High-Level Organization

ALMA Board

AUINRAO

North AmericanARC Manager

North American ALMA Regional Centre

AMAC ASAC

Joint ALMA ObservatoryALMA Director

Head, AdministratorHead, Science OperationsHead, Technical Services

Chilean Operations

NSF/NRC

ESO

ALMA

European ARC Manager

European ALMA REGIONAL CENTRE

ALMA Regional Centre at ESO + small number of science support centers

User support services:

• Proposal calls

• Evaluation

• Observation preparation

• Basic data analysis support

• ALMA Archive operations

Coordinating the ARC network to ensure that it is effective in supporting all parts of the ESO community, in particular ESO will ensure that software development and distribution within the European ARC is efficient.

ARC at ESO

Network of ARC Nodes

The broader range of science support services includes:

• Advanced Data reduction and Archive Operations: direct, hands-on data reduction and calibration support for ALMA users

• Scientific Community Development and Scientific Support: Internal postdoctoral fellowships (support at ARC), organization of training programs and schools, organization of conferences and workshops and help organize consortia within the community to respond to calls for next generation hardware

Expressions of Interest

Proposers should give an indication of:

• how much support, especially how many support staff and astronomers, is envisaged

• the potential audience

• the expected length of time for the commitment

Accompanied by the endorsement from the relevant funding agencies

ALMA REGIONAL CENTRE at ESO

GermanyNode

Bonn-Koln

Italy IRA

Northern EuropeOnsala

IRAM

NetherlandsNode

PortogalloOAL

UKNode

Jodrell

ALMA Regional Centre at IRA(to offer support to its users)

J. Brand, L. Gregorini, K-H. Mack, M. Nanni, I. Prandoni, G. Tofani, A. Zanichelli

Objectives:

•One-to-one support of (non-expert) observers in calibration and advanced data processing;

•Development of specific algorithms and scripts directed by users’ requests and suggestions;

•Development of advanced simulation software;

•Maintenance of a constant and real-time diffusion of information;

•Training and enlarging the pool of potential ALMA users;

ALMA Regional Centre at IRA(to offer support to its users)

• Provide enough experienced people for a full-time user support;

• Provide up-to-date and well-maintained hardware;

• Be in close contact with the ESO ALMA Centre, in order to be timely informed on the development and evolution of the core functions;

• Make available new software releases as soon as possible;

• Plan and organize schools, introductory and specialized meetings

To reach this goal the Centre should:

ARC at IRA

Organization

Human resources (clear definition only after a detailed coordination with the ESO-based ARC)

1 Full-Time Equivalent provided by the IRA’s permanent staff (4 staff members 0.25 FTE each)

1 Full-Time administrator/secretary

1 Full-Time system manager

4 post-doc fellowships (at the beginning 2 computer scientists/astronomers with strong background and interest in computer science)

The ARC’s services for a minimum of 10 years, starting at least 1 year before beginning of the ALMA early-science operations.

ARC at IRA

OrganizationHardware

IRA is located close to one of the main nodes of the Italian GARR scientific network and will have an optical fiber connection at a speed of 2.5 Gbit/s.

•The ARC should provide an estimated minimum storage capacity of the order of 100 Terabyte •An adequate computing power may be achieved by 64-bit CPUs organized as parallel beowulf systems of average dimensions (at least 16 stations)•GRID-technology