 8318.2

3218.0 446.0 3024.0 3470.0 6688.0

4440.4 482.0 4657.0 5139.0 9579.4

446.0 3024.0 3470.0 6688.0

Operating Phase Total Operating Phase Grand Total Expenditure

SKA Gemini (total)

183