[Everyone] [Lofar-proposals] Call for LOFAR proposals: Cycle 15

[Proposal ASTRON]

International LOFAR Telescope 
Proposal Call to the Worldwide Community 
 
Cycle 15: 01 December 2020 – 31 May 2021 
Submission deadline Wednesday 09 September 2020, 12 UT 
 
Submission only via the online tool NorthStar
( https://lofar.astron.nl/proposal) .  
 
** Proposers must ensure their justification files adhere to the
instructions given in Northstar, including restrictions on formats and
proposal length, repeated online here
(
https://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-lofar/observing-proposals/justification-file-instructions/instructions-j)
. ** 
 
SINGLE-CYCLE ONLY: Proposals are invited for new projects, in any
supported general-user mode. Single-cycle projects should achieve their
science goals with an allocation only in the upcoming semester (1
December 2020 – 31 May 2021).


OBSERVING TIME, PROCESSING, AND DATA RESOURCES: It is expected that
about 1509 hours may be allocated, roughly evenly split into priority A
and B. Of the 1509 hours available, roughly 900 could be observed at
night. The availability of observing time as a function of LST after
taking into account the already allocated long-term projects is
presented online
(
https://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-lofar/observing-proposals/lst-availability-during-cycle-15/lst-availabil)
. The list of available Cycle 15 functionality is available online.
(
http://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-lofar/observing-proposals/observing-capabilities-cycle-15/availability-o)
Each proposal must request processing time to match the observing time
within appropriate documented ratios (see documentation online
(
https://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-capabilities/depth-technical-information/major-observing-modes/major-obs)
), or should justify how processing will proceed elsewhere. In relation
to this, if a proposing group needs the data to be archived at a
specific LTA site, this should be explicitly requested and justified in
the proposal.
 
SUPPORT IS A LIMITED RESOURCE: Required support for the proposed
projects is taken into account during allocation. An online
(
http://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-lofar/observing-proposals/support-load-instructions/support-load-instruc)
 tool is available to understand whether a proposal entails a low,
medium, or high support load of the observatory staff. During the
allocation process, the ILT-PC will be advised about the amounts of
support effort requested and available, and these will be used as
boundary conditions for proposal allocations; support will be treated as
a scarce resource in the same way as has become customary on LOFAR for
processing and data storage resources. Advice is available online
(
http://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-lofar/observing-proposals/support-load-instructions/support-load-instruc)
 on how proposers can reduce the support load of their project by a
prudent choice of observing mode. The proposal may also indicate that
the support will be carried out by members of the proposing team; in
that case, both the expertise and the work plan must be carefully argued
in the proposal. 
 
SYSTEM CAPABILITIES: The ILT is a powerful radio telescope for
frequencies below 240 MHz that offers state-of-the-art observing
capabilities thanks to its phased-array technology with digital
beam-forming. LOFAR delivers correlated visibility data for synthesis
imaging, plus (in)coherently-added single and multiple station data
(several beam-formed modes) as well as transient buffer read-out, for
example for studies of pulsars, transients, and cosmic rays. LOFAR
capabilities are described in detail online
(
https://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/astronomers/technical-information/lofar-technical-information)
. 
 
WORLD-WIDE ACCESS: Time on the ILT is available to scientists from the
worldwide community. It is allocated in tandem between National
Consortia and the ILT-PC, and endorsed by the ILT Board. Scientific
excellence and breadth as well as the technical strength of the
proposals are taken along in the evaluations. The ILT-PC will define
restricted data access rights (default period 1 year) based on the
specific science goals and arguments in the proposal. Other groups may
be allocated simultaneous access for different science. 
 
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS: For all proposals, the technical case must
argue both the optimal and the minimal required total amount of time and
other resources (and any requirements on cadence or time span). If the
stated minimum time or other requirements cannot be allocated, the
proposal will not be carried out at all. When preparing the proposal,
please take into account proper ordering of the target list (seedetails
online
(
http://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-proposals/target-list-order/target-list-order)
), checking if any data is already available in the LOFAR Long Term
Archive
( https://lta.lofar.eu/) . For standard HBA imaging, the possibility is
offered of Co-observing with the LoTTS survey project (see details
online
(
https://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-proposals/co-observing-surveys-ksp-team/co-observing-surveys-ksp-team)
). LBA imaging techniques have improved rapidly; proposers are invited
to discuss in advance with the PI of the LBA survey project whether a
Co-observing strategy would be mutually beneficial in Cycle 15 (see
details online
(
https://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-lofar/observing-proposals/lba-co-observing-strategy/lba-co-observing-str)
).
 
PRIORITY CLASSES: Due to ongoing upgrade work, system availability and
stability will vary with time. The ILT-PC will classify observing
allocations as A and/or B priority time. Allocations in A priority will
have a high likelihood to yield a successful observation in the period
concerned; in case such an observation suffers substantial failures, it
will be repeated (once) at a later date. Allocations in priority B will
likely be realized partially; they are carried out on a best-efforts
basis, where the total of all priority B allocations requires an
optimistic availability scenario. 
 
OBTAINING ADVICE: In view of the novel and evolving character of the
ILT, proposers are strongly urged to get in contact with Science
Operations & Support at ASTRON through the JIRA helpdesk
( https://support.astron.nl/rohelpdesk)  well ahead of the deadline.
Novice groups may wish to seek or request to be connected to suitable
collaborators, and should also consider keeping the scope of initial
projects modest while they become familiar with the complexities of data
handling and analysis.
 
The Observatory will explore the possibility for a few users unfamiliar
with the reduction of LOFAR data to come to ASTRON for assistance with
this by Observatory personnel. If this is desired, it must be specified
in the proposal. Limited travel subsidies for eligible users can be
supported by RadioNet. Further details are given online
(
https://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-proposals/radionet-transnational-access-programme/radionet-transnational)
. 
 
R.C. Vermeulen 
Director, International LOFAR Telescope 
 
 
 
 
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