Square Kilometre Array Program

Since the last report there have been a number of interesting events in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) program. First, we welcome Aaron Chippendale and George Warr in the roles of Support Engineer and Joint CSIRO/USyd Postdoc, respectively. Aaron, a former ATNF vacation scholar, will be involved in several projects but one of his first contributions will be to assist with the analysis and presentation of initial Western Australia site test data. George will be associated with a new integrated RF systems project and will also have a major role in student and professional outreach activities.

On the experimental front, the interference mitigation (IM) project continues to produce important new results. Using data from a recent ATCA observing session, Mike Kesteven and collaborators have been able to produce some excellent "before IM" and "after IM" images (see http://www.atnf.csiro.au/~mkesteve/INTMIT). The post-correlation IM approach used in the experiment is a niche for our group and we are working to explore the capabilities and limits of the technique. As an important bonus, IM may soon be offered routinely to ATCA and other telescope users.

In the antennas area, there has been significant progress in developing electromagnetic design and analysis tools for the Luneburg Lens; interesting current work is exploring the value of genetic algorithms in Lens optimisation. In a related development, the ATNF has recently signed a collaborative agreement with the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory in Russia. The aim is to use a 0.9 m diameter Russian Lens to explore aspects of refracting antenna use in radio astronomy. While we are currently waiting on commercial contracts to be finalised, the demonstration lens may arrive in Australia in the first half of this year.

Other projects are also producing good results. Developments in the SKA site work lead us to expect that a first-round RFI survey in Western Australia will commence around the end of March. Progress has also been made in extending general investigations to possible sites in other parts of Australia. In the signal processing area, John Bunton has produced an interesting discussion document (framed as an ALMA memo) outlining the merits of FX correlators for contemporary and future arrays (see http://www.atnf.csiro.au/SKA/techdocs/ALMA_FX_Correlator.pdf ) Work is also continuing on understanding the mechanisms needed to establish a radio-quiet reserve, both in the SKA context and as a more general global resource. SKA outreach has been a priority in recent months and, in response to more industry contact, we are beginning to field questions from a number of companies interested in collaborating in SKA R&D. A new booklet, aimed at the Australian technology community, is proving invaluable in summarising the engineering challenges in building the SKA.

The inaugural meeting of the Australian SKA Consortium Committee was held on Feb 9 and, on the day before the formal meeting, a one-day open symposium was held in Sydney. Details of the symposium, together with information about the aims of the Consortium, can be found at http://www.atnf.csiro.au/SKA/Aust_SKA_Symp_Home.html

Peter Hall
(Peter.Hall@atnf.csiro.au)