Papers by Brian Glendenning
Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy III, 2014
The software for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) that has been developed ... more The software for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) that has been developed in a collaboration of ESO, NRAO, NAOJ and the Joint ALMA Observatory for well over a decade is an integrated end-to-end software system of about six million lines of source code. As we enter the third cycle of science observations, we reflect on some of the decisions taken and call out ten topics where we could have taken a different approach at the time, or would take a different approach in today's environment. We believe that these lessons learned should be helpful as the next generation of large telescope projects move into their construction phases. Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 06/17/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms Proc. of SPIE Vol. 9152 91521L-2 Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 06/17/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms
Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems III, 2010
Starting 2009, the ALMA project initiated one of its most exciting phases within construction: th... more Starting 2009, the ALMA project initiated one of its most exciting phases within construction: the first antenna from one of the vendors was delivered to the Assembly, Integration and Verification team. With this milestone and the closure of the ALMA Test Facility in New Mexico, the JAO Computing Group in Chile found itself in the front line of the project&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s software deployment and integration effort. Among the group&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s main responsibilities are the deployment, configuration and support of the observation systems, in addition to infrastructure administration, all of which needs to be done in close coordination with the development groups in Europe, North America and Japan. Software support has been the primary interaction key with the current users (mainly scientists, operators and hardware engineers), as the software is normally the most visible part of the system. During this first year of work with the production hardware, three consecutive software releases have been deployed and commissioned. Also, the first three antennas have been moved to the Array Operations Site, at 5.000 meters elevation, and the complete end-to-end system has been successfully tested. This paper shares the experience of this 15-people group as part of the construction team at the ALMA site, and working together with Computing IPT, on the achievements and problems overcomed during this period. It explores the excellent results of teamwork, and also some of the troubles that such a complex and geographically distributed project can run into. Finally, it approaches the challenges still to come, with the transition to the ALMA operations plan.
submitted to the The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey, 2009
Executive Summary The astronomical community has become very sophisticated in setting requirement... more Executive Summary The astronomical community has become very sophisticated in setting requirements and figures of merit for the technical capabilities of new observatories. Sensitivity, field of view, spatial and energy resolution, observing efficiency and the lifetime of the facility are all set out to address scientific problems as efficiently as possible. The ultimate goal of these facilities, however, is not simply to gather data, but to create knowledge. It is thus important to consider the process of converting data to knowledge ...
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Papers by Brian Glendenning