LOFAR

1
LOFAR

• Technologies and Applications of
• Wide Area, Time coherent Sensor Arrays
• (WATSA)
• an Integrated Project in FP6
• IST and AS thematic programmes

2
Integrated Projects

• Integrated includes all of
• Vertical fundamental RD to applications
• Horizontal multi-disciplinary
• Activities management, including training
• Public-private PPPs including SMEs
• Financial multiple sources
• Critical mass to achieve ambitious goal
• Duration 3 5 years
• Participants
• management organization
• expertise centers
• potential users
• other stakeholders

3
WATSA applications

• Generic passive (WA)TSA
• acoustic, sonar and seismic arrays
• radio, microwave, and optical imaging arrays and
• lightning location and monitoring arrays.
• Generic active (WA)TSA
• phased array weather radar and
• synthetic aperture radar.
• Research platform independent of type of sensor
• Signal transport network design and control
• Signal processing architecture

4
WATSA Integrated Project

• Combines multinational and FP6 financing
• multinational financing for testbed
  infrastructure
• FP6 financing for RD in IST and AS themes
• essential to achieve required critical mass
• Ambitious goals
• very high capacity network design
• very high performance, adaptive signal processor
  design
• reconfigurable WATSA research platform
• research on distributed, autonomously adaptive
  sensor arrays
• additional application areas
• radio astronomy (LOFAR)
• geophysics 3D active and passive seismic
  imaging
• advanced active/passive radar
• atmospheric, climate research
• astroparticle physics ( ? 1018 eV)

5
Evolution of wide area telescope arrays
Parabolic dishes connected by mail
6
Evolution of wide area telescope arrays
e-MERLIN
Parabolic dishes connected by optical fiber
7
Evolution of wide area telescope arrays
104 all-sky RF sensors spread over 400 km
connected by optical fibers
LOFAR
Replace mechanical signal processing with fully
electronic processing
8
Evolution of wide area telescope arrays
Integrated panels radio telescope of the future
9
ICT comparisons
10
LOFAR Radio Telescope
10 240 MHz frequency range
X
Central processor
Antenna cluster (Station)
High speed data transport
11
LOFAR a distributed, on-line facility
12
Adaptive Beamforming
1 element pattern
2-element subarray pattern
4-element subarray pattern
1-element signals
2-element signals
4-element signal

• Sensitivity pattern narrows with larger subarray
• Deep nulls can be aimed as desired

13
Multibeaming
16
Synthesized beams
12
Station antenna patterns
8
Element antenna pattern
4
Copies of signals processed separately to give
multiple beams
14
A day in the life of LOFAR

15
Actual and interested participants - 1

• Netherlands
• ASTRON Institute, Dwingeloo
• Project management, Technology development, Radio
  astronomy
•  
• Research Institute of Mathematics and Computing
  Science, Groningen
• Complex software systems, Self-test and
  self-healing
•  
• Information and Technology Systems, Delft
  Technical University
• Complex adaptive systems
•  
• Leiden Institute for Advanced Computer Sciences
• Adaptive processing, Low-power and reconfigurable
  processors, software radio technologies
•  
• Center for Mathematics and Information Sciences,
  Amserdam
• Algorithms for data compression, visualization,
  adaptive systems
•   

• Informatics Institute, Univ. Amsterdam
• Virtual reality and GRID technologies
•  
• Jean Monnet Center of Excellence, Groningen
• European procurement law
•  
• Cluster of Business Development, Univ. Groningen
• On-line business models
•  
• Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory
  and Methodologies, Groningen
• Sociology of on-line communities, On-line
  enviroment design
•  
• Dutch Space bv
• System engineering, simulation, GRID technologies
•  
• Lucent Technologies Nederland
• Very high capacity digital network design

16
Actual and interested participants - 2

• KPN Research
• Operational control of digital networks
•  
• Ordina UTM Communications Solutions
• Control and monitoring of complex systems
•  
• RohdeSchwarz Nederland
• Low cost, smart, integrated antenna design
•  
• Royal Dutch Shell Research
• Seismic imaging
•  
• Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek',
  Amsterdam
• Pulsars, Transient radio sources
•  
• Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen
• Cosmology, Education and outreach
• Sterrewacht Leiden

• High Energy Physics Institute, Nijmegen
• Radio astrophysics, Cosmic particle physics
•  
• Center for Technical Geosciences, Delft
• Geophysics, seismic imaging
•  
• Astronomical Institute Utrecht
• Pulsars, Education and outreach
• Sweden
• IT Kronoberg, Växjö
• Project coordination, Sweden
•  
• Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Uppsala
• Space/Ionospheric physics, Simulation, Digital
  radio, radar
•  
• Uppsala University
• Solar physics, High-performance database
  management, Radio antennas, Signals and systems

17
Actual and interested participants - 3

• Lund University
• Elctromagnetic fields and antennas
•  
• Växjö University
• Telecom, antennas, IT, Dynamic software
  architecture, Modeling
•  
• Linköping U./National Supercomputer Centre
• Simulations, Visualisation
•  
• RemSpace Group, Linköping
• Multi-station design and operation
•  
• AerotechTelub AB, Växjö
• Computer systems, antennas, microwave
  electronics, and
• spacecraft subsystems
•  
• Ericsson Research, Stockholm/Kista
• Wireless/radio telecom RTD
•  

• Germany
• Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, Lindau
• Radar solar physics, Planetary physics
•  
• Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn
• Cosmic particles, Radiophysics
•  
• Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische
  Physik, Garching
• Extraterrestrial physics
•  
• Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik,
  Potsdam
• Radio physics of gravitational collapse
•  
• Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam
• Solar radiophysics, Heliographics
•  
• International University of Bremen
• General space/astrophysics
•  

18
Actual and interested participants - 4

• University of Oldenburg
• Space physics
• Forschungzentrum Karlruhe
• Astroparticle physics
•  
• Radioastronomisches Institut der Universität Bonn
• Radio astronomy
•  
• Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Theoretical space and astrophysics
•  
• Siemens
• High capacity networks, processor design,
  adaptive antennas
•  
• Fraunhofer Institute for Media Communication IMK,
  Sankt Augustin
• Control of complex networks, visualization

• Russia
• Astro-Space Center, Lebedev Physical Institute,
  Pushchino
• Space physics, Radio astronomy, Interplanetary
  Scintillation
•  
• Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, St.
  Petersburg
• Radio and radar space physics, Anthropogenic
  effects
•  
• Radiophysical Research Institute, Nizhniy
  Novgorod
• Ionospheric HF radio interactions, Radar, Solar
  radio physics
•  
• State University of Nizhniy Novgorod
• Space radio physics, Solar physics

19
Actual and interested participants - 5

• Finland
• Finnish Meteorological Institute
• Space weather
•  
• Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory
• Ionospheric and magnetospheric radar, Aeronomy
• Norway
• EISCAT, Tromsö
• Ionospheric, magnetospheric radar, Ionospheric HF
  radio interactions
•  
• University of Oslo
• Astrophysics, Solar physics
• Denmark
• Danish Space Research Institute
• Space and planetary physics
•  
• Danish Meteorological Institute

• Copenhagen University
• Solar atmosphere, Simulations
•  
• University of Århus
• Radio science
• France
• Observatoire de Paris-Meudon
• Solar radio astronomy, Array design
•  
• LPCE/CNRS, Orléans
• Space radio and radar research
• Italy
• Institute of Radio Astronomy, Bologna
• Radio astronomy, Technology development
•  
• Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Florence
• Astronomy, space, solar physics

20
Actual and interested participants - 6

• United Kingdom
• University of Warwick
• Solar and astro plasma physics, Simulations
•  
• University of Leicester
• Ionosphere, space radiophysics
•  
• University of Wales, Prifysgol Cymru Aberystwyth
• Interplanetary scintillations
• Greece
• University of Crete
• Upper atmospheric radar, Astrophysics and space
  physics
• Poland
• Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of
  Sciences, Warsaw
• Space physics, ionospheric radio

• Austria
• Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of
  Sciences, Graz
• Planetary radio research
• Switzerland
• ETH, Zurich
• Solar radar, Plasma astrophysics
•