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Overview

UVCS personnel at the EOF will be organized according to four operational objectives: instrument evaluation, commissioning, scientific campaigns, normal scientific operations. The instrument evaluation organization will be used during the LEOF and the instrument clean-up period of the TTP. Commissioning will be used during any period of the TTP when the instrument is operational, during the commissioning subphase of the HOP and possibly for an extended period as required to achieve routine operation of the instrument. The campaign organization will be used for the first TBD months of science operations (about 6 to 12 months) and at other times during the mission when UVCS or SOHO scientific campaigns are carried out. The normal scientific operations organization will be used at other times during the mission operations subphase of the HOP.

The instrument evaluation organization will be composed of Instrument Scientists, Engineers, technical experts (e.g., detector experts), flight and ground Software Specialists, a Command/Control Specialist, a Mission Planning Specialist, a Data Processing Specialist and interested members of the UVCS Investigator Team. An Instrument Operations Scientist and a Data Processing Scientist should be available to travel to the EOF when required. The number of persons actually located at the EOF will depend on the specific activity occurring at the time.

The commissioning organization will be similar to that of the instrument evaluation team except that the group of specialists will be expanded to form a core EOF organization. The core group will consist of three teams (in practice, there will be one or more of each team available at the EOF, but only one of each on duty at any one time). The three team types are the following: an Instrument Operations Team (IOT), a Mission Planning Team (MPT), and a Data Processing Team (DPT). The IOT consists of an Instrument Operations Scientist, a Command/Control Specialist and a Lead IOT Scientist. The MPT consists of a Mission Operations Scientist, a Mission Planning Specialist and a Lead MPT Scientist. The DPT consists of a Data Processing Scientist, a Data Processing Specialist and a Lead DPT Scientist. There will be only one Lead Scientist for each team-type (i.e., one Lead IOT Scientist etc.), who will cover the lead scientist responsibilities for all such teams during the week he/she is assigned. During the TTP and the commissioning subphase of the HOP, the Instrument Scientists will act as the Lead Scientists.

The campaign organization will consist of the core EOF organization, interested UVCS scientists, Guest Investigators, Instrument Scientists, the SAO Project Engineer and Software Specialists. The Instrument Scientists will be located at their home institutions, but will visit the EOF about two days per week. The SAO Project Engineer and Software Specialist will normally visit the EOF once per month (for about 2 days) and as needed to address problems. During campaigns, the science team will will participate in a Science Planning Meeting (SPM) held at the EAF on a weekly basis to specify the scientific objectives and observing plan for the following week. The meeting will be chaired by the PI or his representative. The Instrument Operations Scientist will participate in the meeting to provide the latest information on the instrument characteristics, and the Data Processing Scientist will participate in the meeting to report on his/her evaluation of the latest observations. The Lead MPT Scientist will be responsible for working with the Mission Planning Scientist and Mission Planning Specialist to produce the detailed observing plan for the following week. The Lead MPT Scientist normally represents the UVCS at weekly SOHO planning meetings (i.e., meetings that address one week advanced planning) and the Lead IOT Scientist normally represents UVCS at daily SOHO Planning Meetings.

The organization for normal science operations will consist of the core EOF group, interested UVCS scientists and Guest Investigators, and visits by Instrument Scientists, the Project Engineer and Software Specialists at the same frequency and duration used for the campaigns. Normally, in this case, there will be no UVCS SPM. The Lead Scientists will work with the EOF scientists and specialists to produce the necessary plans and commands after informally interfacing with the UVCS science team and representing the UVCS at any SOHO planning meetings.

In addition to the weekly SPM's, there will be monthly and bi-monthly UVCS planning meetings to draw the guidelines for observational plans.

There will also be a weekly staff coordination meeting, chaired by one of the Instrument Operations Scientists so designated by the PI in consultation with the Co-PI.

At any time, a fully responsible person must be present at the EOF. This will be the PI or another person designated by the PI to be the point of contact with other experiments, and with officials of the EOF, and the EAF. This person will also make decisions regarding the instrument. The PI can define a set of limitations on the designated point of contact (i.e., a list of matters about which the contact person can not decide without contacting the PI and receiving his approval).

The persons performing the roles of Instrument Operations Scientists, Mission Planning Scientist and Data Processing Scientist are SAO or Italian scientists stationed permanently at the EOF. The Mission Planning Scientists shall be capable of performing the role of Instrument Operations Scientists if circumstances require it.

The persons performing the roles of Command/Control Specialist, Mission Planning Specialist and Data Processing Specialist are SAO and Italian researchers with software expertise. The Mission Planning Specialist shall be capable of performing the role of Command/Control Specialist if circumstances require it.

Each Lead Scientist performs the following tasks during the campaign and normal phases:

Month -1 - About one month prior to a scientist's tenure as a Lead Scientist, he/she would work with the Mission Planning Scientist to develop and validate any new embedded observing sequences envisioned to be used during his/her time at the EOF. This would include the development of the sequence, testing of the sequence on the instrument simulator program and BCU, and a test of the sequence on the flight instrument.

Week 1 - Scientist prepares for observation planning by analyzing prior data at his or her home institute for normal science operations or at the EOF if he/she chooses. During campaigns or just prior to campaigns, the scientist prepares for observation planning at the EOF by analyzing prior data and participating in Science Planning Meetings at the EOF.

Week 2 - Scientist resides at the EOF and acts as the Lead MPT Scientist. During campaigns, he/she participates in SPMs, and takes responsibility for interfacing between the SPM and the MPT. During normal operations periods, he/she is responsible for defining the observing plan without the input of an SPM, but is expected to coordinate inputs of the Investigator Team into the plan. He/she also represents UVCS at SOHO weekly planning meetings. Regardless of the source of the basic plan, his/her task is to define the observing plan for the following week and work with the Mission Planning Scientist and Mission Planning Specialist to help generate the detailed observing plan for the following week.

Week 3 - Scientist resides at the EOF, acts as the Lead IOT Scientist and works with the Instrument Operations Scientist to update the planned observations and with the Command/Control Specialist to produce the associated command list. During campaigns, the Lead IOT Scientist will interface with the SPM to update the observation plan. The Data Processing Scientist will also attend the SPM and report on the evaluation of the latest data in terms of the instruments success in performing the prescribed observations. The Lead IOT Scientist normally represents the UVCS at SOHO daily planning meetings.

Week 4 - Scientist resides at the EOF and acts as the Lead DPT Scientist. He performs a scientific evaluation of the data from the previous week and indicates the results in the Mission Log.

The Lead scientists regularly visit the EOF and are provided with basic information and instructions needed to perform the functions outlined above. They are appointed by the PI in consultation with the Co-PI, from the UVCS Investigator Team. The frequency of participation depends on the total number of scientists trained and available for this kind of activity. For example, if there are 10 available scientists, each scientist visits the EOF every 10 weeks and spends approximately 30 percent of his/her time in the lead scientist role at the EOF. All UVCS investigators including Guest Investigators are encouraged to visit the EOF and work with the Lead Scientists in composing the observing plans.

Generally, a variety of scientific objectives are addressed during a given week. The Lead Scientists are expected to coordinate all observations for a particular week, not just those in which he/she is most interested. If necessary, they communicate with other Co-I's to develop an optimal observing plan. Of course, during campaigns, the Lead scientists are implementing the requirements of the SPM. The resident scientists on the IOT support the activities of the Lead scientists, but also perform their own research.

During contact periods the UVCS workstations at the EOF will always be configured for capturing realtime science and housekeeping data, but the workstations may not always be fully staffed. The UVCS operations team will provide either Normal or Campaign Support:

1) During periods of Normal Science Operations, the IOTs operate in two shifts per day. The IOTs will be available during all real time periods. Except for real time telemetry periods, the IOTs will, in general, not be on site overnight. It will require 3 Instrument Operations Teams to meet this requirement. Each team member will work five days per week including time to support operations and time to pursue research interests. The MPT operates one shift per day and five days per week. There is only one MPT. The DPT operates in one shift per day, seven days per week. There will be two DPT's. Each team member will work five days per week including time to support operations and time to pursue research interests. In all cases, there is only one Lead Scientist for each team type (i.e., 3 in all).

2) During periods of Campaign Support, the core EOF organization either operates as they do for Normal Science Operations, or in 24 hour coverage. In the latter case, the IOTs operate in three shifts, covering 24 hours per day. The DPT and MPT provide the IOT personnel for the sixth and seventh days. The MPT and DPT operate in one shift per day. In all cases, there is only one Lead Scientist for each team type (i.e., 3 in all).

The roles of the various teams are described in more detail in the following subsections.



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Next: Instrument Operation Team Up: Operations Management and Previous: Operations Management and



Peter Smith
Fri Jan 17 12:11:15 EST 1997