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Table of Contents

1. Science/Technical Highlight (Anyone)

A paper entitled: Magnetic Fields in Solar Plage Regions: Insights from High-sensitivity Spectropolarimetry by da Silva Santos, J. M., was accepted and published on September 7, 2023. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/acf21f/pdf

This research was led by J. da Silva Santos of the National Solar Observatory and included collaborators from NSO and the University of Colorado, Boulder. From the abstract:

“Plage regions are patches of concentrated magnetic field in the Sun’s atmosphere where hot coronal loops are rooted. While previous studies have shed light on the properties of plage magnetic fields in the photosphere, there are still challenges in measuring the overlying chromospheric magnetic fields, which are crucial to understanding the overall heating and dynamics. Here, we utilize high-sensitivity, spectropolarimetric data obtained by the 4 meter Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope to investigate the dynamic environment and magnetic field stratification of an extended, decaying plage region. The data show strong circular polarization signals in both plage cores and surrounding fibrils. Notably, weak linear polarization signals clearly differentiate between plage patches and the fibril canopy, where they are relatively stronger. Inversions of the Ca II 8542 Å spectra show an imprint of the fibrils in the chromospheric magnetic field, with typical field strength values ranging from ∼200 to 300 G in fibrils. We confirm the weak correlation between field strength and cooling rates in the lower chromosphere. Additionally, we observe supersonic downflows and strong velocity gradients in the plage periphery, indicating dynamical processes occurring in the chromosphere.”

Below is Figure 2 from the paper showing the total intensity, circular, and linear polarization in the fibril region.

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2. Photos (Anyone)

3. Directorate (Thomas and Dave)

3.1 Activities

• NSF CA/CSA renewal

  • Following the August meetings with NSF regarding the renewal of the Cooperative Agreement (CA) and Cooperative Support Agreement (CSA), T. Rimmele and D. Boboltz consulted with the NSO Director on the impacts of the various plans and timelines for required NSF reports, proposals and reviews including:

    • The NSO Annual Progress Report (APR) for FY23, due November 2023 and the NSO Annual Program Plan for FY24, due January 2024.

    • A 1 (or possibly 2) year extension of the current CA/CSA for management of NSO.

    • Preparation of a Concept of Operations (ConOps) document and subsequent NSF external review.

    • Preparation of a 5-year proposal for the renewal of the CA/CSA for management of NSO.

• DKIST Cycle 3 call for proposals

  • D. Boboltz prepared a release for Solar News notifying the community of the delayed timeline for Cycle 3 and the move to a new annual schedule for DKIST that includes an extended winter engineering and maintenance period. This release is being reviewed internally.

• SOLARNET meeting

  • T. Rimmele attended the SOLARNET Congress “Sun in Science and Society”, September 11-15, 2023 in Venice/Mestre (Italy) and presented an overview of the status of DKIST.

• Boulder Solar Day

  • T. Rimmele and D. Boboltz along with other DKIST staff members attended Boulder Solar Day, September 29 at the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder. T. Schad and D. Kuridze presented recent results from DKIST.

• AURA Solar Observatory Council (SOC) meeting preparations

  • T. Rimmele prepared a DKIST overview talk for the SOC meeting and D. Boboltz prepared a talk on the DKIST Data Center with input from B. Tawa and A. Davey.

3.2 Financial Status

• DKIST operations carried forward approximately $28.16M in unencumbered funds into FY 2023 from previous years.  A total of $11.9M in new funding has been obligated by NSF thus far in FY 2023 for a total funding amount of $40.06M.

• Financial status of Aug 31, 2023

  • DKIST operational expenditures for August 2023 were $3.05M

  • Total YTD expenditures for DKIST operations are $26.30M.

  • The average DKIST spending for FY 2023 (burn rate; BR) is $2.39M / month.

4. Science Operations (Ali and Andres)

4.1 Status of Observing

• The fourth observing window (OCP2.4) closed on Sep 8, 2023.

• The fifth observing window (OCP2.5) opened on Sep 26, 2023 (and will close on Nov 3, 2023).

• Sep 26, 2023 was spent on ViSP external focus verification (on-sun activity, Instrumentation Group) and a Cryo-NIRSP straylight mitigation improvement (on-sun activity, Instrumentation Group).

4.1.1 Regular Cycle Observing

Screenshots of the Quality Assurance Displays showing VBI-Blue filter data obtained during observations performed on Sep 27, 2023.

4.1.2 Solar Orbiter Co-Observing

• DDT proposals for the co-observing with Solar Orbiter in October 2023 were finalized, approved, and submitted. These proposals were prepared and developed by DKIST scientists in collaboration with the Solar Orbiter team. It should be mentioned that for this October campaign also the IRIS team was included. Note that DDT data are made available to the community immediately without a proprietary period.

• The respective experiments were created and end-to-end tested on the simulator by DKIST scientists.

4.1.3 Parker Solar Probe Co-Observing

N/A.

4.2 Observing Planning

• The Mid-Term-Plan (MTP2.5) for the fifth observing window (OCP2.5, opening on Sep 26, 2023) was prepared and published.

• OCP2.5 is dedicated to the FIDO configuration 1b.

• Email was sent to inform Cycle 2 Proposers of accepted proposals about the opening of OCP2.5. Proposers are typically informed about the opening of a new observing window 1 week prior opening.

• Short Term Planning (STP) meetings were prepared and held with the Resident Scientist team on Sep 1, 2023(STP2.4.6), Sep 22, 2023(STP2.5.1), and Sep 29, 2023 (STP2.5.2). Short-Term-Planning meetings are held every Friday during an observing window starting the Friday prior opening of the respective observing window.

• FIDO1b experiments had to be revised and resent to the summit prior opening of the OCP2.5 window (DL-NIRSP IR2 not operational at the start of OCP2.5).

4.3 Science Operations Schedule and Training Activities

• Daily schedule during the OCP2.5 observing window (Sep 25, 2023 - Nov 3, 2023):

  • Arrive at DSSC (carpools): 5:45am

  • Leaving DSSC: 6:00am

  • Arriving at site: 7:00am

  • Start Observatory Shutdown: 2:00pm

  • Leaving site: 3:30pm

  • Arrive at DSSC (end of day): 4:30pm

• Science Operations schedules two Science Operations Specialists (SOS), and one Resident Scientist (RS) to support daily science operations at the summit.

• One Boulder Scientist participated in training as a Resident Scientist.

4.4 Science Operations Specialists

• The SOS team used the DKIST simulator to practice pointing and instrument alignment for some of the FIDO 1b and Cryo-NIRSP experiments in preparation for OCP2.5

• The SOS team held a debriefing discussion about OCP2.4 activities, problems, and lessons learned. After the discussion, new documentation was created or updated. New procedures (or new versions) were reviewed and now are available official for operations:

  • https://nso.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SGO/pages/2224095283

  • https://nso.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SGO/pages/2117173363

  • https://nso.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SGO/pages/2273083547

  • https://nso.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SGO/pages/2006777994

  • https://nso.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SGO/pages/2317680729

4.5 Cycle Preparation

• Preparations for the Cycle 3 Call are ramping up.

  • Timeline discussions and meetings were held.

  • Discussions about the definition of what can be offered regarding the instruments capabilities and light distribution (FIDO configuration) have started.

4.6 Experiment Generation

• The Cycle 2 experiment generation process has been completed. Nothing new to report.

4.7 Science Operations Management

• Science Operations Specialist hiring process:

  • We received 79 applicants in 5 weeks that the position was open.

  • Seven candidates selected for Zoom interviews planned to start Oct 18, 2023.

  • Hiring committee kick-off meeting to discuss the candidates, Zoom interview format, list of standard questions and evaluation system.

• Developing a Jira Project to manage Science Operations staff training activities.

4.8 Science Operations Tools

• Ops tools and HLS staff met several times over the month of September to define prospective changes to the OT/HLS Interface Control Document. The original ICD was crafted at a time when uncertainty with respect to what data would be needed on either side was prevalent, since the system as a whole had never been operated. Now that the Ops tools have been built and used to guide the telescope operations, the knowledge gained about what in the ICD was useful, what was not, what was missing, and what was problematic has informed these meetings. A new draft ICD, with significant changes, will be developed sometime in October for review by the relevant parties.

• The Operations Monitoring and Planning Tool (OPMT) update from Vue 2 to React continued. This upgrade was initiated due to uncertainty regarding the long-term prospects of the Vue product, and the difficulty of changing from Vue 2 to Vue 3 which was done with the Proposal Architect. it is expected that this transition (OPMT V2 Beta) will be complete in early October for use/assessment/test by the SciOps team.

• New terraform scripts were generated to create separate environments within AWS for production, development, and test stacks. Currently, all the stacks are built within the same environment, which is not a best practice. The expectation is that new environment will be built, provisioned and tested in October.

• Some significant work has been also done regards the observing scripts. We are using one standard observing program script executed at the summit to performing observations and acquiring data. That script has been substantially updated. The new script version is in the process of being tested on the OpsTools development platform.

4.8.1 Management

• DKIST Ops tools and Data Center staff interviewed seven candidates in the month of September for a senior software engineer to work on operations tools.

5 Technical Operations (Heather and Paul)

5.1 Site & Facility Status

• Completed OCP2.4, on-sun period covering July-August-September, which concludes the summer early observing crew shift rotation for this year. Executed 2023E Fall Engineering and Maintenance period of approximately 2 weeks, with TechOps primary goals to prepare the Observatory for winter, and complete commissioning of replacement Chiller #1. Prepared observatory through “shake-and-bake” process, with support of SciOps SOS and InstOps HLS, for OCP2.5.

• Preparations for the new Fiscal Year are coming to fruition, including order request tools, budget tracking sheets, and budget authority delegation to site group leads.

• Met with a local contractor, who will be constructing an industrial/mixed use building near Costco in the coming year. This may be an attractive option for protected long-term storage, with transfer of our materials from container storage elsewhere on Maui. Further discussions and pricing will be required, and coordinated with AURA/NSF.

• With authorization from AURA Property department, surplus insulation materials are being donated to Maui Habitat for Humanity

• Working with AURA Contracts to proceed with contracting design of an Auxiliary Building near the DSSC, scope to include material storage, photovoltaic panels and battery storage, and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure adjacent to the DSSC facility.

• Preparation for winter engineering and maintenance, including but not limited to

  • Final enclosure azimuth rail section re-leveling

  • Coolant supply to WFC and VTF electronics racks, cable tray and interconnects for VTF

  • Coolant supply to DL-NIRSP IFU

5.2 Site & Facility Repairs, Improvements & Upgrades

• Exterior painting on the enclosure shutter and -X side, executed as weather permitted during the May, July, and September completed. No further exterior painting is planned until next summer, due to the surface temperature requirements of the special low-emissivity, low-absorptivity paint required to minimize shell seeing.

• A quotation and requisition has been placed to purchase DKIST’s first Hybrid-Electric fleet vehicle

• Site Radios have been refreshed, signal repeater/booster deployed to Utility Building to improve coverage, and fixed base stations placed at the Coude Control Room, Coude Lab, Stair 3, and Entry.

• We are in the process of purchasing an optical bench to outfit the onsite Instrument Prep Lab with a metrology/inspection station.

5.3 Electrical/Electronics/PLC & Facility Management System

5.3.1 Highlights of Recurring Preventative Maintenance Performed in September

• Generator Annual Preventive Maintenance

• Mount Cable Wraps quarterly tension adjustments

• Coude Cable Wraps quarterly tension adjustments

• Unit Heaters annual Electrical PM, Big A Fans Annual Electrical PM

• Motion Control Cabinets Preventive Maintenance Inspections

5.3.2 System Repairs & Upgrades

• Elevator and LULA (Limited Use, Limited Access) lift nonconformance repairs were completed and both lifts have been returned to usage. Formal 3rd party inspections are scheduled for October.

• Preparing for VTF Instrument arrival, including identification of cable trays and additional interconnects

• Ephemeris Safety Encoder final testing and deployment. The higher capacity safety processor was installed in March, and the system, including new high-resolution SIL-3 rated encoders, has been tested passively for the last ~5 months. The safety function has now been deployed, verified, and validated.

• Human-Machine Interface (HMI) screens have been updated in association with the new chiller #1 control modes, and HMI screens integrating with facility lighting controls are in progress (see below).

• An internal review was held for an upgrade to the automate the enclosure ventilation gates. Based on this design, parts will be ordered to prototype the design in 4 of the vent gate control cabinets (see below).

5.4 Mechanical/Thermal

5.4.1 Highlights of Recurring Preventative Maintenance performed in September

• Ice Tanks semi-annual maintenance and level recalibration

• Quarterly pump maintenance

• During the PFLOW 2-year Maintenance an un-torqued joint was identified (see photo below left). Remediation is underway.

• A leak inside the M1 Cell, one of the liquid-to-air heat exchangers, was discovered during the M1 Blower System preventive maintenance inspection (see photo below right). The leak was addressed sufficiently to proceed with the upcoming observing run but will require further repairs during the upcoming Nov/Dec winter engineering period.

5.4.2 System Upgrades

• The new and improved Primary Chiller #1 (CH1) has been installed and is operational (see below). No faults were detected on this chiller during September, so we are proceeding to decommission and begin removal of Chiller #2, with replacement, re-piping, power, and controls planned during Oct-Nov, and contractor commissioning visit planned for December.

• Mech Techs assisted Instrumentation Group with installation of ViSP Instrument Baffles.

• Piping Insulation Contract progress at TMW2, Enclosure AHU TMW and HW piping

• Computer Room secondary cooling circuit

• TMW/THW Encl Az Wrap hoses

• Door 108A Vestibule Design 100% Complete. A Statement of Work has been drafted in preparation for a Request for Quotes (RFQ).

• A permanent custom ladder, with ladder-up grab post, at top-of-enclosure hatch, was completed in September (see drawing and photo below).

5.5 Opto-Mechanical

• Preventive Maintenance Highlights include M1 and upper feed optics snow cleaning, Coudé optics N2 cleaning (twice each in September)

• Completed installation of the final three re-worked mount azimuth control cabinets, with vibration mitigations installed on the heat exchanger fans. Reconnected facility coolant to these cabinets.

• The Opto-Mechanical team, in collaboration with the Optical System Scientist, have determined that the M3 spare coating does not meet our requirements, so it will be returned for strip and recoat, after we perform hydrostatic testing of the channels and fittings.

• Collected vibration data in the background of SciOps and Instrument Testing, and in collaboration with the Instrumentation Group, to assess the impact of Coudé Environmental System (CES) Airflow, in addition to data collection of particulate count in the Coudé Lab cleanroom environment to assess impact of reducing airflow/positive pressure on the cleanroom.

• The accelerometer array was augmented at the ViSP and VBI tables, and additional coax cables interconnected, to assess vibration propagation in the Coudé Lab.

• Heat Stop reflector - back panel to CO for potential refurb, new copper facesheet to be fabricated. The used facesheet surface quality will be inspected using XXXX [daveH fancy thing, need to check name], then subjected to cleaning technique testing.

• TechOps and InstOps staff revised the Facility Instrument Distribution Optics (FIDO) Configuration to 1B, in preparation for OCP2.5 Observing Window

• Performed M2 Fast Tip-Tilt system testing with online support from the manufacturer, and with online collaboration of InstOps group WaveFront Correction (WFC) engineer.

• Recalibration and recertification of theodolites and interferometer in progress at respective vendors.

5.6 Management

5.6.1 Recruitment & Training

• The Mechanical Technician hire did not conclude as planned, due to an delay in delivery and insufficiency of the relocation package. A renegotiated start date of Spring 2024 is now targeted.

• The Maintenance Technician onsite interview, rescheduled from August wildfire shutdown, was conducted and we are working with AURA HR to make an offer.

• No suitable new applicants for Mechanical Tech, Electrical Tech, or Mech Tech Supervisor.

• Crane Operator and Rigging and Handling training / recertification was conducted for Mechanical Techs, Electrical Techs, and cross section of engineering staff.

5.6.2 Environmental Safety & Health

• September Monthly Safety Briefing - Fire Extinguisher Usage - was held this month.

• No OSHA Incidents, Accidents or Near-Hits were reported this month.

5.6.3 Observatory Community Service, Broadening Participation

• DKIST staff met with representatives from the GMTO Enclosure Engineering team and their consulting firm to show them the DKIST enclosure and facility and discuss lessons learned from design, integration, and construction (see photos below).

• An informal collaboration commenced with TMT Systems Engineering group, to share best practices and lessons learned.

6 Instrumentation Operations (Bret, Friedrich, and Dave H.)

6.1 Optics

6.1.1 System Optics

• M3 Spare coating samples were sent for ellipsometetric measurement along with a large batch of system optics (M2 through M10) for ongoing system coating model monitoring. Both the polarization system model and the flux budget will be updated accordingly. Additional cleaning information was collected from the vendor for testing on large samples coated along with the M3 Spare.

• The DSSC custom lab metrology system light source upgrade verification continues. Additional measurements show high spectral resolving power at sensitivity levels of parts-per-million level (OD6) are achievable, in some wavelengths achieving 10 parts per billion noise floor (OD8). Filter design verification at levels of for instrument filters is an ongoing effort. An example comparing Cryo-NIRSP filter theory to delivered optics is below. NDSP6 is the 6-simultaneous-spectrograph DSSC lab metrology system.
  

6.1.2 Facility Instrument Distribution Optics (FIDO)

• The GS50T950 beam splitter has shipped to Maui.

• The redward drift of FIDO coating performance identified during ViSP 486nm observations is being assessed with additional ellipsometric data on coating witness samples. Additional metrology at the vendor is also being performed and processed by the DKIST team.

• The GS30T500 back side AR coating was done and coating stress interferometry data collected. The front side dichroic coating was adjusted to be slightly thicker per spectral metrology results. Stress test coatings are scheduled for next month.

• The contract for the LBS940 and G30T500 beamsplitters has been signed.

6.1.3 Polarization Analysis and Calibration (PA&C)

• Coating development is progressing on the fringe-suppressed Cryo-NIRSP modulator upgrade project. Multiple additional coating runs are being done and assessed by the DKIST team to attempt fringe suppression at specific spectral line wavelengths.

• The MgF2 optical contact bonding post-fluid-jet-deterministic-polish (FJP) project received the first round of polished crystals for assessment at the DSSC Maui labs in our custom built spectropolarimeter (NDSP). Polishing results seem to indicate some anomalous polishing rates and similar non-uniform material properties. Our 4D PhaseCam profilometer was used to measure the surface micro-roughness impacts from the FJP processs. Assessment and data analysis is ongoing. An optical contact bond test will be performed in the coming weeks.

• The upgraded NDSP lab spectropolarimeter was used to measure the very large (160x90mm) retarder received from deterministic fluid jet polishing and zero-heat ion assist coatings. This retarder is part of the ViSP beam balancing project for mitigation of grating induced polarization using DKIST-team created retarder designs. Additional progress was made at the vendor in fabrication of a set of smaller retarders (98x58mm) also required as part of this upgrade project. The DKIST team played an active part in re-optimizing the designs and doing manufacturing tolerance analysis.

6.2 Summit Instrumentation

6.2.1 Instrument Systems

• Several hours of vibration monitoring was done September 7th and 8th. This included data with the Vibrometer mounted on the ViSP bench, wavefront telemetry data, and mechanical accelerometer data taken in coordination with TechOps team. The air handling units (AHUs) were run at various speeds and various equipment was switched off/on. Ongoing analysis of the combined data sets will assist with vibration assessment.

• The November/December engineering plan has been created for instrumentation work during this period. The Instrument Group is planning to use multiple weekends for engineering tasks.

6.2.2 Wavefront Correction System (WFS)

• Additional vibration data was collected by the WFS in support of the Instrument System vibration program.

• A plan has been devised to mitigate the 100Hz vibration of the HOAO fans. Implementation will occur in November.
  
  

• Additional data has been collected and the results implemented to improve the pointing of the light beam to the instruments, especially to the Cryo-NIRSP.

6.2.3 Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP)

• The gearbox issue for arm 3 has been resolved during the September engineering period.

• Spectral throughput spatial mapping data was collected in the DSSC labs using our custom metrology tools. The vendor data package was collected for all new spare filters as well as the original filter set. Analysis of this large data package is ongoing as it informed the low throughput detected in 486nm measurements some months ago.

• Additional light baffling has been installed on the instrument to reduce stray light.

6.2.4 Diffraction Limited Near-Infrared Spectro-Polarimeter (DL-NIRSP)

• Some cold filters and samples have been sent to an outside vendor for long wave IR throughput measurements. Analysis of the DSSC data package on filter spatial transmission and blocking is ongoing.

• A diffused, F/24 three-laser-wavelength alignment setup for MISI-36 (36µm Machined Image Slicer IFU) has been prototyped, and laser safety procedure discussions begun.

• MISI-36 lab acceptance testing results have been reviewed and approved. Final plans and procedures have been created for the installation of MISI-36 into the instrument in November.

6.2.5 Cryogenic Near-Infrared Spectro-Polarimeter (Cryo-NIRSP)

• Cryo-NIRSP synchronization between the modulator and camera has been improved.

• A final design for an improved warm filter wheel has been approved.

6.2.6 Visible Broadband Imager

• Improved out-of-band blocking for VBI is required when the upgraded FIDO grey beamsplitters are used. The final production dichroic bandpass blocking filters for VBI-Red were received at the DSSC. Initial measurements of optical density, filter spatial variation, and part-to-part performance variation have begun.

• A set of prototype dichroic blocking filters for VBI-Blue were received. DSSC lab metrology was performed and adjustments to the coating design suggested to the vendor. Given possible coating throughput limitations, a SPEC document was developed and distributed to other vendors for quote.

• The decision was made to temporarily transfer raw VBI data to Boulder for speckle reconstruction.

6.7 Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO)

• The electronics for the 4 km Deformable Mirror have been completed. Polishing of the mirror surface is ongoing.

• Initial test reports for the high-speed PCO cameras have been delivered.

6.8 High Level Software (HLS)

• Pono-3 release was deployed.

• Remote HLS support for on-sun campaigns has been a success.

• Interface with the Data Center for the speckle reconstruction data has been defined.

6.9 Infrared Cameras

• First short wave infra-red detectors have completed fabrication and are entering testing.

• The Operation Concepts Definition document for the IR cameras has been created. This will be used to define the IR camera controller specifications.

7 Data Center Operations (Bob and Alisdair)

7.1 Hardware Infrastructure

• Continued racking HW received in the 2023 by as it arrives from the warehouse. this includes applying asset tags for future tracking.

7.2 Software Infrastructure

7.2.1 Data Center

• Updated Processing Workers with expanded memory to allow the Cryo-NIRSP pipeline to run to completion. Previous memory allocations were insufficient and caused the pipeline to error out due to running out of memory

• Started working with the HLS group to design a data packaging method that would be used to transport Wavefront correction data to the DC and to the VBI processing team for use with the VBI and VTF data pipelines. Once the packaging and transport method are agreed to, the the ICD between the HLS and DC will be updated to reflect the additional data to be transmitted/received.

• Continued working on creating data reprocessing policies and processes. Policies decided upon so far include the number of past (superseded) data sets to be kept, how the reprocessed datasets should be linked to previous versions, and how changes should be publicized. Currently the process is in the design phase, meaning scoping out the software changes required to implement the policies.

7.2.2 Portal/Archive/Public

• Update the public caveats page to include issues found in the ASDF (Advanced Scientific Data Format) files.

7.3 Science Data Processing

7.3.1 Calibration Pipelines

• Completed the Beta version of the CryoNIRSP pipeline and began processing data for the science team to assess. The pipeline will be updated as comments and suggestions are posted by the science team.

7.3.2 Data Released

• There were a total of 80 data sets released to their PIs and a total of 28 data sets released to the public this month.

DataSets Released to PIs

Datasets Made Public