[unav_all] Fwd: SAFOD operations and maintenance

[Meghan Miller]

UNAVCO Community Members,

It has come to my attention that you might be interested in this  
posting summarizing some aspects of UNAVCO's management of the SAFOD  
sub-awards.  If you have a continuing interest in this topic, please  
subscribe to "Safod" at:

http://ls.unavco.org/mailman/listinfo

This list is moderated to eliminate spam.

Best,

Meghan
**********************

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Meghan Miller <meghan at unavco.org>
> Date: December 2, 2009 4:30:44 PM MST
> To: safod at ls.unavco.org
> Subject: SAFOD operations and maintenance
>
> Dear Colleague,
>
> This message has several purposes:
> 	• ·      establish a forum for facilities issues related to the  
> Operations and Maintenance phase of the San Andreas Fault  
> Observatory at Depth,
> 	• ·      provide you with an update of SAFOD management,
> 	• ·      inquire about your potential interest in providing  
> community perspective to support SAFOD management through UNAVCO  
> governance, and
> 	• ·      inform you of some upcoming events at the AGU Fall Meeting  
> relating to SAFOD and UNAVCO.
>
> The SAFOD list service is a moderated list that is intended to  
> provide community information on SAFOD operations and maintenance.   
> It is unlikely to have high volumes of email traffic, and we make  
> every effort to restrict messages to important issues.
>
> As you may know, early in 2008 the SAFOD leadership approached NSF  
> and the EarthScope Management Team (EMT) with a proposal that  
> Stanford University withdraw from the Operations and Maintenance  
> (O&M) phase of the NSF-EarthSope SAFOD award, and a request to  
> develop an alternate plan for operations and maintenance.  As a  
> result of this request, UNAVCO was asked to manage the SAFOD O&M  
> subawards.  How this decision was reached is detailed in the  
> attached announcement that was made to the UNAVCO community last  
> fall.   UNAVCO continues to work in close partnership with the USGS,  
> which manages the observatory site and the pilot hole, and provides  
> technical advice on a variety of issues.
>
> UNAVCO's primary role in SAFOD O&M is to operate and maintain the  
> facility in order to support the SAFOD science community that is  
> funded by the EarthScope Program.  We do this by providing facility  
> management, engineering, and data services.  This work is being  
> managed through the Plate Boundary Observatory project  
> infrastructure in place at UNAVCO, with Mike Jackson and David  
> Mencin in the lead of operations, under my direction as the NSF  
> Principal Investigator for the EarthScope award.    Consistent with  
> UNAVCO's project and facilities management structure, a SAFOD  
> Advisory Committee was established to represent the investigator  
> community. UNAVCO’s SAFOD Advisory Committee includes Brian Evans,  
> Michael Gross, Chris Marone, Elizabeth Screaton, Jaime Steidl, and  
> John Vidale.  Ian Macgregor is the Board Liaison.
>
> Some of you have asked about enhancements to the MREFC (October  
> 2008) design benchmark, and the mechanisms through which the  
> community could come forward with a facility proposal.  In  
> consultation with the sponsor and UNAVCO governance, the current  
> plan is to seek funding to stabilize the working observatory first.   
> Any enhancements - beyond operations and maintenance as it is  
> currently scoped and the proposed refurbishment if funded – could be  
> planned once that goal is achieved.
>
> There will be an update for the Facility at the EarthScope Town Hall  
> at AGU [Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 7:30 p.m., Moscone West, Room  
> 2003].  You can help us by indicating your willingness to serve in  
> advisory roles as the project evolves, and by attending the  
> EarthScope Town Hall.
>
> The scope of our current agreement is to manage subawards for data  
> flow from the borehole strain meter and seismometers as data are  
> available, the core repository, for and for equipment refurbishment  
> on a periodic basis as funds accrue for that purpose. We are  
> currently working on a request to NSF that would restore seismic  
> monitoring capability sooner than the current award provided for,  
> and with enhanced risk management.
>
> Some of you are not familiar with UNAVCO, a member-governed  
> university consortium that facilitates geoscience research and  
> education using geodesy, with core support from NSF and NASA.    Our  
> membership includes 87 NSF- and NASA-eligible academic institutions  
> as well as 61 associate members, other organizations that share our  
> mission.  We provide planning, field engineering, equipment, and  
> data services to the geodesy community in support of P.I. research,  
> education, and broader impacts.  You can learn more about us by  
> visiting www.unavco.org, coming by the UNAVCO Booth at AGU, or  
> attending the AGU Geodesy reception on December 15 in Moscone South,  
> Room 220 at 6:30 p.m.
>
> Regards,
>
> Meghan
> **********************
> M. Meghan Miller
> President, UNAVCO
> 6350 Nautilus Drive
> Boulder, CO  80301
>
> Voice:  303/381-7514
> By cell:  720/320-0026
> Fax:  303/381-7501
> meghan at unavco.org
>
> Save the date:            March 9 - 11, 2010
> UNAVCO Science Workshop
>
>
>
>
>
> Forwarded message from October, 2008
> ***************************************************
> From: Meghan Miller <meghan at unavco.org>
> Date: October 31, 2008 1:00:17 PM MDT
> To: Unavco All Listserv <unav_all at ls.unavco.org>
> Subject: SAFOD operations and maintenance
>
> UNAVCO Community,
>
> I am writing to tell you of a change in the plan for Operations and  
> Maintenance for the EarthScope Program.
>
> Earlier this year, the SAFOD leadership approached NSF and the  
> EarthScope Management Team (EMT) with a proposal that Stanford  
> University withdraw from the O&M phase of SAFOD, and a request to  
> develop an alternate plan for operations and maintenance.  Because  
> of the timing (after review of the EarthScope O&M proposal was  
> complete) it was not possible to add new institutions to the  
> EarthScope O&M award in a PI role.  The SAFOD leadership was asked  
> to prepare an alternate plan given this constraint.
>
> After consultation, SAFOD recommended that UNAVCO (1) manage the  
> subcontractors carrying out the SAFOD O&M activities, (2) provide an  
> organizational home for a SAFOD Advisory Committee, and (3) manage  
> the plan for drill string instrument replacement, now scheduled for  
> 2013.
>
> After review by the EMT and approval by the UNAVCO Board, NSF  
> accepted this recommendation and directed the O&M award for SAFOD  
> subcontractor tasking and management to UNAVCO.   There is no change  
> in the fiscal constraints or scope of activities due to this  
> transition.  The timing of the drill string replacement schedule  
> continues to be budget constrained.  Any plans for new EarthScope  
> instruments, technology development, or enhanced monitoring would  
> need to come forward in a new proposal.
>
> We express our great thanks to the SAFOD team for their exceptional  
> efforts under the MREFC phase of EarthScope.  I am particularly  
> grateful to the EMT and to NSF for ensuring a smooth transition to  
> EarthScope O&M.  We look forward to working with the SAFOD community  
> on this project.
>