Operations in the era of large distributed telescopes

TL;DR

This paper discusses the operational challenges and coordination strategies for large-scale, ICT-based radio telescopes like the SKA, emphasizing the importance of integrating software system management with traditional telescope operations.

Contribution

It highlights the need for new operational approaches tailored to complex ICT systems in large distributed telescopes, based on experiences from recent projects.

Findings

Operational issues are mainly related to ICT systems rather than hardware.

Coordination between ICT operations and traditional telescope work is crucial.

Sharing experiences among operational teams informs future telescope design.

Abstract

The previous generation of astronomical instruments tended to consist of single receivers in the focal point of one or more physical reflectors. Because of this, most astronomical data sets were small enough that the raw data could easily be downloaded and processed on a single machine. In the last decade, several large, complex Radio Astronomy instruments have been built and the SKA is currently being designed. Many of these instruments have been designed by international teams, and, in the case of LOFAR span an area larger than a single country. Such systems are ICT telescopes and consist mainly of complex software. This causes the main operational issues to be related to the ICT systems and not the telescope hardware. However, it is important that the operations of the ICT systems are coordinated with the traditional operational work. Managing the operations of such telescopes therefore requires an approach that significantly differs from classical telescope operations. The goal of this session is to bring together members of operational teams responsible for such large-scale ICT telescopes. This gathering will be used to exchange experiences and knowledge between those teams. Also, we consider such a meeting as very valuable input for future instrumentation, especially the SKA and its regional centres.