[ASA] Australian SKA Project Director's Update [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[Luchetti, David]

Dear SKA stakeholders,

For your information, my latest Project Director's Update<http://ska.gov.au/updates/Pages/2016-07-Project-Director%27s-Update.aspx> is now available on the SKA Australia website (www.ska.gov.au<http://www.ska.gov.au>). The update is also pasted below and summarises recent SKA-related activities and developments in Australia and internationally. Thanks for your ongoing interest in the Australian SKA project.

Kind Regards,

David Luchetti


July 2016

The SKA has been called the ultimate Big Data project - its antennas producing a data stream several times greater than today's entire global internet traffic. So how do you get that volume of information all the way from Australia's remote SKA site to the supercomputers needed to process it?

A team led by the Cisco Internet of Everything Innovation Centre in Western Australia recently took a giant step towards that goal by establishing a 100GB/s data link between the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, future site of the SKA-Low telescope, and Curtin University in Perth, a distance of some 800 kilometres through some of the most remote places on earth.  Impressively the team managed this feat with no data loss.

Australia-based work in a range of other SKA-related technology has continued apace in recent months. Amongst the highlights were:


*         An ICRAR, University of Western Australia and CSIRO collaboration have developed a new frequency synchronisation technology <http://www.icrar.org/sadt/> that performs up to 100 times better than required for the SKA;

*         The Phase 2 upgrade of the Murchison Widefield Array<https://www.facebook.com/Murchison.Widefield.Array/posts/979773912142896> low frequency telescope, with 72 new antenna tiles installed;

*         Site works for the SKA-Low Aperture Array Verification System 1 (AAVS1) were finalised.  AAVS1, scheduled for completion in late 2016, will be a significant proof-of-concept system allowing the design of SKA1-Low to be optimised;

*         CSIRO's ASKAP telescope produced the world's first ever 36-beam Phased Array astronomy image<http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/askap/news_aces_15042016.html>. The field of view was an impressive 30 square degrees (approximately the area of 150 full Moons). This image demonstrates that ASKAP's new Phased Array Feed (PAF) receiver systems and bespoke software are working well;

*         The iconic Parkes telescope has been granted 'SKA pathfinder' status <http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/askap/news_ska_06042016.html> by the Square Kilometre Array Organisation (SKAO) due to its role in testing new receiver systems. Parkes will now play a key role in the development of PAFs for use with the SKA.
April saw a number of important meetings to advance the intergovernmental preparations for SKA construction and operations. SKA Organisation Board meeting number 20 took place in Pune, India and later in April, the third treaty negotiation meeting between SKA member countries was held in Rome. There will now be a final meeting in late September 2016 to agree the final SKA Convention and funding commitments from the members.

Also in April, the inaugural Australia-ChinA ConsortiuM for Astrophysical Research (ACAMAR) Workshop was held in Perth along with the second annual OzSKA meeting. The ACAMAR discussions focused on radio astronomy science and SKA, Antarctic astronomy science, astronomical instrumentation and big data challenges, whilst at OzSKA, presentations on SKA-related science were given by many prominent radio astronomers.

In July, SKA Organisation Board meeting number 21 was held in Manchester with a number of pleasing outcomes. Spain looks set to become a member of the SKA Organisation later this year and SKA-Low technology has been confirmed as part of the core program for continued advancement during the operation of the SKA. The Board also applauded MeerKAT's achievement of first light and developments at the Murchison Radio Astronomy Observatory were welcomed.

In other news, the SKA has been declared a Landmark Project by the European Commission in its recently published research infrastructure Roadmap 2016, which identifies key research facilities necessary to strengthen scientific excellence and competitiveness in the EU.

I look forward to updating you on further project development soon.


Kind Regards,

David Luchetti
Australian SKA Project Director
Australian Square Kilometre Array Office
__________________________________________
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Level 9, 10 Binara Street, Canberra City ACT 2601
GPO Box 9839, Canberra ACT 2601
Ph: +61-2-6213 6068  Mob: +61 411 021 135
Email:  david.luchetti at industry.gov.au<mailto:david.luchetti at industry.gov.au>
Internet: www.ska.gov.au<http://www.ska.gov.au/>
[http://www.ska.gov.au/sitecollectionimages/logo-auska.gif]

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