This proposal solicits funds for 10 early career US scientists and/or engineers to attend the Workshop on Radiofrequency Interference Mitigation 2010 (RFI2010), to be held 29-31 March, 2010 in Groningen, the Netherlands, near Westerbork Observatory. RFI2010 is the third in a series of international workshops, held every 3-4 years; they provide the only forum where scientists can exchange ideas and share results on this important topic.
" NSF #1013766 A workshop on "RFI Mitigation in Radio Astronomy" was held in Groningen on 29-31 March 2010. This workshop was primarily intended to encourage the growth of both the science and practice of active mitigation of radio frequency interference (RFI). It is a timely activity now as the increased sensitivity of radio astronomy instruments, as well as greater use of the radio spectrum by active users emitting radio waves, both lead to the active services having an ever increasing impact on the possibility of radio astronomers making any use of the radio spectrum. One example of the need for such access is afforded by the current hunt for the highly red-shifted signature expected from the re-ionization of neutral hydrogen in the early Universe, which is anticipated to fall within the 50 – 150 MHz range used by many transmitters. This hunt hopes to pin down an important detail in the early development of our Universe, soon after the big bang, around the onset of star and galaxy formation. Many US astronomers are currently devoting much intense effort to this search. This meeting is the third devoted to the topic (the most recent previous meeting was in 2004). It attracted 72 participants and 40 contributions. The present NSF award of $10,500 covered the international travel costs of 9 US participants, who made 8 presentations, or 75% of US contributions. The award was specifically targeted at enabling a substantial number of junior researchers to attend the workshop, as the purpose of the award was to encourage the participation of groups traditionally under-represented at such meetings and to encourage youthful participants to pursue goals that will grow the field. Indeed successful mitigation is an enabling technology for both active and passive use of the radio spectrum. Spectrum managers on behalf of radio astronomers negotiate their needs with colleagues from the active services at the International Telegraphic Union (ITU) in Geneva. In a world where astronomical facilities expect to operate amidst signals from the active services, it is necessary to report to the ITU every 3-4 years or so on new developments and implement-ations of RFI mitigation at observatories. This meeting helps us to satisfy these needs, provides a forum for those working in the field to meet and exchange ideas, and helps to seed further progress.
