Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Testing the Greenland ice cap as an astronomical site  (ASTROPOLE)

Outline
The central-northern Greenland ice cap (Summit) is, for a number of well-established reasons, expected to be an outstanding site for astronomical observations, especially in the infrared and microwave part of the spectrum, because the low precipitable water vapour content of the atmosphere offers a transparency otherwise only matched in space. But it is also expected that this site often offer exceptional properties with respect to thermal turbulence in the atmosphere, similar to the conditions at Dome-C in Antarctica, implying outstanding sharpness (“seeing”) of astronomical images in general. In addition, long uninterrupted data series can be acquired during the polar winter.It is proposed to install astronomical site test equipment at Summit on the Greenland ice cap, with a subset of the equipment being duplicated for installation at the Dome-C Concordia station. This equipment will provide:-Turbulence tomography and seeing statistics. -Precipitable water vapour statistics. -Transparency and photometric stability measurements (also Dome-C). -Sky brightness data (also Dome-C). -Monitoring of the impact of auroral activity (also Dome-C). The equipment will be installed during the polar summer and operate autonomously through the winter. Continuous telemetry with a low bandwidth will allow monitoring the system and get the secondary data products downloaded. Installing the site testing equipment will be simplified at a station which is manned over winter and will increase the probability of success, but it is not a requirement.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
In the context of astronomical observations, the observing conditions can be considered a natural resource. The proposed project will provide a data set, which will allow a detailed assessment of the qualities of the Greenland ice cap as a site for conducting astronomical observations, and complement existing data sets for Dome-C. This will pave the way for maturing this natural resource. The results from the project will allow detailed planning of major future investments on the ice caps, allowing the astronomical community to strike the right balance between earth- and space-based investments in infrastructure.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The project consortium has participants from Denmark (The Niels Bohr Institute, U. Copenhagen, Danish Meteorological Institute), Germany (Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam), Poland (Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies, Warsaw) and Italy (INAF).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Site 1: Greenland ice cap summit or a location to the north of this, close to the ice cap ridge. Optionally weather stations at several locations on the central ice cap.Site 2: Dome-C Concordia station.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: mm/07-mm/08            
Antarctic: mm/07-mm/08            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Fixed wing transport aircraft; Existing field stations; Multi-instrumented platforms. These resources can be usefully shared with other projects (e.g. as an associated programme). (Specifically we need transportation of 500kg + 250kg of equipment (Summit + Dome-C), Electrical power, 300W + 200W (Summit + Dome-C), and telemetry to both sites.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
NO

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

Further details: contact has been established with the glaciology group at the NBI, Copenhagen University, as well as with the Danish Meteorological Institute - which both plan IPY activities – in order to share logistics and infrastructure

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
NO - The Danish National Committee has decided not to endorse any Danish projects. However, the present project conforms to the second of the three recommended overarching national themes, the one called “Greenland’s Ice Sheet – Scientific Frontiers”. A general endorsement letter from the Danish National Committee is attached this EoI.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
YES

The project is new and independent and does not build on or continue any existing project. It complements on-going activities at Dome-C.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be steered by a project board with members from all participating countries. The chairman of the project board acts as the PI. The project board will appoint a project manager responsible for implementation of the project. The project board will also appoint a science team, with members from all involved institutes, which will be responsible for defining the instrument packages for the two sites.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Masters and PhD students will be involved in the project right from the start.A web site for the project will be established.It is considered to establish a web-cam as part of the on-site equipment and use this as a simple sky-camera for “hands-on” educational astronomical projects.It is also considered to prepare and disseminate educational material about the project.Finally contacts with established out-reach institutions like Planetarium’s will be sought.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The general IPY Data Management policy will be applied in this project.All data will be compliant with the Virtual Observatory (an advanced world-wide collaborative data management effort of the astronomical community), to allow for easy access for all interested parties. Data reduction will be done on-site during the execution of the project, with the complete raw data set being retrieved after the project is completed and all data and meta-data will be made available through the Virtual Observatory.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Application to national agencies under the IPY frame work (hardware, travel, logistics) and partial contributions from participating institutes (manpower).

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Associate Professor Per Kjærgaard Rasmussen
Astronomical Observatory, NBI, University of Copenhagen
Juliane Maries Vej 30
2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark

Tel: +45 35 32 59 87
Mobile: no
Fax: +45 35 32 59 99
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation