2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 1

EXPReS Annual Review April 17 EXPReS Project Team JIVE, Coordinating Institution

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 3 Agenda 09:00-09:30Introductions / Overview 10 minsIntroductions, Huib Jan van Langevelde, Coordinator 20 minsEXPReS Overview, Ari Mujunen, Chairman 09:30-11:00EXPReS Summary for Past 12 Months 11:00-11:15Break 11:15-11:45External User: Benefits and capabilities of e-VLBI 11:45-12:30Comments from E.C. on morning 12:30-13:15Lunch 13:15-14:00Financial Overview for Past 12 Months 14:00-15:15Overview of project next 18 Months 15:15-16:00Open Discussion 16:00-16:20Reviewer Internal Meeting 16:20-16:30First Feedback to the team 16:30Conclusion / End of First Year Review

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 4 What is EXPReS? EXPReS = Express Production Real-time e-VLBI Service Three year project, started March 2006, funded by the European Commission (DG-INFSO), Sixth Framework Programme, Contract # Objective: to create a distributed, large-scale astronomical instrument of continental and inter-continental dimensions. Means: high-speed communication networks operating in real- time and connecting some of the largest and most sensitive radio telescopes on the planet. Overview

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 5 EXPReS’ Goal The overall objective of EXPReS is to create a production- level, real-time, “electronic” VLBI (e-VLBI) service, in which the radio telescopes are reliably connected to the central supercomputer at JIVE in the Netherlands, via a high-speed optical-fibre communication network... - or - Make e-VLBI routine, reliable and realistic for astronomers. Overview

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 6 Why e-VLBI? To get more and potentially better scientific results much faster than with traditional VLBI. e-VLBI: Dramatically shortens the delay between observations and the resulting images. From months to days or hours. Can offer more frequent and reliable observations with potentially more bandwidth * observation time. Ensures data quality already during observations, relaxes storage requirements for raw noise data. Enables a new class of fast response and reactive observations. Overview

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 7 Activities #Description Leader PC Project Coordinator Huib Jan van Langevelde, JIVE NA1 Management of I3 T. Charles Yun, JIVE NA2 EVN-NREN Forum John Chevers, DANTE NA3 eVLBI Science Forum John Conway, Chalmers NA4 Public outreach Kristine Yun, JIVE SA1 Production Services Arpad Szomoru, JIVE SA2 Network provisioning Francisco Colomer, CNIG-IGN JRA1 FABRIC Huib Jan van Langevelde, JIVE Introduction

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 8 Management Organogram Introduction

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 9 EXPReS Partners Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (coordinator) AARNET Pty Ltd., Australia ASTRON, the Netherlands Centro Nacional de Informacion Geografica, Spain Chalmers Tekniska Hoegskola Aktiebolag, Sweden Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia Cornell University, USA Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe Ltd. (DANTE), UK Instituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy Instytut Chemii Bioorganicznej PAN, Poland Max Planck Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften e.V., Germany National Research Foundation, South Africa Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China SURFNet b.v., The Netherlands Teknillinen Korkeakoulu, Finland The University of Manchester, UK Universidad de Concepcion, Chile Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, Poland Ventspils Augstskola, Latvia Overview

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 10 Telescopes participating in EXPReS Overview

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 11 e-VLBI, VLBI, Radio Astronomy A radio telescope looks at an object in the sky and collects data to create an “image” of the source. Multiple telescopes can view the same object. The distance between the telescopes is the baseline. The baseline can be compared to building a single telescope with the diameter comparable to this distance. Correlation is the process by which data from multiple telescopes is collected and combined to create a more accurate image. The correlator is a super computer, extracting interferometry information from the raw radio noise data. The level of detail in images increases with the data collection rate. Higher data rates are better; higher resolution is better. Overview

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 12 A technique that uses a number of telescopes to simulate a much larger one. A larger dish, real or simulated, improves image clarity and brightness. This requires coordination between the telescopes and a supercomputer. Consider the examples displaying aperture size, aperture distribution and image quality. Aperture Synthesis Imaging Introduction

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 13 Correlation Introduction

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 14 Data Flow Overview Today Past Today Soon Today Results

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 15 Benefits of e-VLBI Improved Science Speed of analysis From months to days or hours Operational reliability Test data quality during observation Targets of Opportunity (ToO) and transients Responsiveness is only available with the immediate analysis provided by e-VLBI Intellectual collaboration across disciplines Shared investment in infrastructure vs. new dishes International cooperation Overview

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 16 EVN Proposals Received Introduction

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: slides that summarize the “green”

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 18 Operational e-VLBI network Results: Monthly e-VLBI sessions Publication of peer reviewed, scientific papers JIVE connectivity in place (7 x 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps and additional connectivity plans in place with SURFnet) Improvements in data processing time Providing initial analysis before observation is complete Fulfilling Objectives

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 19 Additional European telescopes Fulfilling Objectives Previously connected: Arecibo, Jodrell Bank, Westerbork, Onsala, Torun, Cambridge Newly Connected: Medicina, Metsahovi Soon to be connected: Yebes, Effelsberg, Shanghai

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 20 Connect telescopes outside Europe Fulfilling Objectives Arecibo Connectivity from the island to mainland remains a hurdle. Some progress via new capacity. Australia Local connections and hardware are in place. China Lightpath is in place, currently testing the connection. Chile The international link supported the SMART-1 observation, but additional optimizations necessary.

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 21 Rapid Response Science Currently advertising and routinely performing 256 Mbps from 6 stations. Possible to obtain 512 Mbps from these stations, but not yet operationally advertised. Addressing the 1024 Mbps vs. 1 Gbps issue (the “octave” problem) with 10 Gbps lightpaths and experimenting how to achieve 896 Mbps. Current offer of 2 day rapid turnaround observations, existing 24 hour turnaround. Current discussion on the ToO acceptance by the EVN. Fulfilling Objectives

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 22 Network and compute technologies Getting real VLBI fringes with experimental technologies: ”Month 7” Demo Onsala, Jodrell, Metsähovi, JIVE Grid correlator software JIVE and PSNC Next-generation hardware architectures and networking protocols have been identified and design is progressing. Fulfilling Objectives

2007 April 17EXPReS Annual ReviewSlide #: 23 Agenda 09:00-09:30Introductions / Overview 09:30-11:00EXPReS Summary for Past 12 Months 20NA1/NA2/NA3/NA4- Network Activities and Management 20SA1- Production e-VLBI Service 20SA2- Network Provision for a Global e-VLBI Array 20JRA1- Future Arrays of Broadband Radio Telescop on Internet Computing 11:00-11:15Break 11:15-11:45External User: Benefits and capabilities of e-VLBI 11:45-12:30Comments from E.C. on morning 12:30-13:15Lunch 13:15-14:00Financial Overview for Past 12 Months 14:00-15:15Overview of project next 18 Months 15:15-16:00Open Discussion 16:00-16:20Reviewer Internal Meeting 16:20-16:30First Feedback to the team 16:30Conclusion / End of First Year Review