Notes

Outline

Site Issues for FASR

Outline of Talk Site Selection Criteria Possible Sites Site Evaluation Details of OVRO Site Conclusions

Site Selection Criteria Land availability (parcel size, usage restrictions) and suitability (latitude, topography, natural or man-made obstacles); Existing infrastructure (buildings, roads, power and data links); Weather and ionospheric conditions (dry, benign environment, stable ionosphere); Terrestrial RFI (low population density, far from population centers); and Accessibility (travel time from major airports, heavy equipment access).

Outline of Talk Site Selection Criteria Possible Sites Site Evaluation Details of OVRO Site Conclusions

Possible Sites Owens Valley Radio Observatory Leased by Caltech from Los Angeles DWP (Department of Water and Power) Main user (mm-array) will be vacating the site as part of Carma project Current site of OVSA (easy prototyping) Has available large dishes Benign environment with low population density

Possible Sites II Green Bank Has available large dishes Site of existing radio facilities Low population density, radio protected site Too small ?

Possible Sites III New Mexico Sites Southwest Consortium for LOFAR Several sites belonging to U NM, NM Tech, Los Alamos.  Includes VLA site. Synergy with LOFAR, both scientifically and technically We plan to participate in LOFAR RFI surveys soon to be underway Possible additional sites in west Texas Benign environment, with low population density

Outline of Talk Site Selection Criteria Possible Sites Site Evaluation Details of OVRO Site Conclusions

Site Evaluation Land availability is a pre-requisite.  Each potential site will be evaluated for 3 km array size and optimum configuration.  Room for later growth is a plus. Existing infrastructure or potential for cost-sharing to build new infrastructure will be compared for each site. Weather and environmental conditions will be measured and quantified. RFI studies are needed at each site, over the entire frequency range and in a uniform manner.  Ionosphere?

Outline of Talk Site Selection Criteria Possible Sites Site Evaluation Details of OVRO Site Conclusions

Details of OVRO Site The OVRO site is the one we are most familiar with, and some evaluation is underway. Caltech Radioastronomy supports our use of the site. DWP has been contacted, and there is no general problem with acquiring the additional land that would be needed. Initial checks for how the array might fit on the site have been made.

Details of OVRO Site

Artists’ Conception of FASR at the OVRO Site

Outline of Talk Site Selection Criteria Possible Sites Site Evaluation Details of OVRO Site Conclusions

Conclusions FASR has several sites under consideration. Other sites may also be considered, so suggestions are welcome! RFI surveys are the next major undertaking. We will coordinate with LOFAR (and EVLA) RFI efforts, extend them to the higher frequencies required by FASR, and maintain compatibility with these other studies in order to permit direct comparison of sites. Detailed site evaluations will require a good understanding of the array configuration.

Site Survey Task Group Currently consists of Dale Gary and Christoph Keller (National Solar Observatory). We request help from others who would like to get involved. We hope that the LOFAR connection will be made more formal.