Proposer’s Guide

Hiroshi Nagai,Interim EA-ARC Manager,
NAOJ Chile Observatory
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Contents
1. Request from the ALMA Observatory
2. Cycle 6 Timeline
3. Proposal Preparation
4. Proposal Types
5. Standard vs. Non-standard
6. Scientific Justification
7. Technical Justification
8. Proposal Validation and Submission
9. Proposal evaluation and selection
10. Duplication and Resubmission

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1. Requests from the ALMA Observatory• Do not install JAVA 9 which is not compatible with OT• Update demographic information in the Science Portal ifpossible.

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2. Cycle 6 TimelineDateMilestone

20 March 2018 (15:00 UT)

Release of Cycle 6 Call for Proposal

19 April 2018 (15:00 UT)

Proposal submission deadline

End of July 2018

Announcement of the outcome of the proposal review
process

August - 6 September 2018

Submission of Phase 2 material

October 2018

Start of ALMA Cycle 6 Science Observations

September 2019

End of ALMA Cycle 67

3. Proposal Preparation• Create your account in ALMA Science Portal
https://almascience.nao.ac.jp/• Your co-authors should have the accounts as well.

• An ALMA proposal consists of basic proposal
information that is entered directly into the ALMA OT, aScience Justification uploaded to the OT as a PDF file,and one or more Science Goals. (See OT tutorial fordetails)• Science Goals contain the technical details of the
proposed observations and must include a TechnicalJustification
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4. Proposal Types• Regular• Execution time does not exceed 50 hours on the 12-m Array or 150 hours on the ACA instand-alone mode

• ToO

• Observations that can be anticipated but whose targets and/or time of observation are
not known in advance• PIs will trigger observations from accepted ToO Proposals through the Project Trigger
Submission Page

• Large Programs• >50 hours on the 12-m array or >150 hours on the ACA in stand-alone• Must include only standard modes and should not involve time-critical or ToO• Required to produce high scientific impact, not reproducible by a combination of regular
proposals• VLBI• Band 3 with GMVA and Band 6 with EHTC

• DDT• May be submitted at any time
• Need clear statement why the proposed science goal cannot be achieved in the regular
proposal framework
10Requested Execution Time115. Standard vs. Non-standard• Standard• Well characterized and the observations can be calibrated
with the ALMA Pipeline• Non-standard• Not well characterized and may require additional
Observatory resources to calibrate, image, an deliver ALMA
data products.
• Up to 20% of Cy6 observing time will be allocated to nonstandards.

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5. Standard vs. Non-standard

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6. Scientific Justification• A single PDF document including a science case writtenin English• May include figures, tables, and references• Maximum permitted file size 20MB

• 4 pages for regular, ToO, and VLBI, 6 pages for Large
Progorams• A font size no smaller than 12 points• This also applies to the figure caption, tables, and references!

146. Scientific Justification• Each proposal must describe the astronomical
importance of the proposed project and include a clear
statement of its immediate goals. (See Proposal WritingWS)• It is also recommended to provide a brief justification of
the requested sensitivity and angular resolution, withfull details provided in the Technical Justification.
• If you wish to show figures and tables for technicaljustification, their results should be included in the SJ
and references in the relevant Technical Justification.
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7. Technical Justification• The TJ must include a quantitative description andjustification of the expected source brightness, therequested sensitivity and S/N ratio, angular resolution
and spectral setup. An incomplete Technical Justification
may lead to the rejection of the proposal on technicalgrounds.
• Except for the figures, the TJ must be self-contained, andthere should be no expectation or requirement that thetechnical assessor reads the Scientific Justification fordetails.

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178. Proposal Validation and Submission• Once the proposal is validated within the OT, it can besubmitted to the ALMA Archive.

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8. Proposal Validation and Submission• If a proposal contains many SGs, validation process
could take minutes or even longer. Please make sure tovalidate your proposal before the proposal deadline wellin advance!
• Your proposal can be submitted once you pass thevalidation.
• A proposal can be resubmitted as many times as needed
before the deadline.
• Submitted proposals cannot be modified after thedeadline.
199. Proposal evaluation and selection• See section 5.5 in PG document about peer review.
• Proposal ranking will be based on the overall scientificmerit and potential contribution to the advancement ofscientific knowledge and technical feasibility.
• Following factors are also considered for the LPevaluation• Scheduling feasibility• Data products (if those are useful for the community at large)• Management plan

• Proposal selection will be made by taking into accountthe scientific ranking, scheduling constrains, andregional balance (22.5% for EA).

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10. Duplication and Resubmission• Duplicate observations of the same location on the sky
with similar observing parameters (frequency, angularresolution, coverage, and sensitivity) are not permitted
unless scientifically justified.
• PIs should visit duplication check page in SP and areresponsible for checking duplications.
• A proposal which was approved in previous cycles but
unfinished (including SGs delivered as QA2 semipass)can be resubmitted to Cycle 6. Only unfinished SGs in
the proposal will be observed in Cy6 if approved.

• Note long baseline configurations (config. 7,8,9,10) will not berevisited in Cy5 anymore!
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Cycle 6 Capabilities

Hiroshi Nagai,Interim EA-ARC Manager,
NAOJ Chile Observatory
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Contents
1. What’s New in Cy6?
2. Recap of ALMA Arrays, Frequency Bands, Spectral
Setups
3. Summary of Capabilities
4. Configuration Schedule
5. Array Combination and Time Multiplier
6. Scheduling Considerations

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1. What’s New in Cy6?
• Circular polarization observations (with very limited
sensitivity)• Simultaneous observations of the 12m Array with the7m Array• Except for “long baselone configurations”• Band 8 stand-alone ACA• Band 6 IF extension

242.1 Recap: ALMA Arrays

See Primer Document25

2.2 Recap: Frequency Bands
ALMA Bands

Sidebands, Basebands

Spectral windows26

2.3 Recap: Spectral Setups

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Recap: Spectral scan

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Recap: Pointing
Individual (Multiple) pointing

Mosaicing

FoV

29Polarization, Solar

Hull+ 2017

ALMA Science Verification Data30

3. Summary of Capabilities• At least forty-three (43) antennas in the 12-m Array.
• At least ten 7 m antennas (for short baselines) and three 12m antennas (for making single-dish maps) in the ACA.
• Receiver Bands 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 (wavelengths ofabout 3.0, 2.0, 1.6, 1.3, 0.85, 0.65, 0.45, and 0.35 mm,respectively).
• 12-m Array Configurations• The maximum possible baseline for Bands 8, 9 and 10 is 3.6 km.
• The maximum possible baseline for Band 7 is 8.5 km.
• The maximum possible baseline for Bands 3, 4, 5 and 6 is 16 km.

• Configurations with maximum baselines equal or longer than
3.6 km (C43-7 to C43-10) are considered “long-baseline
configurations”.
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3. Summary of Capabilities• Spectral-line and continuum observations with the 12-m
Array and the 7-m Array in all bands.
• Single-field interferometry (all bands) and mosaics(Bands 3 to 9) with the 12-m Array and the 7-m Array.
• Single-dish spectral-line observations in Bands 3 to 8.
• Single pointing, on axis, full linear and circularpolarization capabilities for continuum and full spectral
resolution observations in Bands 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 on the12-m Array. The field of view of linear and circularpolarization observations is limited to the inner onethird and the inner one-tenth of the primary beam,respectively.
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4. Configuration schedule

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5. Array Combination and TimeMultiplier35

6. Scheduling Consideration• Weather• Requested angular resolution and largest angularresolution• More details will be explain by D. Espada• Should not be
too much afraid
to try high frq.

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