LIGHTNING RISK ABATEMENT AT OBSERVATORIES WORKSHOP -- FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT The lightning workshop at Apache Point/NSO-Sunspot remains scheduled as planned for next Monday and part of Tuesday. We've had a good response to the original announcement for this workshop, and here we provide additional instructions for those planning to attend, give a partial listing of the participants, and post an updated agenda. LOGISTICS: Contact us (Bruce or Walter) at APO 505-437-6822 (or Bruce at home, 505-682-2704) for help and clarification at any time. The workshop will be held at the Sunspot Astronomy Education and Visitor's Center, meals provided at the Corona Cafe in Sunspot, and overnight housing at both Sunspot and Apache Point. If you're planning to attend, you can find directions on how to get here at the APO website, www.apo.nmsu.edu. If this is inconvenient, we can fax you maps or give you instructions over the phone. We recommend that you consider travelling on Sunday and stay overnight both Sunday and Monday nights. You should check in at Apache Point when you arrive on Sunday, and one of us will greet you and help you get settled. If time allows, we can also give ad hoc tours of the SDSS facilities Sunday afternoon. There is no meal provided Sunday night--you should bring your own food or plan to eat in Cloudcroft. If you plan to arrive on Monday, you should go directly to the Sunspot Visitor Center (or to the Corona Cafe if you arrive early enough for breakfast). For those of you who want overnight accommodations at our site, there is a web form on the www.apo.nmsu.edu website to fill out and submit that reserves a place to sleep. Do this ASAP or call us. Accommodations consist of private bedrooms either in houses at Sunspot or dorm rooms at Apache Point. Linens and kitchen facilities are provided (you should buy food or snacks on your way), and meals will be furnished at the Corona Cafe at Sunspot on the following schedule: o breakfast, Monday 6 October, 7 to 8 am o lunch, 12:15 to 1 pm o dinner, 6 pm o only breakfast and lunch on Tuesday, same schedule The housing and meals are provided free of charge. Telephone, fax, e-mail facilities are also available. The weather is likely to be cold at night (around freezing or above), and warming into the 60s during the day. It can rain or even snow, but is more likely to be clear. The elevation at the site is 9200 feet. General tours of the observatories will be arranged. PRESENTATIONS: The focus of the workshop is to explore current research and experience in lightning protection systems, particularly as they pertain to hardware and human risks at observatories and other high-altitude research facilities. The goal is to find general and specific techniques and systems that can be applied to the SDSS facility at Apache Point, and also to develop a consensus "state-of-the-art" which can be more generally useful to the community. Participants are invited to make short informal presentations and/or provide written information. The usual audiovisual equipment is available at the Visitor Center. These presentations, plus a tour of the SDSS facility, will comprise the Monday agenda. On Tuesday morning, a subset group will meet in "executive session" to consolidate and evaluate the information, and then draft a summary consensus. Any participants may attend this session to contribute or simply listen. In any case, the results of the meetings will be distributed to the participants. PARTICIPANTS: Below is a partial list of participants and affiliations. Since many of us are from widely different backgrounds, we ask that you to e-mail or fax (505-434-5555) us a short (~five lines) vitae so that everyone generally knows the background of the group's participants. Several unlisted staff from both Apache Point and NSO will attend the workshop, and we expect the group to total about 25 people. Walter Siegmund, meeting chair, SDSS Project Engineer, 505-437-6822, siegmund@astro.washington.edu Bruce Gillespie, meeting logistics, APO Site Operations Manager, 505-437-6822, gillespie@apo.nmsu.edu) Rex Hunter, NSO/Sunspot Administrator, 505-434-7075, rhunter@sunspot.noao.edu Jim Gunn, SDSS Project Scientist, PI for the photometric survey camera Graham Munsell, NMSU Safety Office Hap Chisholm (plus Kirtland AFB meteorologist), Starfire Optical Range, previously at Wyoming Infra-red Observatory William Rison, Langmuir Laboratory, New Mexico Tech at Socorro Clint Janes, VLA, Socorro NM Wayne Koski, VLA, Socorro NM Lew Serna, VLA, Socorro NM John Scott, KPNO/NOAO, Tucson AZ Richard Kithil, National Lightning Safety Institute, Denver CO Tom Droege, Fermi National Accelerator Lab, Batavia IL Don Coyne, Milagro Telescope, Los Alamos NM, UCSC Wayne Jones, Nat'l Solar Observatory, Sunspot NM Mark Klaene, Apache Point Observatory, NM Lonnie Cole, NOAO, Tucson AZ AGENDA: Lightning Protection Review Monday, 6 October Session 0700 - 0800 Breakfast at NSO Corona Cafe 0830 Welcome, announcements, logistics - B. Gillespie 0845 Introductions, including short reviewer biographies - W. Siegmund Scope & review Agenda, charge to the reviewers - W. Siegmund 0900 Description of APO facilities - Klaene Review of lightning experience at APO - M. Klaene APO lightning protection system - M. Klaene 1015 SDSS camera protection - J. Gunn 1045 APO lightning safety policies and procedures for personnel - M. Klaene 1115 SDSS facility walkthrough 1215 Lunch at NSO Corona Cafe 1315 VLA presentations and discussion 1345 KPNO/NOAO presentations and discussion 1415 WYRO/Starfire presentations and discussion 1445 Break 1515 NLSI presentations and discussion 1545 NSO presentations and discussion 1615 NMSU Safety Office presentations and discussion 1645 Langmuir/NMTech presentations and discussion 1715 Fermi Lab presentations and discussion 1800 Dinner at NSO Corona Cafe Lightning Protection Review Tuesday, 7 October Session 0700 - 0800 Breakfast at NSO Corona Cafe 0900 Drafting of recommendations: Executive session: Siegmund plus TBD reviewers. 1215 Adjourn, lunch at NSO Corona Cafe Charge to reviewers: o Is APO more susceptible to lightning damage than other comparable sites? o What lightning protection deficiencies exist at APO? o How can the APO lightning protection system be improved? o Recognizing the uniqueness, importance and cost of the SDSS camera, should any special measures be taken to specifically protect this instrument. o Is personnel safety adequately and appropriately addressed by the existing APO lightning protection system? If not, how can it be improved? o Are existing personnel safety policies adequate and appropriate? What changes in personnel policies would enhance personnel safety? o What are the requirements for routine maintenance of various lightning protection systems? Notes will be taken covering the presentations on the first day and will be distributed to the participants. The executive session the second day will be devoted to drafting the response to the charge to the reviewers. The draft will be circulated by email shortly after the meeting so that the reviewers have an opportunity to comment and make corrections prior to publishing the final resport. ************************** Again, our best regards and apologies if you receive multiple copies of this announcement. Bruce Gillespie, APO Site Operations Manager Walter Siegmund, SDSS Project Engineer APO APO APO APO APO Apache Point Observatory 3.5m APO APO APO APO APO This is message 180 in the apo35-general archive. 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