Management, Operations, and Associated Projects for the National Solar Observatory

根据这项合作协议的条款，大学天文学研究协会(AURA)公司将代表国家科学基金会和全国太阳物理学家和空间气象研究人员社区管理和运营国家太阳天文台(NSO)和相关项目。AURA将领导美国目前在太阳天文学方面的能力转变，开发一个能够为太阳物理学家提供世界上最先进的太阳望远镜和强大的太阳天气计划的国家天文台。NSO将根据科学价值原则，为基特峰国家天文台和萨克拉门托峰天文台的研究人员提供最先进的设施和科学仪器，以及用户期待的专家内部支持和数据分析工具。在这些天文台上，NSO提供了一系列资产，使太阳物理学家能够探测太阳的各个方面，从太阳内部深处到日冕与行星际介质的界面。NSO通过上述观测站和全球振荡网络小组的六个站，在日震学、太阳可变性的天气观测以及对可见光和红外的太阳大气的高分辨率研究方面发挥了科学和仪器方面的领导作用。这些资产为空间气象研究人员提供了数据，帮助他们努力了解太阳喷发及其对地球和气候的影响，并将这些知识应用于卫星、宇航员、陆地电力系统和地球-S气候的保护。根据美国国家科学基金会的资助决定，先进技术太阳能望远镜(ATST)将在本合作协议期间从设计板移动到山顶。在最高级别，NSO将建立一个研究组合，提供对太阳磁对流、太阳活动的起源以及从太阳内部通过太阳大气进入行星际空间的能量流动的可量化测试。NSO天气计划将提供有关太阳的长期变化及其对人类的影响的数据。该计划的更广泛影响包括根据知识价值向整个太阳能社区提供访问研究设施的机会，存档和分发数据以使任何能够访问互联网的人能够进行未来的调查，以及向学生和教育工作者提供服务和支持。NSO领导着一项广泛的教育计划，面向参观其设施的公众游客、对太阳物理感兴趣的本科生、进行太阳论文研究的研究生，以及需要访问其设施的博士后研究人员。根据这项合作协议的条款，NSO将大力促进代表不足的少数群体和残疾人在太阳物理和空间气象研究方面的进步。

Under terms of this Cooperative Agreement, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. will manage and operate the National Solar Observatory (NSO) and associated projects on behalf of the National Science Foundation and the national communities of solar physicists and space weather researchers. AURA will lead a transformation of current U.S. capabilities in solar astronomy, develop a national observatory able to offer solar physicists access to the foremost solar telescope in the world and to a robust solar synoptic program. NSO will provide forefront facilities and scientific instruments for researchers at Kitt Peak National Observatory and Sacramento Peak Observatory based on the principle of scientific merit, as well as the expert in-house support and data analysis tools that users have come to expect. At these observatories, NSO provides a range of assets that allow solar physicists to probe all aspects of the Sun, from the deep interior to its interface in the corona with the interplanetary medium. NSO provides scientific and instrumentation leadership in helioseismology, synoptic observations of solar variability, and high-resolution studies of the solar atmosphere in the visible and infrared by means of the above observatories and the six stations of the Global Oscillations Network Group. These same assets provide data to space weather researchers in their efforts to understand solar eruptions and their effect upon Earth and its climate and to apply that knowledge to the protection of satellites, astronauts, land-based power systems, and Earth?s climate. Contingent on an NSF decision to fund it, the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will move from the drawing boards to the mountaintop during the duration of this Cooperative Agreement. At the highest level NSO will enable a research portfolio that will provide quantifiable tests of solar magneto-convection, the origins of solar activity, and the flow of energy from the solar interior through the solar atmosphere and into interplanetary space. NSO synoptic programs will provide data on the long-term variability of the Sun and its consequences for humanity. Broader impacts of this program include providing access to research facilities to the entire solar community on the basis of intellectual merit, archiving and distribution of data to enable future investigations by anyone with access to the Internet, and services and support provided to students and educators. NSO leads a broad program in education for public visitors to its facilities, undergraduates interested in solar physics, graduate students conducting dissertation research on the Sun, and postdoctoral researchers needing access to its facilities. Under terms of this Cooperative Agreement, NSO will vigorously promote the advancement of under-represented minorities and persons with disabilities in solar physics and space weather research.