FY 2015 Annual Progress Report and FY 2016 Annual Program Plan (Submitted to the NSF on

147 Pages·2016·3.31 MB·English

Submitted for approval on 02/16/2016 to the National Science Foundation
under Cooperative Agreement No. 0946422
and Cooperative Support Agreement No. 1400450

This report is also published on the NSO Web site: http://www.nso.edu

The National Solar Observatory is operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under
cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation
NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY

MISSION
T he mission of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) is to provide
leadership and excellence in solar physics and related space, geophysical,
and astrophysical science research and education by providing access to
unique and complementary research facilities as well as innovative
programs in research and education and to broaden participation in
science.
NSO accomplishes this mission by:
♦ providing leadership for the development of new ground-based facilities that support
the scientific objectives of the solar and space physics community;
♦ advancing solar instrumentation in collaboration with university researchers, industry,
and other government laboratories;
♦ providing background synoptic observations that permit solar investigations from the
ground and space to be placed in the context of the variable Sun;
♦ providing research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, helping
develop classroom activities, working with teachers, mentoring high school students,
and recruiting underrepresented groups;
♦ innovative staff research.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The broad research goals of NSO are to:
o Understand the mechanisms generating solar cycles – Understand mechanisms
driving the surface and interior dynamo and the creation and destruction of
magnetic fields on both global and local scales.
o Understand the coupling between the interior and surface – Understand the coupling
between surface and interior processes that lead to irradiance variations and the
build-up of solar activity.
o Understand the coupling of the surface and the envelope: transient events –
Understand the mechanisms of coronal heating, flares, and coronal mass ejections
which lead to effects on space weather and the terrestrial atmosphere.
o Explore the unknown – Explore fundamental plasma and magnetic field processes on
the Sun in both their astrophysical and laboratory context.

0 NSO FY 2015 Annual Progress Report & FY 2016 Program Plan
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 1
2 FY 2015 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS............................................... 6
................................................................................................... 6
2.1 The Enhanced Coronal Mass Ejection Detection Rate since the Solar Cycle 23
Polar Field Reversal ....................... 7
2.2 RH 1.5D: A Massively Parallel Code for Multi-Level Radiative T .r.a..n...s.f.e..r......................... 9
2.3 Current and Kinetic Helicity of Long-Lived Activity Complexes
........................................................................................................ 11
2.4 Variations in High-Degree Acoustic Mode Frequencies of the Sun during Solar
Cycle 23 and 24
3 SCIENTIFIC AND KEY MANAGEMENT STAFF ................................................................................ 13
4 SUPPORT TO THE SOLAR COMMUNITY ........................................................................................ 16
...................................................................................................... 16
................................................................................................. 17
4.1 Dunn Solar Telescope
........................................................................................... 19
4.1.1 DST Instrumentation
....................................................................................... 19
4.1.2 Data Reduction Pipelines
........................................................................... 19
4.1.3 Replacement and Upgrades
.................................................................................................. 20
4.1.4 Current and Future Use of the DST
4.1.5 Divestiture Planning ...................................................................................... 20
................................................................................. 21
4.2 McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope
......................................................................... 21
4.2.1 Diverse Observing Capabilities
...................................................................................................... 22
4.2.2 Divestment or Closure of the McMP
4.2.3 Current Programs ............................................................................................... 24
4.3 Evans Solar Facility .(..E..S..F..)................................................................................................. 24
4 .4 Access to NSO Data ..................................................................................................... 24
4.4.1 Digital Library ................................................................................... 25
4.4.2 Virtual Solar Observatory
5 DKIST CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATIONS RAMP UP.................................................................. 26
..................................................................................................................... 26
5.1 Introduction ................................. 27
.......................................................................................................... 30
5.2 Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope: Construction Project Update
.......................................................................................................... 30
5.2.1 Schedule Status
5.2.2 Financial Status ............................................................. 31
................................................................................................................. 32
5.3 DKIST Operations Ramp-Up Phase: Overview
........................................................................................................ 34
5.3.1 Data Center
............................................................................ 35
5.3.2 Operational Tools
2 5 . 3 . 3 M a u Ni RSOem FoYt e2 0O1p5e Arantniounals PBruoiglrdeisnsg Report & FY 2016 Program Plan
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.......................................... 36
5.4 DKIST Science Working Group and Science Requirements ........................... 38
5.5 Existing Collaborations: Adaptive Optics and the Cyra Instrument
6 NSO INTEGRATED SYNOPTIC PROGRAM ....................................................................................... 40
....................................................................................................... 40
6.1 NISP Instrumentatio .n......................................................................................................... 41
6.2 NISP Data P r..o..d..u...c.t..s........................................................................................................... 43
6.3 NISP Status .................................................................................... 45
6.4 A Multi-Purpose Global Network
7 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH AND BROADENING PARTICIPATION .......................... 48
.................................... 48
7.1 An Enhanced Educ ..a..t.i.o..n... .a..n..d.. .P..u..b..l..i.c. .O...u..t.r..e..a..c..h.. .(.E...P..O..).. .P..r..o..g..r.a..m........................................ 48
7.2 Goals and Metrics ............................ 53
7.3 The 2016 COLLAbora ..t.i.v..e.. .G...r.a..d..u...a..t.e.. .E..d..u..c..a..t.i.o...n.. .(.C..O...L..L..A...G..E...). .C..o..u..r..s..e.............................. 54
7.4 Increasing Diversity
8 NSO TRANSITION UPDATE .............................................................................................................. 56
. 60
8.1 The New Mexico State University (NMSU) Consortium for NSO/Sacram ...e..n..t.o... P...e..a..k... 61
8.2 Toward a Consortium for the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope ( M...c..M...P...)...................... 62
8.3 Transition Timeline, FY 20 1..6... .M...i.l.e..s..t.o..n..e..s.. .a..n..d.. .T..r..a..n..s..i.t.i..o..n.. .R..i.s..k..s................................... 65
8.4 FY 2016 Transition Bu ..d..g..e..t.............................................................................................. 66
8.5 FY 2016 Staffing Plan .............................................................................................. 67
8.6 Relocation Policy Changes ............................................................................. 68
8.7 Communications and Staff Feedback
9 FY 2016 SPENDING PLAN ................................................................................................................. 69
..................................................................................................................... 69
9.1 Total Budget .................................................................................................. 71
.......................................................................................................... 72
9.2 Work Package Breakout
....................................................................................... 73
9.2.1 Director’s Office
............................................................................ 74
9.2.2 DKIST Operations Program
............................................................................................................ 75
9.2.3 NSO Integrated Synoptic Program
........................................................................................................ 76
9.2.4 Tucson/McMP
.................................................................................. 77
9.2.5 Sacramento Peak
9.2.6 AURA Fees and NOAO Sup..p..o..r.t................................................................................ 78
9.3 FY 2015 Budget Reconciliation

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APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................ 79
APPENDIX A. NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY 2020–2025 VISION ...................................... 80
APPENDIX B. OBSERVING AND USER STATISTICS ........................................................................... 82
FY 2014 USER STATISTICS – ARCHIVES & DATA BASES.................................................................. 84
APPENDIX C. ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS ........................................................................... 85
.................................................... 85
C1. Community Partnerships .a..n..d.. .N...S..O.. .L..e..a..d...e.r..s..h..i.p.. .R...o..l.e...................................................... 86
C2. Operational Partnerships
APPENDIX D. PUBLICATIONS ............................................................................................................. 87
APPENDIX E. MILESTONES FY 2016 .................................................................................................. 97
APPENDIX F. STATUS OF FY 2015 MILESTONES ........................................................................... 101
APPENDIX G. NSO FY 2016 STAFFING SUMMARY .......................................................................... 109
APPENDIX H. SCIENTIFIC STAFF RESEARCH AND SERVICE ......................................................... 110
APPENDIX I. FY 2015 BUDGET RECONCILIATION SPREADSHEETS ........................................... 130
APPENDIX J. ACRONYM GLOSSARY .................................................................................................. 133

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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The National Solar Observatory (NSO) is the primary provider of key ground-based solar facilities
to the US solar community. NSO makes available to the community a range of assets that allow
solar astronomers to probe all aspects of the Sun, from the deep interior to its interface in the corona
with the interplanetary medium. NSO provides scientific and instrumentation leadership in
helioseismology, synoptic observations of solar variability, and high-resolution studies of the solar
atmosphere in the visible and infrared.

Major components of the National Solar Observatory strategic planning include:
• Developing the 4-meter Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) on behalf of, and in
collaboration with, the solar community.
• Operating a suite of instruments comprising the NSO Integrated Synoptic Program (NISP). This
includes the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigation of the Sun (SOLIS) and the Global
Oscillation Network Group (GONG).
• An orderly transition to a new NSO structure, which can efficiently operate DKIST and NISP
and continue to advance the frontiers of solar physics. This new structure has its headquarters
(HQ) collocated with the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU-Boulder) and integrates the NSO
staff traditionally divided between sites at Sunspot, New Mexico and in Tucson, Arizona.
• Developing the DKIST operations team and the Remote Operations Building (ROB) in Maui.
In parallel with these components, NSO will continue:
• Developing the adaptive optics (AO), multi-conjugate AO (MCAO), and infrared (IR)
technology needed for the DKIST.
• Operating the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST) until two years prior to commencement of the
DKIST regular operations and maintaining its competitiveness through AO and state-of-the-art
instrumentation.
• Expanding interagency collaborations for NISP following the guidance in the National Science
Technology Council’s (NSTC’s) Space Weather Operations, Research and Mitigation (SWORM)
white paper.
• Upgrading the GONG network to adapt to the needs of the Space Weather research community,
ensuring its competitive continuation for another solar cycle. Developing partnerships to
establish and, if funding allows, lead a multi-station future synoptic network.
• Helping a consortium led by New Mexico State University (NMSU) to assume operations of
Sacramento Peak including the Dunn Solar Telescope after 2017.
• Helping the scientific consortium that plans to assume operation of the McMath-Pierce Solar
Telescope (McMP) in a timely fashion to meet the NSF mandate to divest or close the facility if
this consortium fails to provide increasing levels of support for operation of the telescope at a
rate of 25% a year of the total cost.
• Increasing diversity of the solar workforce.

1 NSO FY 2015 Annual Progress Report & FY 2016 Program Plan
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Some of the programmatic highlights of the NSO program in FY 2016 include:
• Continuation of DKIST construction on Haleakalā. In FY 2016, the outer structure of the facility
will be finished.
• Continue implementing NSO’s transition plan that describes the relocation of the NSO HQ to
CU-Boulder.
• Continue forming the core teams for DKIST operations in Boulder and Maui, including the
DKIST Data Center.
• Complete the SOLIS upgrade to vector chromospheric magnetograms and the installation of
the Full-Disk Patrol (FDP) tunable filter. Select a new site for SOLIS.
• Proceed with the first faculty position shared between CU and NSO.
• Sign the MOU between AURA and CU to consolidate the new faculty and fellow-
ship positions and their timeline.
• Establish funding partners for the operation of NISP, in particular with the NOAA/Space
Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).

A few of the major actions to advance solar physics that NSO will undertake in FY 2016 include:
• Continuing the construction of DKIST through the NSF Major Research Equipment Facilities
Construction (MREFC) program.
• Proactively integrate NSO in the CU-led Hale COLLAGE graduate initiative (formerly known
as CGEP).
• Conduct visits to several US universities to publicize the DKIST project status and investigate
potential partnerships.
• Promote international participation in DKIST.
• Enhance NSO’s Outreach Program by hiring Education and Public Outreach staff who will
publicize NSO’s solar science to the broad public.

FY 2016 begins with a renewed Cooperative Agreement (CA) through 2024 between the NSF and
AURA to manage the National Solar Observatory. This new CA includes the resources needed for
developing DKIST operations teams and facilities; a funding wedge of $9M is expected for this in FY
2016. The Observatory budget in FY 2016 also includes $7M for base-program operations, for a total
of $16M. A possible upgrade of GONG with a total budget of $2.5M is also disclosed in the FY 2016
budget.

In Sunspot, we continue to operate the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST), which is still in high demand by
the community. The DST is also being used by several of the DKIST instrument teams for testing
technologies (from fiber optics integral field units to narrow band pre-filters). FY 2016 will see
reduced levels of support for operations of the DST and consolidation of a plan to ramp down access
to the facility by the end of FY 2017. On-site scientific support will be provided only for 50% of the
offered time. With one less observer, the telescope will be operational only during the weekdays.
The resources normally allocated to DST operations are being transferred to the DKIST program.

2 NSO FY 2015 Annual Progress Report & FY 2016 Program Plan