1. Department of Energy/National Science Foundation
Review Committee
for the
VERITAS Operations
Dec , 2009
Whipple Observatory

2. Review Panel members: Chris Bebek (LBNL) Bill Boroski (FNAL) Richard Green (LBT Observatory) Gus Sinnis (LANL) Agency attendees: Kathy Turner (DOE) Jim Whitmore (NSF)

3. Scientific
Findings VERITAS is now the most sensitive VHE gamma-ray telescope in the world peer-reviewed publications in past 2 years; 15 in past year Significant scientific discoveries.

4. Scientific
Comments Scientific return has been excellent. Proposed upgrade is well motivated. Strong motivation to continue operations for at least 3 years. Publication rate is comparable to HESS at its peak. Review committee endorses planned scientific program for next 3 years, focusing on deep observations of selected sources. Recommendations: Begin with action verb and identify a due date. Review committee strongly recommends to the Agencies to continue funding operations and support the proposed upgrades.

5. Experimental Operations
Findings Current goals and milestones for operations are being met & even exceeded. VERITAS Observatory is being operated very effectively according to specifications and with minimal downtime. Collaboration is meeting its responsibilities and commitments. Operations plan shown was from July 2007.

6. Experimental Operations
Comments Young scientists are being trained in VERITAS operations and have positions in project decision making. Review panel endorses the updated operational performance metrics. Staff size is minimum needed to meet the operations performance. PMT vendor out of business but VERITAS has 125 spares. FADC and memories became obsolete and end-of-life purchases were made. Proposed upgrade would mitigate issues with PMT vendor.

7. Experimental Operations
Recommendations: Update the Project Operations Plan by Feb. 15, Maintain present staffing level. Advise the collaboration to investigate ways of creating a greater scientific presence on site. Track failure rates of all components carefully and forecast needs over next 5 years. Evaluate impact of proposed optical upgrade program on operations and maintenance if telescopes are used full time for observing.

8. Budgets
Findings A 3-year operations budget has been developed based on experience over last 2 years. Budget contains funds to support observatory operations as well as subawards to institutions for subsystems.

9. Budgets
Comments Operations budget is extremely lean and doesn’t contain contingency or management reserve. An informal plan exists to prioritize expenditures during periods of funding delays, e.g. defering non-payroll expenses to cover salaries. This informal plan may not be adequate to deal with cash flow issues associated with delays in funding.

10. Budgets
Recommendations: Develop a cash flow analysis that shows anticipated arrival and expenditures of funds along a timeline to ensure that the project has on hand sufficient funds to support operations by Jan. 15, Request management reserve in addition to proposed operations budget to maintain a level of 8-10% per year.

11. Management
Findings Senior management team is largely the same team that managed the first 3 years of commissioning and operations. The primary difference is the change in the project scientist which occurred in July Operations plan was last updated in July 2007 and was marked draft. It contains information on both the scientific and technical management of the project. Project governance documents are posted on the project Wiki and are readily available to all collaboration members. Project www site contains comprehensive web page outlining the collaboration membership of key committees and institutions.

12. Management
Comments The management structure is appropriate for effective and successful continued operations. The management and technical teams are commended for successful relocation of the T1 telescope in a 3 month period. The time allocation procedure is well-defined and reasonable and has been effectively used in the past but is not formally documented. Public data access is being done on a best-effort basis with the priority of making high-level data available. Making medium-level data available would require significant resources, and there are no plans to make the raw data publically available. Project Office has demonstrated their commitment to ES&H issues by maintaining a very solid record of running site operations with no significant incidents.

13. Management
Recommendations: Update critical project documents including the operations plan, risk management plan, teaming agreements for new collaborators, etc. to reflect the current management structure, mode of operations and collaboration structure by Feb. 15, Develop and maintain formal documents regarding the time allocation procedure and data archive and distribution plan by Feb. 15, Mitigate the risk associated with OSS collisions by developing and implementing a permanent effective solution. The conceptual design should be developed by Feb. 15, 2010 and implemented by the end of the summer shutdown in 2010.

14. Management
Recommendations: Review and update as necessary the VERITAS site safety plan to ensure that personnel working at the observatory clearly know how and where to go to seek medical attention. Review safety aspects regarding visiting observers driving up to the ridge dorms after observing shifts.

15. Review Charge
The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of High Energy Physics (OHEP) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are holding a review of the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) on December 8-9, 2009 at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona. The review will address the proposal for continued experimental operations and follows the February 2007 review held just before the onset of full operations.
VERITAS is a four-telescope gamma ray array that has been operating at the Whipple Observatory in Arizona since Using the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique, VERITAS provides the ground-based capability to study extremely energetic gamma-rays, ranging in energy from 50 GeV to 50 TeV. The scientific collaboration includes members from U.S. institutions, Ireland, the U.K. and Canada. Funding for the experimental operations is being provided by the DOE, NSF and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). The SAO hosts the management office.
In carrying out its charge, the review panel is requested to evaluate the current status and proposed operating plan for VERITAS. The panel should address the following specific items:

16. Review Charge cont. Scientific:
Have the scientific results produced over the last three years of operations been timely and compelling? Is continued operations warranted scientifically? Will the planned surveys produce the data needed?
Operations:
Are the current goals and milestones for operating the observatory and collecting the data being met?
Is the VERITAS observatory being operated effectively, according to performance specifications and with minimal downtime? Are the items and tasks needed being provided in a timely and efficient manner?
Are the collaboration and institutional responsibilities and commitments being met? Are young scientists being trained by VERITAS operations and analysis?
Are the proposed goals and milestones for continued operations appropriate?
Management:
Is the management structure appropriate for effective and successful continued operations?
Are the proposed budgets justified and credible?

17. Review Agenda December 10th:
08:30 to 09:30: Executive Session --- Program Managers and Panel Members only
09:30 to 11:00:
Logistics, Introductions & Preview: Benbow 5’
How do ACTʼs work, big-picture science & Status of the Field: Ong 15’ + 3’
VERITAS: History, Collaboration Structure, Performance & Publications: Ong 15’ + 3’
Galactic Science: Key Discoveries & Future Plans: Humensky – 15’ + 3’
Extragalactic Science: Key Discoveries & Future Plans: Benbow – 15’ + 3’
Dark Matter & Astroparticle Physics: Key Science & Future Plans: Perkins 10’ + 3’
11:00 to 11:15: Coffee Break
11:15 to 12:45:
VERITAS Technology: Perkins 15’ + 3’
Operations summary & New Developments: Gibbs 20’ + 3’
Upgrade Plans: Ong 15’ + 3’
Tour - Perkins & Gibbs 30’
12:45 to 13:30 : Lunch Break

18. Review Agenda 13:30 to 15:30: Financial Overview: Benbow 10’
Finances: Budget description: Gardner 20’ + 4’
Personnel: Gibbs 15’ + 4’
Sub-Contracts: Gibbs 15’ + 4’
Facilities: Criswell 15’ + 4’
Risk Management & Safety: Criswell 15’ + 4’
Final Remarks: Benbow 10’
15:30 to 15:45: Coffee Break
15:45 to 17:30: Executive Session --- Program Managers and Panel Members only
December 11th:
08:00 to 08:30: Project Office Q & A
08:30 to 10:15: Executive Session --- Program Managers and Panel Members only
10:15 to 11:15: Executive Session --- Program Managers and Panel Members only
11:15 to 12:00: Close-out Presentation with Project Office management