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AST Committee of Visitors February 2011

AST Committee of Visitors February 2011. National Solar Observatory Overview Craig Foltz Program Officer NSO. 1. National Solar Observatory. Kitt Peak National Observatory. McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope. SOLIS. 2. National Solar Observatory. Kitt Peak National Observatory

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AST Committee of Visitors February 2011

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  1. AST Committee of VisitorsFebruary 2011 National Solar Observatory Overview Craig Foltz Program Officer NSO 1

  2. National Solar Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope SOLIS 2

  3. National Solar Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory • SOLIS Vector Spectromagnetograph • Data are routinely available at ftp://solis.nso.edu/synoptic/level3/vsm/x3d • This snapshot exhibits the magnetic field orientation of active region AR 10921 using VSM data observed on 3 November 2006 3

  4. National Solar Observatory Sacramento Peak ObservatorySunspot, NM; elevation 9255 ft; adjacent to Apache Point Observatory [SDSS} Dunn Solar Telescope Evans Solar Facility 4

  5. National Solar Observatory Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG++) 6 facilities around the world Data are routinely available at http://gong.nso.edu/ Big Bear Solar Observatory, CA 5

  6. Advanced Technology Solar Telescope 6

  7. National Optical Astronomy ObservatoryNational Solar Observatory • NOAO/NSO cooperative agreement • Competed in 2001 • AURA retained as the management organization Sep 1, 2002 – Sep 30, 2007 • Management Review Aug 2006 • Based on the review • AST recommended no recompetion; NSF & NSB concurred • CA extended to Mar 31, 2009 • Decision made to split the joint CA into two, one for each observatory • Allows for separate management in the future. • Gives NSO more visibility in the Federal budget. 7

  8. National Solar Observatory • Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy • AURA, Inc: not for profit corp. in DC; very small headquarters staff • AURA President Wm Smith reports to AURA Board of Directors • NOAO and NSO Directors report independently to AURA President • AURA receives advice from a community-based Solar Observatory Council – meets twice annually • Director receive advice from community-based User Committees – meet annually • AURA has solicited proposals for a new institutional home for NSO. 8

  9. National Solar Observatory • NSF Management – key elements • 2005-6 PM Craig Foltz • 2006-9 PM Tom Barnes • 2009-10 PM Jeff Pier • 2010-present PM Craig Foltz • Annual Program Plan and Annual Report bundled. • Annual Long Range Plan (5 year look ahead) • Quarterly Reports: programmatic and financial • PO attendance at Council meetings, Users committees • Current PO has overseen ATST since 2003 • NSF discussing the programmatic home for solar research within the agency. 9

  10. National Solar Observatory • NSF Budget Management • Funding flows through Cooperative Support Agreements (CSAs) • Individual SPOs keep the budgets and management distinct • Operations and Maintenance • ATST Construction - ARRA • ATST Construction - MREFC • ARRA and MREFC funds cannot be mixed. • NSO funding actions are typically administered on a quarterly basis. • Other funding actions (interagency transfers; e.g., AFOSR -> NSO) are asynchronous. 10

  11. National Solar Observatory • Budgets FY 2008/2009/2010 • NSO: • $7.85M; $7.83M; $9.10M (ATST D&D not included; ~$2M per year) • $1.40M from ARRA for infrastructure improvements in FY09 • Interagency funds add typically $1.5M / yr. • ATST Construction • $7M of MREFC in FY 2009; $13M in FY 2010 • $146M of ARRA in FY 2010 11

  12. National Solar Observatory • Some metrics for NSO facilities FY 2008/2009/2010 • 82/74/68 observing programs • 97/80/61 external observers • 131/108/93 observers including NSO and NOAO Staff • 24/16/19 PhD thesis observers • GONG and SOLIS archive usage: • Products Distributed (Gbytes) 2015/2729/4201 • Terabytes served (all archives) 2.9/3.7/5.3 • 150/134/163 publications based on NSO facilities or archives 12

  13. National Solar Observatory • NSO Education and Public Outreach • REU: 6/6/7 – Tucson and SPO • RET: 0/2/0 • Summer Graduate Assistantships: 7/6/6 • Postdoctoral Fellows: 6/6/6 • Fisk/Vanderbilt Bridge Program Partner through PAARE program • Project ASTRO partner • Southwest Consortium of Observatories for Public Education partner • Akamai Workforce Initiative partner • SPO Visitors’ Center • 13,867/15,218/14,191 visitors • Press releases http://www.nso.edu/press/ • Image site http://www.noao.edu/current_images/ 13

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