Giorgio Filippi

EVALSO: a high-bandwidth communication infrastructure to efficiently connect the ESO Paranal and the Cerro Armazones Observatories to Europe

This paper describes the technical choices and the solutions adopted to create high bandwidth (>1Gbps) communication links to both the ESO Paranal and the Cerro Armazones Observatories located in the Atacama Desert, in the Northern region of Chile. The complete system is planned to be in place by mid-2010. This infrastructure is part of the EVALSO[1] (Enabling Virtual Access to Latin-America Southern Observatories) project that is done by a consortium of 9 members and co-founded by the EC (European Commission) within the frame of the FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES-2007-1.2-02. More on the project is available at www.evalso.eu.

EVALSO, a high-bandwidth communication infrastructure to efficiently connect the ESO Paranal and the Cerro Armazones Observatories to Europe: demonstration activities and start of operations

EVALSO (Enabling Virtual Access to Latin-American Southern Observatories) is an international consortium of nine astronomical organizations, and research network operators, part-funded under the European Commission FP7, to create and exploit high-speed bandwidth connections to the observatories of Cerro Paranal and Cerro Armazones in Chile. The communication infrastructure was delivered in November 2010 and this paper reports on the initial results of the project and the demonstrations of its capabilities, including the possibilities that the new infrastructure opens up in the geographically distributed operation of the observatories.

Exploring remote operation for ALMA Observatory

The Atacama Large Millimeter /submillimeter Array (ALMA) will be a unique research instrument composed of at least 66 reconfigurable high-precision antennas, located at the Chajnantor plain in the Chilean Andes at an elevation of 5000 m. The observatory has another office located in Santiago of Chile, 1600 km from the Chajnantor plain. In the Atacama desert, the wonderful observing conditions imply precarious living conditions and extremely high operation costs: i.e: flight tickets, hospitality, infrastructure, water, electricity, etc. It is clear that a purely remote operational model is impossible, but we believe that a mixture of remote and local operation scheme would be beneficial to the observatory, not only in reducing the cost but also in increasing the observatory overall efficiency. This paper describes the challenges and experience gained in such experimental proof of the concept. The experiment was performed over the existing 100 Mbps bandwidth, which connects both sites through a third party telecommunication infrastructure. During the experiment, all of the existent capacities of the observing software were validated successfully, although room for improvement was clearly detected. Network virtualization, MPLS configuration, L2TPv3 tunneling, NFS adjustment, operational workstations design are part of the experiment.

A web-based dashboard for the high-level monitoring of ALMA

The ALMA radio-telescope’s operations depend on the availability of high-level, easy-to-understand status information about all of its components. The ALMA Dashboard aims at providing an all-in-one-place near-real-time overview of the observatory’s key elements and figures to both line and senior management. The Dashboard covers a wide range of elements beyond antennas, such as pads, correlator and central local oscillator. Data can be displayed in multiple ways, including: a table view, a compact view fitting on a single screen, a timeline showing detailed information over time, a logbook, a geographical map.

VLT software engineering and management

This paper gives details about our experience with the development and installation of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) control software, considering standardization, iterative development, release concept, testing, configuration control, which were all elements of our approach.

Communication to remote observatories is a science enabler

The environmental conditions that allow optimal astronomical observations are often coupled with sites that are far away from human settlements and of difficult access, implying limited infrastructure availability that translates in excessive costs and limited bandwidth. With the availability and more affordability of optical based technologies, the astronomical scientific community, alone or joining forces with other actors, has managed in the last decade to boost the communication capability available to several of the astronomical installations in the northern Chilean region, the Atacama Desert, and to successfully increase the efficiency and effectivity of the existing Observatories and setting the basis for the coming ones. The paper, after providing a short summary of the projects developed to enable better communications and the future initiatives currently foreseen, focuses on the following show‐cases, from users that differ in size and aims, in served communities and in geographical locations: a) the observation of the First Light from Gravitational Wave Source (ESO, ALMA, et Al.); b) the use of virtual presence to bring the observer where things happen (ESO/PARANAL); c) remote operations for robotic installation (OCA); d) Contributing to develop the local environment (REUNA); e) provide the “muscle” for the current and future data challenge (ALMA). These examples, by illustrating how communication transformed the way research and education are done, demonstrate that improved communication is paramount in achieving better and, in some case, new astonishing results, both in terms of science and as well as enriching the communities, both scientific and in general.

A new mix of power for the ESO installations in Chile: greener, more reliable, cheaper

The highest sky quality demands for astronomical research impose to locate observatories often in areas not easily reached by the existing power infrastructures. At the same time, availability and cost of power is a primary factor for sustainable operations. Power may also be a potential source for CO2 pollution. As part of its green initiatives, ESO is in the process of replacing the power sources for its own, La Silla and Paranal-Armazones, and shared, ALMA, installations in Chile in order to provide them with more reliable, affordable, and smaller CO2 footprint power solutions. The connectivity to the Chilean interconnected power systems (grid) which is to extensively use Non-Conventional Renewable Energy (NCRE) as well as the use of less polluting fuels wherever self-generation cannot be avoided are key building blocks for the solutions selected for every site. In addition, considerations such as the environmental impact and - if required - the partnership with other entities have also to be taken into account. After years of preparatory work to which the Chilean Authorities provided great help and support, ESO has now launched an articulated program to upgrade the existing agreements/facilities in i) the La Silla Observatory, from free to regulated grid client status due to an agreement with a Solar Farm private initiative, in ii) the Paranal-Armazones Observatory, from local generation using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to connection to the grid which is to extensively use NCRE, and last but not least, in iii) the ALMA Observatory where ESO participates together with North American and East Asian partners, from replacing the LPG as fuel for the turbine local generation system with the use of less polluting natural gas (NG) supplied by a pipe connection to eliminate the pollution caused by the LPG trucks (currently 1 LPG truck from the VIII region, Bio Bio, to the II region, ALMA and back every day, for a total of 3000km). The technologies used and the status of completion of the different projects, as well as the expected benefits are discussed in this paper.

The ALMA CONOPS project: the impact of funding decisions on observatory performance

In time when every penny counts, many organizations are facing the question of how much scientific impact a budget cut can have or, putting it in more general terms, which is the science impact of alternative (less costly) operational modes. In reply to such question posted by the governing bodies, the ALMA project had to develop a methodology (ALMA Concepts for Operations, CONOPS) that attempts to measure the impact that alternative operational scenarios may have on the overall scientific production of the Observatory. Although the analysis and the results are ALMA specific, the developed approach is rather general and provides a methodology for a cost-performance analysis of alternatives before any radical alterations to the operations model are adopted. This paper describes the key aspects of the methodology: a) the definition of the Figures of Merit (FoMs) for the assessment of quantitative science performance impacts as well as qualitative impacts, and presents a methodology using these FoMs to evaluate the cost and impact of the different operational scenarios; b) the definition of a REFERENCE operational baseline; c) the identification of Alternative Scenarios each replacing one or more concepts in the REFERENCE by a different concept that has a lower cost and some level of scientific and/or operational impact; d) the use of a Cost-Performance plane to graphically combine the effects that the alternative scenarios can have in terms of cost reduction and affected performance. Although is a firstorder assessment, we believe this approach is useful for comparing different operational models and to understand the cost performance impact of these choices. This can be used to take decision to meet budget cuts as well as in evaluating possible new emergent opportunities.

ALMA communication backbone in Chile goes optical

High-bandwidth communication has become a key factor for scientific installations as Observatories. This paper describes the technical, organizational, and operational goals and the level of completion of the ALMA Optical Link Project. The project focus is the creation and operation of an effective and sustainable communication infrastructure to connect the ALMA Observatory, located in the Atacama Desert, in the Northern region of Chile, with the point of presence in ANTOFAGASTA, about 400km away, of the EVALSO infrastructure, and from there to the Central Office in the Chilean capital, Santiago. This new infrastructure that will be operated in behalf of ALMA by REUNA, the Chilean National Research and Education Network, will use state of the art technologies, like dark fiber from newly built cables and DWDM transmission, allowing extending the reach of high capacity communication to the remote region where the Observatory is located. When completed, the end-to-end Gigabit-per-second (Gbps) capable link will provide ALMA with a modern, effective, robust, communication infrastructure capable to cope with present and future demands, like those coming from fast growing data transfer to rapid response mode, from remote monitoring and engineering to virtual presence.

ALMA communications requirements and design

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is a joint project involving astronomical organizations in Europe and North America. ALMA will consist of at least 64 12-meter antennas operating from millimeter to sub-millimeter wavelengths. ALMA will be located at an altitude of about 5000m in the Chilean Atacama desert. The main challenge for the development of the ALMA software, which will support the whole end-to-end operation, it is the fact that the computing group is extremely distributed. Groups at different institutes have started the design of all subsystems based on the ALMA Common Software framework (ACS) that provides the necessary standardization. The operation of ALMA by a community of astronomers distributed over various continents will need an adequate network infrastructure. The operation centers in Chile are split between an ALMA high altitude site, a lower altitude control centre, and a support centre in Santiago. These centers will be complemented by ALMA Regional Centers (ARCs) in Europe, North America, and Japan. All this will require computing and communications equipment at more than 5000m in a radio-quiet area. This equipment must be connected to high bandwidth and reliable links providing access to the ARCs. The design of a global computing and communication infrastructure is on-going and aims at providing an integrated system addressing both the operational computing needs and normal IT support. The particular requirements and solutions foreseen for ALMA in terms of computing and communication systems will be explained.