SKAandtheMeerKAT

UKZNANDNAOC21November2016

THISTALK

•  SKAandMeerKATtelescopeandscience•  HumanCapitalDevelopmentprogramme•  DevelopingscienceandtechnicalcapabilityinAfrica

•  BigDataAfrica,AfricaData-IntensiveResearchCloudandmachinelearning

•  TheSerendipityMachine•  NobelPrizesinAfricaandChina

SKA:GovernanceUpdate•  EstablishmentofSKAObservatoryasalegalenQtyto

procure,constructandoperateSKAPhase1•  FourmeeQngsheldinRomesinceNovember2015to

negoQatebasisforestablishmentofenQty•  OutputDocuments

–  SKAConvenQon•  ProvisionforMembers,AssociateMembersandotherenQQes

–  FinancialProtocol•  FinancialcontribuQonsinformedbysciencecapacityofcountries

–  ProtocolonPrivilegesandImmuniQes–  DraTpolicies

•  Procurement–principleof‘fairworkreturn’tobeadopted,whilstensuringcompeQQvenessandtransparency–  In-KindContribuQons–  CashContribuQons

•  Access,OperaQons,IntellectualPropertyRights

•  IntenQonistoiniQateprocessofestablishinglegalenQty(IGO)in2017

POTENTIALNEWMEMBERS

•  Switzerlandappliedforassociatestatus•  Japanmakingprogresstowardsentry•  FranceandSpainprobablyenter•  Germany

1stSKANegoQaQonsMeeQngRome,November2015

SKA:EngineeringUpdate•  FocusonclosingoutallelementPDRs;allconsorQanowprogressing

towardsCDRbyQ42017andsomeQ12018•  Systempreliminarydesignreview(systemPDR)expectedtobecompleted

December2016–  a)ShowthatalltheinterfacesarecorrectlyidenQfied–  b)ShowthattheproposeddesignmeetsfuncQonalandperformance

requirements–  c)Showthatallsystemrequirementsareallocatedandproperlytraced

•  Costmustbereducedto€674million(escalatedto2016)•  ConstrucQonwillbephased.InfrastructureconstrucQonbegins2018•  Mid-frequency15mdishprototypestobeconstructedandtestedin

China(CETC54)andinGermany.GermandishwillbeerectedonSAsiteearly2018

•  AIVprocesseswelldeveloped•  IntegraQonofMeerKATintoSKA1-MIDunderdiscussion.Emphasison

compleQngMeerKATscience.

SKA1FREQUENCYBANDS

Frequency Bands

1 0.35 - 1.05 GHz

2 0.95 - 1.76 GHz

3 1.65 - 3.05 GHz

4 2.8 - 5.18 GHz

5 4.6 - 13.8 GHz

FIVE-HUNDREDMETERAPERTURETELESCOPEINGUANGZHOU,CHINA

SKASITEINSOUTHAFRICA

ProtectedCentralAstronomyAdvantageArea(AstronomyGeographicAdvantageAct)

POPULATIONDENSITY

AlternaQvetelecommssystemsforfarmingcommuniQes

SKAINAFRICA

PartnerCountries:•  Botswana•  Ghana•  Kenya•  Madagascar•  MauriQus•  Mozambique•  Namibia•  Zambia•  SupportedbyAfricanUnionHeadsofState

SKACONSTRUCTIONTIMETABLE•  MeerKAT-64x13.5mdiameteroffset

dishesover8km–  CompleQon2017

•  SKA1-MID–Add133x15mdishesover150km–  Designphase2013-2016–  ConstrucQon2018–2022(?)

•  SKA2-MID–upto2500dishesover~3000km•  SKA2-MFAA–mid-frequencyaperturearray

•  Designstartsabout2019(?)•  ConstrucQonabout2023-2030•  InWesternAustralia

–  125000lowfrequencyantennasSKA1-LOW–  SKA2-LOWnotyetclear

ESTABLISHINGTHEKAROOSITE

POWER ROADS–SEALED2016

DATA BURIEDRETICULATION

CONTROLROOMINCAPETOWN

ROTARYUPS

BUNKERFORRFIANDTEMPERATURECONTROL

DISHSHED

SITEINFRASTRUCTUREATLOSBERG

SHIELDEDRACKROOMINBUNKER

KAT7–FIBREGLASSONE-PIECESURFACES

MeerKATDISH

SUBREFLECTOR

MAINREFLECTOR

RECEIVERINDEXERWITHHORNS,RECEIVERS,DIGITIZERSANDSERVICES

SouthAfricandesignanddevelopment75%byvaluesourcedinSA–newskills,newfactoriesWeightandcostCombinedRMSsurfaceerror<0.25mmPoinQngerror5arcsecGoodefficiencyabove20GHz

MeerKATintheKaroo:SKAprecursorunderconstrucQon

64x13.5-metrehighlyefficient“offsetGregorian”dishesspreadover8km;bestL-bandradioreceiversinworld;uniquedigitalprocessing,andradiofrequencyinterference(RFI)miQgaQonfeatures

KAT-7(engineeringtest-bed)imagein2012

4-dishMeerKATinMay2016(commissioning)

16-dishMeerKATinJune2016(ArrayRelease1)

1%ofFirstLightimage

BestimageofthispatchofskybeforeMeerKAT

MeerKATFirstLight

FR1radiogalaxy

FR2radiogalaxyStarforminggalaxy

?

MeerKATperformance@1420MHz

JVLA MeerKAT RfP

MeerKAT 2013

MeerKAT 2014

Ndish 27 64 64 64

Ddish 25 m 13.5 m 13.5 m 13.5 m

Tsys/εa 47.3 K 44.1K 29.4 K 22.5 K

Nbeam 1 1 1 1

Bandwidth

1 GHz 750 MHz 750 MHz 770 MHz

Ae/Tsys 1 0.74 (×1) 1.11 (×1.5) 1.45 (×1.96)

Survey speed

1 1.88 (×1) 4.24 (×2.25) 7.24 (×3.84)

From2017,thebesttelescopeofitskindintheworld–aSouthAfricanfunded,designed,andbuiltproject

MeerKATscience:theworldinAfrica

MeerKATandFAST•  MeerKATwillhaveacombinaQonofraw

sensiQvityandangularresoluQon.FASTwillhaveevenhighersensiQvityforsomepurposes,butfairlypoorangularresoluQon.Skycoveragesoverlapbutaredifferent(FASTisatlaQtude+25deg,andcantracksources+-40degfromthat,withreducedsensiQvitybeyond+-30deg)

•  Forsomepurposes,theyshouldworkverywelltogethertohelpusforexampletounderstandgalaxyformaQon/evoluQon.Forinstance,theMHONGOOSEMeerKATLSP(ErwindeBlockPI)hasstartedacollaboraQonwithMingZhuoftheFASTScienceGroup-FASTandMeerKATwilljointlystudysomeoftheMHONGOOSEgalaxies.

LargeSurveyProjectReview•  TimeallocaQononMeerKAT:theLSPreviewprocessdonebylatestQ12017);alsoexpectto

haveEarly/SharedRisksciencescheduledonthetelescopeinthe2ndhalfof2017,bywhichQmewealsoexpecttoissuecallsfor'OpenTime'proposals(tobescheduledin2018).LSPsarenowsupposedtostartbyendMarch2018

•  In2010,theTACrecommendedatotalof43000hoursoftelescopeQmeto10LSPs,33000hours,ofwhichtothe8LSPsthatsubmizedrevisedprojectplansin2016(weaskedMESMERandMeerGALnottodosoatthisQmeowingtouncertainavailabilityofX-bandreceivers).In2016these8LSPshaverequestedatotalof28000hr.AllofthisQmecannotbeaccommodatedwithina5-yearobservingspan(literally,whennight-QmeandparQcularLSTrequirementsareconsidered).

•  Thisthereforenecessitatesaverycarefulreviewprocess-expectthistobedonebyearly2017.

•  HowmanyobservinghoursarelikelytobeavailableonMeerKATfromApril2018onwards(bydefiniQonmostoftheLSPrequestsneed64antennas)?Wedon'tyetknowtheanswertothisquesQon.ThereisaMeerKATSErequirementthatessenQallytranslatesto80%ofthehoursoftheyearavailableforastronomicalobservaQons.Thatisforsomesortofsteadystate,whichwon'tbeachievedinApril2018.MoreinformaQonaboutthesemazersbymid-2017.

•  Bythesecondhalfof2017wealsoexpecttobedoingearly/sharedriskscienceonMeerKATwith32receptors,andtohaveissuedacallforOpenTimeaccess(with64antennas,starQnginApril2018).

MPIfR/MPGMeerKATS-bandsystem•  11MEuroprojectfundedbyMax-Planck-SocietyandMPIforRadioastronomy•  AddiQonalfrequencywindow(1.75–3.5GHz),•  Combinedwith“beamforming”capability:Newdiscoveryspace

SETIGuestInstruments

•  BreakthroughListen–MeerKATisthepremiuminstrumentforSETI

•  Commensalobserving•  AddiQonalequipment–collaboraQngwithUCBerkeleybutwewilltakeoveralotmorewhenweemploymoresystemengineersandaprojectmanager

•  SKAissensiQveenoughtodetectanairportradaronaplanet50lightyearsaway,soBLaimstouseSKA-Mid

!Whatever MeerKAT observes, MeerLICHT observes [at the same time] !

InnovaQons:ThunderKAT/MeerLICHTThunderKATisthe(largelycommensal)imageplanetransientsprogrammeforMeerKAT:aimstofindandunderstandhigh-energyastrophysicalprocesses(e.g.blackholesinX-raybinaries)viatheirradio(andother)emission(~1secondcadence)

MeerLICHT:simultaneousopUcal-radiomonitoroftransientsky,throughroboQc0.65-metretelescopeinSutherland-fieldofviewmatchingMeerKAT’s,andhighimagequality.1millionEuroinvestment(Radboud,UCT,Oxford,Manchester,Amsterdam,NWO,NRF/SAAO)

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ArrayreleasesAR1

16receptors

Correlator4k&32k

Offlineimaging

1beam

33

AR2

32receptors

Correlator4k&32k

Offlineimaging

1beam

AR3

64receptors

Correlator4k&32k

Pipelineimaging

1beam

Laterreleases

64receptors

Correlator4k&32k

Pipelineimaging

4beams

Narrowbandmodes

Transientmodes

VLBI

Systemstability-emergentbehaviour

Overallsystemstabilityisanelusivegoal,muchmoredifficultthange~ngittoworkonce.Ittakesanobsessionforqualityinallparts,notsimplyge~ngittowork.Toachieveasystemthatworks95%oftheQme,everypartmustworkat99%oftheQme.Stabilityproblemsweremostlyemergentbehaviour,neweffectsthatcroppedupduringintegraQon,orevenonceithadbeenworkingforawhile.

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•  SeeingthefirststarsturningonearlyinthehistoryoftheUniverse

•  Berkeley,SKASA,NRAO,Cambridge,UWC,UKZNetc.

•  $10millionfromtheNSF+Cambridge

HYDROGENEPOCHOFREIONISATIONARRAY(HERA)

HUMANCAPITALDEVELOPMENTPROGRAMME•  ObjecQve

–  PipelinefromschooltotenuredposiQons:trainastronomers,engineers,techniciansandarQsanstobuild,operate,maintainandusetheMeerKATandtheSKA(andwinNobelPrizes)

–  UseSKAandMeerKAT(andPAPER,CBASS,HERA,HIRAXetc.)toestablishlarge,vibrant,world-classuniversityresearchgroups

–  IncreasenumberofPhDsandMScs–  TrainscienQstsandengineersfromAfricanpartner–  Reversethebraindrain

•  Method–  CreateResearchChairswithapackageofpostdocs,PhDsandMScs–  PostdoctoralposiQonsandbursariesforPhD,MSc,BSc,BScEng,BTech,

NaQonalDiplomas–  Morethan850grantstodate(including150forstudentsfromotherAfrican

countries)–  AddiQonalgrantsnowforAfricanpartnercountries–  Veryhands-onbySKASAprojectoffice

ANNUALSKASAPOST-GRADUATEBURSARYCONFERENCE

2014

2014

2015

SomeofthewomenstudentsandsupervisorsattheHCDConference2015

ISTHEPIPELINEMODELWORKING?

•  By2015:

•  31%ofPhDstudents➔PostdoctoralFellowships•  36%ofMSc/MEngstudents➔PhDdegree•  60%ofhonoursandBEngstudents➔MSc/MEngdegree•  78%ofundergraduatestudents➔Honoursdegree

•  6researchchairs•  52PhDgraduaQons•  116MSc/MEnggraduaQons-94%graduaQonratevs.

2013naQonalaverageof20%•  80HonoursgraduaQons-91%graduaQonrate•  101undergraduategraduaQons-86%graduaQonratevs.

naQonalaverageof15%

SKASAYOUNGPROFESSIONALSANDPROFOLEGSMIRNOV

KAROOTRAININGPROGRAMMES

TrainingandABSAfundingschemeforlocalcontractors

Oneof50teachersfrom35countriesselectedtoazendtheHighSchoolTeachersProgrammeatCERNinGenevafrom2-23July2016.

4ofthefirst5studentsfromtheareatopassmathsandsciencewith

universityexempQon–nowallstudyingwithSKASAbursaries

CodingWorkshopCarnarvon

VERYLONGBASELINEINTERFEROMETRYGLOBALARRAY

AVN:GHANA

AfricanRenaissanceFund

GhanaianEssenUalObservatoryStaffInCapeTownTraining

AlsoprogressinNamibia,Botswana,Zambia,Madagascar,MauriQus

AVN(Proud)GhanaiantraineesontheRoyalSocietyprogrammeatKutunseduring

telescopetraining(September2015)

NEWTONFUND

LUSAKA(ZAMBIA)JUNE2015

AVN

TheKutunse(Ghana)dishhashadtobealmostcompletelyrebuilt–structure,drives,gears,bearings,receivers,repainQngetc.“Unprecedentedleveloftraining:engineers,scienQsts,welders,painters,….

AVNTEAMMEMBERSINCAPETOWN

ExponenQalGrowthofDataVolumestoRadioAstronomers

SKA:DRIVINGINNOVATION

Element SKA1scale SKA2scale

Dishes,feeds,receivers ~200 ~2500

Aperturearrays ~130,000 ~1,000,000

Signaltransport ~1Pb/s ~10Pb/s

Signalprocessing ~exa-MACs ~exa-MACs

HighperformancecompuQng ~100stera-flops ~exa-flops

Datastorage Exa-bytecapacity Exa-byte

Powerrequirements ~10MW ~50MW

Exa=1018:increaseincomputecapabilitybyfactor~1000

RawdatageneratedeverydayasmuchasthetotalintheworldwidewebKeyinnovaQon:SoTwareengineeringandalgorithmdevelopment

SerendipityMachine

•  WhatwouldJocelynBelldonow?•  LuisHo:pressuretomoveontonewobservaQons:takeonlythecreamoffthedatasets

•  LuisHo:enoughdatatokeepresearchgoingfor20yearswithoutnewtelescopes

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ExtremeDataChallenge

MeerKAT SKA1-Mid SKA2-Mid*

IntoCorrelator 2Tbps ~20Tbps upto~5Pbps

IntoScienceProcessor

700Gbps ~3Tbps upto~500Tbps

IntoArchive 20Gbps** ~300+Gbps upto~2Tbps

Computeload 500TFlops ~80+PFlops ~3+EFlops

* Data rates indicative only ** Sustained

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Africa+SKA=>TechnicalTrigger

TechnicalTrigger

NewAlgorithms

NewCompute&

DataPlaÖorms

NewSkills

RoachMicro-serversResearchcloud

HPC

Datadrivensystems

Machinelearning

AdvancedstaQsQcs

Modelfi~ng

Hardware/soTware

AutomaQon/pipelines

TelescopeManager

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MeerKATProcessingandArchive

KarooArrayProcessorBuilding(CSP+SDP+somearchive)

CHPCMeerKATarchive

(10-12racks&someaccesstoCPUs)

IDIATier2storage&scienceanalysissupport

OtherTier2

Centres

2Tbps(SKASA)

20Gbps(SANReN)

10Gbps

... 64dishes

OtherTier2

Centres

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SKA1EraRegionalCentres

KarooArrayProcessorBuilding(SKACSP-SKAOcontrolled)

20Tbps(SKAO)

... 197dishes

SKAScienceDataProcessorandArchive(SKAOcontrolled)

~120racks(CapeTown)

2-10Tbps(TBD)

SASKARegionalCentre(SAcontrolled)

(computeandarchive)~30racks100Gbps

(TBD)

LocalTier2’s(SAcontrolled)e.g.IDIA,SolPlaatje,etc.

InternaQonalSKARegionalCentres

(foreigncontrolled)e.g.NL,China,Italy,

etc.

InnovaQons-WorldRelevance

•  AutomaQon,dataanalysisandmachinelearningtechniquesandskillsarewidelyapplicable

•  Novelhardware/soTwareco-designforpowerefficientandcosteffecQvecompuQng

•  Dataflowarchitecturesapplicableinmanydomains

•  Systemsfordealingwithmassivescalecomputeanddata

•  ControlandmonitoringsystemshaveparallelsinInternetofThings

SKAAfricaandIBMResearch

AfricanDataIntensiveResearchCloud

•  AnnouncedasnewflagshipprogrammebyMinisterandbyEuropeanCommissioninOctober

•  Inter-UniversityInsQtuteforData-IntensiveAstronomy(IDIA)establishedin2014

•  PrototypingAfricanResearchCloud•  Proofofconceptprojects-SKA;earthobservaQon;health/genomics/bio-informaQcs

•  ExtendIDIAandADIRCto2-3neighbouringcountries2017-18subjecttofunding

•  ExtendtootherAfricancountries2018-2023subjecttofunding

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AfricanDataIntensiveResearchCloud

(basedonfederatedOpenStacksoTware)

IDIA(midscaleinstance)

CentreforHigh-PerformanceCompuQng

(largescaleinstance)

SKAAfricanPartner1

ResearchNetworksSKAAfricanPartner2

SKAAfricanPartner3

SAOther(midscaleinstance)

UKCloudNode

NLCloudNode

N.CapeSolPlaatje(smallscaleinstance)

BRICSICTCOMMITTEE

•  Co-chairsXue-FengYuanandBernieFanaroff•  Callissuedfor2016:wideSKAtopicsandmulQ-agentsocio-economicmodeling

•  MeeQngMarch2017inGuangzhoutodevelopproposalfor2017call.

•  NotworthproceedingunlesscallsareGrandChallengesandarebackedwithsignificantfunds.