FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT

 

SUMMER SCHOOL IN

SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT FOR RADIO ASTRONOMY

 

National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, W VA, USA

June 09-14, 2002

 

Sponsored by the Inter-Union Commission on the Allocation of Frequencies (IUCAF)

 

The purpose of this Summer School is to offer, for the first time, a comprehensive view of both technical and regulatory issues related to radio astronomers' use of the spectrum. The intended audience are members of the radio astronomy and related radio engineering community, who are becoming active in this area at the local, national or international level.

 

Organizing Committee:  Co-Chairman: D. Emerson (NRAO and IUCAF) and T. Gergely (NSF), Members: J. Cohen (Joddrell Bank), W. Van Driel (Paris Obs.), M. Ohishi (NAO, Japan) and T. Tzioumis (CSIRO)

 

Lecturers will include experts from Australia, Europe, Japan and the U.S.A

 

Purpose of the Workshop:  Nearly 70 years passed since K. G. Jansky first detected radio emission from the Galaxy, while searching for the origin of the weak static that was causing interference to communications. Since then, radio astronomy has revolutionized our view of the Universe through the discovery of quasars, pulsars, the Cosmic Microwave Background, and the survey of our Galaxy in the 21-cm line, molecular lines and many other phenomena. The radio window was the first non-optical window in the electromagnetic spectrum to be explored, and radio techniques continue being a prime tool in mankind's' exploration of the Universe. At the same time, radio astronomy remained closely linked to the world of radio communications, adopting some of its leading technologies, and sometimes giving rise to technologies of its own that were adopted by radio engineers for commercial applications.

 

Until recently, radio astronomers enjoyed relatively easy and interference free access to large portions of the spectrum, by locating telescopes far from potential sources of man-made noise. A small number of specialists took care of regulatory issues that arose in national and international fora, that rarely required attention from the broader astronomy community.  This state of affairs is changing rapidly, as demands on the spectrum increase due to huge increases in the demand and availability of wireless applications, communications satellites and marketing of new technologies, such as ultra-wide band systems. The development and health of radio astronomy depend critically on astronomers' continued access to the radio spectrum, and this in turn demands that astronomers and particularly radio observatories pay closer attention to the technical and regulatory issues that arise in relation to managing the radio spectrum, particularly as they relate to radio astronomy.

 

 

Due to the limited capacity for accommodations at Green Bank and vicinity, participation in the summer school will be limited to 40 persons. Preference will be given to younger astronomers and engineers, who are or expect to be involved in spectrum management activities.

 

Please indicate a possible interest in attendance by January 31, 2002

 

Deadline for final Registration: 31 March, 2002

 

Support:           Funds may be available to cover the necessary travel expenses. Please indicate if you need travel support on the registration form

 

 

Travel to the meeting:  The first day of the meeting is Sunday, June 9th; an outing to the nearby Cass Railway is planned for that day.  Because of the difficulty in reaching Green Bank, it will be necessary to arrive at the observatory on Saturday June 8th.  Instructions on reaching the observatory can be found on http://www.gb.nrao.edu/visitors.htm.  In particular, directions from Dulles, Charlottesville or Pittsburgh airports can be found on http://www.gb.nrao.edu/gbairports.txt. Note that from Dulles or from Pittsburgh the drive is 4 to 5 hours, while from Charlottesville about 2.5 hours is needed.

 

 

Last revised 2002-01-02

 


 

Registration Form

 

Summer School on Spectrum Management

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Green Bank, W VA, USA

10 - 15 June, 2002

 

 

1. Name - Last:                                                First: 

 

2. Institution: 

 

3. Professional Level: 

 

4. Mailing address:

 

 

 

5. Email: 

 

6. Fax (please include country code if not the U.S.): 

 

7. Telephone (please include country code if not the U.S.): 

 

8. Please indicate your level of interest

I will attend:

May attend, but not sure:

 

9. Accommodation preferences:

            On site:

            Nearby motel (own transportation required):

            Are you willing to share a room?

 

10. Financial Support. We expect to have limited financial support for this meeting.

     

Will you like  financial support, if available?        If so, do you need support for:      (please select only those that apply)

            Plane fare?           Estimated ticket cost ($)?                              Housing?     

 

11. Do you have any special dietary requirements? [Vegetarian, Diabetic, Vegan, etc.]

 

12. Are you interested in participating in an excursion/picnic to the Cass Scenic Railroad

      (near Green Bank) on Sunday June 9? (If “yes”, then you will need to have arrived at GB by June 8th.)

 

13. If you will be arriving via the Washington, Charlottesville or Pittsburgh airports, please indicate expected date and time of arrival at the respective airport.
     

 

14.  Mode of transportation to Green Bank.

       Will have own car?

        Willing to transport ---  participants to Green Bank from ------------------------- on -------

        Need transportation to Green Bank from   ------------------------------on-------------

       

 

 

This registration form is available either as an HTML document at http://www.iucaf.org/sschool/register.html, or as a Microsoft Word document at http://www.iucaf.org/sschool/register.doc.  Please return the completed form, preferably electronically by email to spectman@iucaf.org, or alternatively by FAX to the IUCAF Secretariat at (USA) 520 882 7955. Please indicate any tentative interest by January 31 2002 if possible.  The final registration deadline will be March 31 2002.