03/000 New geodetic VLBI dish in WA Australian Government Geoscience Australia
Existing VLBI facilities Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 Hobart (26 m) ~ 50 sessions/y - UTAS Parkes (64 m) ~ 1-3 sessions/y - ATNF Tidbinbilla (34 m) ~ 2-3 sessions/y - NASA
Problems Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 All dishes are operated by external agencies No link between VLBI and SLR provided Unsufficient geographic position High elevation limits (Parkes): correlation between height and wet delay General weakness of the ICRF in the southern hemisphere – uncertainty in VLBI and GPS heights for Hobart ~ 1 cm! Design deterioration (Hobart) – low slewing speed, hydrogen maser instability, shape deformations, etc.
Key problem – slewing speed Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 Mount [deg/min] [deg/min] Hobart XYEW HartRAO HADC Kokee AZEL
Simulation Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) Typical network: 6 dishes in Northern hemisphere + addition
Simulation Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005
Simulation results Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 Model sXp sYp sUT1 sNut1 sNut2 chi-sq Num (mas) (mas) (ms) (mas) (mas) ____________________________________________________________________ 6 st st + Hartrao deg/min 6 st + Hobart st + Yarra st + Y&Hart st + Y&Hob
Solution Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 New VLBI site in WA (Yarragadee) Next generation radiotelescope to support remote unmanned real time VLBI operation Diameter ~20-25 meter - Cost: 21-meter dish was ~3.1 Mill USD in prices of 2001 (5 Mill AUD in 2005??) Operational costs ~ AUD per year (can be shared with ATNF): 3 staff + equipment/service OR diameter ~10-12 meter – less expansive
Goal Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 Yarragadee (20-25m) ~ sessions/y - GA Hobart (26 m) ~ 12 sessions/y - UTAS Parkes (64 m) ~ 1-3 sessions/y - ATNF Tidbinbilla (34 m) ~ 2-3 sessions/y - NASA Hobart (26 m) ~ 50 sessions/y - UTAS Parkes (64 m) ~ 1-3 sessions/y - ATNF Tidbinbilla (34 m) ~ 2-3 sessions/y - NASA
Advantages Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 Operated by GA - more flexibility in scheduling Fast slew – more data, better precision Link between VLBI and SLR, GPS - ITRF Better geographic position Better resolution in height and wet delay - ITRF Strength on the ICRF - ICRF, ITRF Measurement of the intracontinental deformations Near-real time monitoring (e-VLBI) - timeliness Collaboration with astronomers - stimulation of new joint research and programs Leading role for VLBI in the southern hemisphere
Outcome in 5 years Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 ICRF – the number of reference sources in Southern hemisphere (factor by 2-3); ICRF – precision (factor by 4-5); ITRF – consistent multitechnique positions for all Australia VLBI sites on accuracy level of 1-2 mm; Check of the intracontinental deformations; Consistent multitechnique EOP; Learning of seasonal deformations in region; Tracing of troposphere and ionosphere; In case of strong earthquake in WA – monitoring of post- and co-seismic deformations
Conclusion Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005 Giant step forward in both directions basic science; public service
ICRF defining sources Geoscience Australia 07 July 2005