IceCube Neutrino Observatory Maintenance and Operations

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ANT-063986 IceCube Maintenance and OperationsPI: Francis Halzen, University of Wisconsin-MadisonThe IceCube Neutrino Detector/Telescope project is international in scope, with foreign partners from Belgium, Germany, and Sweden contributing to the detector construction and planning to contribute to the M&O effort. Following very successful construction seasons at the South Pole in 2004-2007, 30% of the planned IceCube array Digital Optical Modules (DOMs) are now deployed in the deep ice at Pole, and is now capable of limited operations for science. Even at 30% completion, IceCube is the first of a next-generation of neutrino telescopes capable of reaching exposures required to detect sources of cosmic neutrinos with energies ranging from tera-electron volts to tens of peta-electron volts, with some reach to exa-electron volts and beyond. The proposed M&O award would provide infrastructure needed to: (1) maintain and operate the IceCube Neutrino Detector; (2) maintain and upgrade the software and computing support required for data analysis; (3) ensure the integrity of the collected data; (4) support specific research & development (R&D) efforts to optimize the existing detector and to manage the technical interfaces with potential expansions of the existing array; (5) provide support for a core central staff to ensure continuity of operations; and 6) coordinate education and outreach activities. Support would include funding for operation of IceCube systems at the South Pole Station and central M&O activities in the U.S. institutions. Since IceCube is an international project, the cost of M&O is to be born by agreement on a pro rata basis using the number of PhD researchers supported by the U.S. and non-U.S. funding agencies, using either cash or in-kind services. Broader impacts of the proposed project cover three important areas: science and scientific infrastructure beyond current detector construction, computing and data management in remote and distributed environments, and education and outreach.