[AstroNet] News from mthe SKA Forum

[Case Rijsdijk]

This may be of interest. Hold thumbs for 2012

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Case

http://www.skatelescope.org/news/square-kilometre-array-telescope-unveils-site-selection-process/

SQUARE KILOMETRE ARRAY TELESCOPE
UNVEILS SITE SELECTION PROCESS

The Founding Board of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope
project today reported at the SKA Forum 2011 in Banff, Canada, that
significant progress was made when the process and timeline for
selection of the host site for the telescope were unveiled. The SKA is
a €1.5 billion global science project to build the world’s largest and
most sensitive radio telescope. Sites in South Africa and Australia
have been short-listed to host the central core of the SKA telescope;
a final decision on the location is expected to be made in early 2012
by the SKA Board of Directors.

The technical assessment and evaluation phase of the site selection
process is being overseen by the SKA Siting Group (SSG), which reports
to the SKA Founding Board. The first step in this phase is information
gathering where the candidate sites will make submissions covering:
* Science and technical factors.
* Other factors, including legal, customs and security.
* Plans and costs of implementing infrastructure, including power
supply and distribution.

The SKA Site Advisory Committee (SSAC) of appointed independent
experts will make a recommendation on the preferred site based on
reports from expert panels and consultants together with the
submissions from the candidate sites. The SKA Board of Directors is
expected to make the final site decision in early 2012.

Professor Richard Schilizzi, Director of the SKA, said: “Selection of
the host site for the SKA will be made in terms of characteristics for
the best science as well as the capability and cost of supporting a
very large infrastructure, taking the political and working
environment into account.”

Selection factors that will be considered in the decision making
process will include levels of radio frequency interference, the long
term sustainability of a radio quiet zone, the physical
characteristics of the site, data network connectivity across the vast
distances covered by the telescope as well as operating and
infrastructure costs.

The site selection timeline and process:

March-September 2011

The candidate sites submit information to the SKA head office (SPDO).

July-November 2011

The submitted information is analyzed by independent consultants,
expert panels and the SPDO.

November-December 2011

The SKA Site Advisory Committee (SSAC), an external body of
independent experts, evaluates the findings of the analysis and
recommends a preferred site.

January-February 2012

The SKA Board of Directors receives the final report and recommendation.

February 2012

The SKA Board of Directors makes the site decision.

Working towards the establishment of a legal entity, progress is also
being made in SKA project governance. Professor John Womersley, chair
of the SKA Founding Board, said: “Major developments are underway in
all aspects of the project -- in particular we are working to
establish a robust legal structure for the SKA and we expect to
welcome further organizations to the international SKA partnership in
the near future.”

In April 2011 nine national governmental and research organizations
signed a Letter of Intent in Rome. The organizations from Australia,
China, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South
Africa, and the U.K. declared their common ambition to see the SKA
built, and agreed to work together to secure funding for the next
phase of the SKA project.

The SKA Forum brings together scientists, industrialists, policy
makers and representatives of government departments and funding
agencies who join forces to advance the multi-faceted implementation
plan for the SKA.