CU News
News from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
CU wins solar observatory HQ
Sep 30th
CU-BOULDER WINS BID TO HOST NATIONAL
SOLAR OBSERVATORY HEADQUARTERS
SOLAR OBSERVATORY HEADQUARTERS
The University of Colorado Boulder was selected today to host the headquarters for the National Solar Observatory, the nation’s leading scientific research program in ground-based solar astronomy.
The National Solar Observatory, or NSO, provides scientists access to the world’s largest collection of optical and infrared solar telescopes and auxiliary instruments to observe the sun in detail. NSO scientists conduct theoretical and observational research focused on understanding the underlying causes of solar variability and its impact on the Earth and the Earth’s space environment.
NSO is operated under the auspices of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, or AURA, on behalf of the National Science Foundation, with key observing facilities in New Mexico and Arizona, and is currently leading the effort to build the 4-meter Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, a technological innovation scheduled to begin observations from Haleakala on Hawaii’s Maui island in 2016.
In April 2011, CU-Boulder was selected as one of two finalists along with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. CU-Boulder partnered with the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Hawaii on the winning bid and will implement a collaborative graduate education program that will enhance the role of NSO in research and education on a national level.
“We are delighted to be named host of the National Solar Observatory, which is of great importance to the nation and world in terms of better understanding solar physics and space weather,” said CU-Boulder Provost Russell Moore, who submitted the proposal on behalf of the university. “Landing this vital research center is a testimony to the strength of CU-Boulder’s world-class faculty in space science and solar research, the support of the city of Boulder’s leadership, and the vital assistance and support of Congressmen Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis and U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennett.”
Stein Sture, vice chancellor for research at CU-Boulder, echoed Moore, saying that the NSO’s presence will benefit CU’s research and teaching mission in dynamic ways.
“As one of the world’s leading institutions in solar research, we now will have even greater access to ground-based observing facilities and will be able to continue to provide unrivaled opportunities for our students and research scientists alike,” said Sture.
The NSO’s mission is to advance knowledge of the sun both as an astronomical object and as the dominant external influence on Earth by providing forefront observational opportunities to the research community. The mission includes the operation of cutting-edge facilities and the continued development of advanced instrumentation both in-house and through partnerships, as well as conducting solar research and educational and public outreach, said Moore.
NSO currently has offices and ground-based observing facilities at Kitt Peak, Ariz., and Sacramento Peak, N.M., which will cease operations when the new Advanced Technology Solar Telescope is completed. The new CU-Boulder headquarters for NSO will be the primary science, instrument development and data analysis site for the new solar telescope.
“The educational and collaborative opportunities that will be enabled by the relocation of the NSO headquarters in Boulder are exceptional,” said Associate Professor Mark Rast of CU-Boulder’s Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and leader of the team that wrote the proposal to AURA. “The sun is the only star close enough to allow detailed observations of magnetic and dynamical processes central to many phenomena in the universe. The NSO’s unique capabilities will add to and augment ongoing efforts in Boulder, ranging from stellar astrophysics and the space environments of extra-solar planets to space weather prediction here at Earth. We are very excited by the possibilities, and thrilled that Boulder was chosen as host.”
Several CU-Boulder departments were involved in the NSO headquarters bid: the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, the Department of Physics and the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. The quality of students in these departments was likely a significant consideration in the decision to bring the NSO headquarters to Boulder, and major research opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students will accompany the NSO move, particularly once the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope comes on line, Rast said.
“Students will have the opportunity to participate in discovery science using a telescope with about 10 times better spatial resolution than the best current space-borne solar imagers,” Rast said.
In addition to the university, Colorado and Boulder offer a host of national laboratories as potential collaborators with the NSO. Other laboratories and centers in Colorado expected to participate and benefit include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Institute for Standards and Technology.
“This is extremely exciting for the university, the state of Colorado and solar scientists around the world,” said LASP Director Dan Baker, an internationally known expert in space physics and space weather. “CU-Boulder researchers have been studying the sun for more than 50 years. Our continued leadership in this area is a tremendous asset for our students. Solar research represents a branch of science that is crucial for our nation’s future. The sun is a driver of Earth’s weather and climate and its extreme behavior can have immense economic and societal consequences through its impact on the space environment.”
The consolidation of NSO into a single site located on CU-Boulder’s East Campus is expected to result in jobs for up to 70 scientists, engineers and staff with an annual payroll of roughly $20 million. The new facility will bolster an already formidable high-tech and aerospace industry in the state. Colorado is third behind California and Washington, D.C., in aerospace industry presence.
“The NSO is an excellent addition to the dynamic research and entrepreneurial activity in Boulder,” said Boulder City Manager Jane Brautigam. “The federal labs and nationally recognized CU-Boulder, combined with an aggressive environment for financing high-tech startups, have made Boulder a hot spot nationally for its intellectual capital and business environment. We are delighted to welcome the NSO to our vibrant community.”
FACT SHEET
NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY
• The National Solar Observatory is the primary provider of key ground-based facilities to the United States solar science community to probe all aspects of the sun. The NSO is operated by the Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy, or AURA, under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation for the benefit of the astronomical community.
• NSO’s mission is to advance the understanding of the sun both as an astronomical object and the dominant external influence on Earth. The mission includes the operation of cutting-edge facilities and the continued development of advanced instrumentation to conduct solar research, education and outreach.
• NSO goals include understanding the mechanisms generating solar cycles, the relationships between the sun’s interior, surface and outer envelope, and events like coronal heating, solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
• NSO currently has offices and observatories in Sunspot and at Sacramento Peak (the Dunn Solar Telescope) in New Mexico and in Tucson and at Kitt Peak (the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope) in Arizona.
• NSO also oversees a community-based research effort called the Global Oscillation Network Group, or GONG, a six-station network that uses helioseismology to continuously observe the sun’s five-minute oscillations from California, Hawaii, Chile, the Canary Islands, India and Australia.
• NSO has begun work on the 4-meter Advanced Technology Solar Telescope that will be placed on the summit of Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii, taking the place of the two primary observing facilities in New Mexico and Arizona. The summit of Haleakala is 10,000 feet in altitude — which is above one-third of Earth’s atmosphere — providing great clarity, dryness and air stillness for precise solar observations.
• AURA is a consortium of universities and other research institutions that operates world-class astronomical observatories. There are 38 U.S. institutions and seven international affiliates. In addition to NSO, AURA manages three other centers – the National Optical Astronomy Observatory at Kitt Peak, Ariz., and Cerra Tololo, Chile; the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; and the AURA Observatory, a complex of Chilean observing facilities.
• The relocation of the NSO headquarters from New Mexico and Arizona to CU-Boulder is not expected to begin until 2016.
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CU’s Android App tweets disaster aid
Sep 28th
CU-DEVELOPED ANDROID APP HELPS
PEOPLE TWEET DURING DISASTERS
PEOPLE TWEET DURING DISASTERS
Just as codes once were developed for public safety communication via citizens band radios, a common language now is being formulated for disaster communication via Twitter — posing a challenge for people who haven’t yet learned or can’t recall it.
Daniel Schaefer, a University of Colorado Boulder doctoral student in communication, recently created a solution to this problem in the form of a software application, or app, for mobile devices. It turns everyday language into a Twitter syntax used during disasters through a special smart phone keyboard.
“Twitter has become popular during disasters because it offers a concise and efficient communication medium,” said Schaefer, who was inspired by the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire near Boulder. “However, a need to standardize the syntaxes used on Twitter has surfaced particularly for the emergency personnel, affected individuals, concerned loved ones, information officers and journalists who use it to provide and monitor information and collaborate on rescue efforts.”
The free app, called the Bucket Brigade Keyboard, is designed for Android devices. It transforms the standard smart phone keyboard display into a keypad of 12 message choices such as “help,” “location” and “request.” When these messages are selected, corresponding tweets — about one’s status, needs and offers to help — are queued for posting online.
“In a disaster, communication and working together can save lives,” said Schaefer. “Just as a bucket brigade fills and passes buckets of water to help put out a fire, this app allows people to fill and pass buckets of tweets to help during a disaster.”
The syntax used in Schaefer’s app — which turns an “I’m Ok” key into “#imok” — is based on a concept devised in 2009 by doctoral student Kate Starbird of CU’s Project EPIC (Empowering the Public with Information in Crisis) research group. The streamlining of disaster-related Twitter communication through Starbird’s idea, called “Tweak the Tweet,” makes the information computationally easier to extract and collate, which can help connect people with needs to responders.
Nearly 3,000 tweets using the Tweak the Tweet syntax were posted in the weeks following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. More than 500 tweets using the syntax were posted in the wake of the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Mo.
During those instances, users manually entered text that now can be deployed with the touch of a button through the Bucket Brigade Keyboard.
The app not only empowers people with a standard language, but also is designed for convenience using accessible technology, according to Schaefer.
“People are going to be holding smart phones during disasters,” he said. “They’re not going to be going to laptop computers or cafés with time to look up the syntax.”
Schaefer entered the Bucket Brigade Keyboard in the Federal Communications Commission’s Apps for Communities contest. The challenge calls for apps that help local government deliver quality-of-life-improving information to populations that are typically disenfranchised or disconnected from broadband communications.
The Bucket Brigade Keyboard has been downloaded in 20 countries.
Schaefer says a planned update to the Bucket Brigade Keyboard will add more Twitter shortcuts to the app, as well as auto-fill and auto-correction features.
For more information on the Bucket Brigade Keyboard visit https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bucketbrigade.softkeyboard&feature=search_result. For information on the Apps for Communities challenge visit http://appsforcommunities.challenge.gov/.
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CU: “Our Hill” gets pilot project
Sep 28th
“Our Hill, Our Home:” Pilot project planned for high-density residential services district
The City of Boulder and a group of engaged University Hill community members are launching a pilot program this fall that will test-drive the creation of a new services district concept in the Hill neighborhood to support ongoing revitalization efforts. The idea of the district is to share costs and create economies of scale for basic maintenance services, such as litter, graffiti and snow removal. The target area is the neighborhood zoned as high-density residential, adjacent to the Hill commercial district.
This concept is one of two “big ideas” presented to City Council in April 2010 by the Hill Ownership Group, an ad-hoc group of University Hill property managers, residents, business owners, CU employees and students, and city staff working together to support neighborhood improvements. The other “big idea” is the creation of an innovative/creative/arts district in the Hill commercial area.
The high-density residential services district is conceptual at this point, with boundaries, services and governance structure still to be determined. The Hill Ownership Group is continuing to explore the concept of a taxing district that could potentially address the following services:
· Litter pickup in the public right of way and potentially, with appropriate waivers, in specific areas on private property, such as front yards;
· Graffiti removal in the public right of way and potentially, with appropriate waivers, on specific types of private property;
· Weed removal in the public right of way;
· Sidewalk snow removal;
· Notification procedures for more serious quality of life offenses;
· A coordinated approach to recycling; and
· Additional trash service pickups at specific times, such as during move in and move out periods.
“Most of the property owners and managers on the Hill are already paying individually for these services. By pooling funds to purchase the same services, the district could create economies of scale,” said Ron Mitchell, Hill property owner and committee member.
The pilot project, which will run from Sept. 30 through Nov. 7, 2011, is designed to gather information and determine whether there are positive effects of coordinated maintenance in a limited area. The area covered by the pilot program will generally be between 10th and 13th streets, and between College and Pleasant avenues. The services provided during the pilot project include litter pick-up, graffiti removal, limited landscaping clean-up, and limited snow removal, depending on weather.
A subcommittee of the Hill Ownership Group is in the process of contacting property owners and managers in the pilot area to inform them of the project and obtain permission to remove litter and graffiti from portions of their properties.
The city will provide supervisory staff, and donated funds will pay for temporary labor and supplies (paint, garbage bags and tools). Sponsors of the pilot project include University of Colorado administration and student government, Roche Colorado, the University Hill Neighborhood Association, Boulder International Youth Hostel, Four Star Realty, Michael Boyers and Western Disposal Services. The pilot will include students from the restorative justice program for a few larger clean-ups. An important component of the pilot project will be documentation of before and after conditions and accounting for budgeting and planning purposes.
If, after the completion of the pilot program, there is support from property owners and residents to create a taxing district, the city will put the concept to a vote. The election, likely to occur in November 2012, would be limited to voters and property owners within the proposed district boundaries.
“This is an idea created by a cross-section of the Hill community, the very people who make the Hill the vibrant and innovative community it is. The city is excited to see what types of impact a residential services district can have,” said Molly Winter, director of Boulder’s Downtown and University Hill Management Division. “We are hopeful that if the Hill is a cleaner and well-kept community, those who live, work and play there will want to become partners in upholding a more desirable quality of life for everyone.”
For more information about the pilot program, the work of the Hill Ownership Group or the possibility of a taxing district, please contact Jennifer Korbelik,
