Welcome K. Y. Lo Director, NRAO

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WelcomeK. Y. LoDirector, NRAO
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What is ALMA?

• The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is an
  international astronomy facility. ALMA is an
  equal partnership between Europe and North
  America, in cooperation with the Republic of
  Chile, and is funded in North America by the U.S.
  National Science Foundation (NSF) in cooperation
  with the National Research Council of Canada
  (NRC), and in Europe by the European Southern
  Observatory (ESO) and Spain. ALMA construction
  and operations are led on behalf of North America
  by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
  (NRAO), which is managed by Associated
  Universities, Inc. (AUI), and on behalf of Europe
  by ESO.

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Bilateral Project
ALMA Construction proceeds under a Bilateral
Agreement between ESO and NSF signed February
2003. The management structure for the Project
is defined in the ALMA Project Plan. Direction
of the Project flows from the Joint ALMA Office
(JAO) under the leadership of the Project
Director, Massimo Tarenghi. New partners may
join under separate agreement with the bilateral
partners.
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ALMA Scope
Antennae 64 12 m collecting area gt 7000
m2 Configurations 150 m 14 km resolution
(300 GHz) 1.4 0.015" Frequency 31 950
GHz wavelength 10 0.3 mm Receiver
sensitivity close to quantum limit Correlator
16 GHz / 4096 chan. Site excellent Result
A leap of over two orders of magnitude in both
spatial resolution and sensitivity
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ALMA Schedule

• 1998 2002 Design and Development
• 2003 Bilateral Agreement between NSF and ESO
  signed
• 2003 Completion of Proto-type Antennas
• 2003 Ground Breaking
• 2004 Japan joins
• 2005 First production antenna in Chile
• 2007 Early science operation
• 2011 End construction
• 2012 Full science operations

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N.B. System Engineering IPT has joined the JAO
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ALMA Astronomer Outreach

• Continuing series of events to inform and update
  the NA community on the progress or ALMA
  construction, the move to operations and the
  scientific use of ALMA
• Town Hall at the AAS January Meeting
• This ALMA Science Workshop, to be followed by
  others
• We shall prepare the community for ALMA science
• What functions should the North American ALMA
  Science Center provide?
• What user support activities should be available?

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ANASAC Mandates
Provide a conduit between the NRAO and the NA
scientific community for dissemination of
information pertaining to the status and progress
of the ALMA construction project and operations.
Advise the Director of the NRAO on issues
relating to scientific use of ALMA, including
requirements for ALMA user support, preparatory
programs with existing facilities and/or
providing access to new facilities in Chile,
science with ALMA during the construction and
commissioning stage, definition of and
preparation for the N. A. ALMA Science Center
that will be located in Charlottesville, and on
science and priorities for ALMA Chilean
operations and continual ALMA upgrades.
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ANASAC Membership
Andrew Blain Caltech  Chris
Carilli NRAO  Dick Crutcher
U. Illinois  David Hollenbach
NASA-Ames  Jason Glenn U.
Colorado  Dan Jaffe U.
Texas  Luis Rodriguez UNAM
Morelia  Dave Sanders U.
Hawaii  Xiaohui Fan U.
Arizona Christine Wilson McMaster
University Lee Mundy U.
Maryland Jean Turner U. C. Los
Angeles Min S. Yun (Chair) U.
Massachusetts Phil Myers
Center for Astrophysics Doug Johnstone 
Herzberg Institute Mark Gurwell
Center for Astrophysics Joan Najita
NOAOASAC Members (red) are drawn from this
group, which reports to the NRAO Director. Mundy
is current ASAC Chair.