Standing Committee Meeting Report COCOM

May 2006

IRIS CoCom Recommendations to BoD

Stanford Terrace Inn, Palo Alto, CA
May 3, 2006

Common Budget Format for all Programs

IRIS now has a common budget format in preparing and presenting annual budgets, although the individual programs have yet to implement the format across individual tasks.  Next year, CoCom anticipates building the budgets across individual tasks in each program using the new format.

2006-2007 Budget Request

CoCom approves the following reserve fund budget requests by program, and requests BoD approval.

Carry-over is included in the core budget requests, but is dominated by the subawards, and is being used to forward-fund 2006-2007 subaward requests.

Program Highlights at CoCom

GSN

• New DAS review is complete and a single DAS manufacturer identified.
• An implementation plan for DAS deployment is complete.
• Current IRIS funding level is such that the GSN will have to degrade operations in this and coming years.
• The borehole KS54000 sensors are experiencing increasing failure rates partially due to their age and poor manufacturer quality control on recently purchased systems.
• In view of the lack of STS-1 availability and the KS54000 problems, there is a growing need for low-noise broadband seismometers.
• With the ramping down of EarthScope Backbone construction, senior staff salary paid by EarthScope will shift back to the GSN.

PASSCAL

• There will be a PASSCAL review in the coming year, as suggested by NSF.
• The first step to this review is a proposed workshop to look at the needs for field-processing software and QC for both active and passive source experiments.  Additional items are to keep PASSCAL viable for the next 5 years.
• Under the current IRIS budget there will be a degradation of PASSCAL services in the coming years.
• Damage to sensors, especially STS-2 is a continuing problem.  This is exacerbated by Streckeisen’s refusal to train PASSCAL technicians on STS-2 repair.  Quanterra will be training a technician for local US repairs of STS-2.
• There is a move to CMG-3T because of delivery issues and Guralp’s willingness to train PASSCAL staff in their repair.
• The PASSCAL SC wants to address the optimal size of the total instrument pool by considering both PASSCAL and EarthScope instrumentation.

DMS

• The SC wishes to reexamine sensor calibration issues. 
• The DMS is concerned for sustainability of service issues because of the reduced IRIS budget.
• The DMS wants to expand web services and visualization of data and higher-level data products as a part of their service to both the IRIS and Earth science community in general.  E.g., CMTs.
• The cooperative program with SCEC is ending in October 2006.

E&O

• The draft Educational Seismology Network RFP is almost ready; the final version will be presented to the BoD for approval.
• E&O continues to develop collaborative programs:
  • GeoTeach
  • GLOBE proposal
  • Ohio Educational initiative
• Question for BoD: If E&O is a small participant in a large cooperative proposal, the E&O SC requests BoD guidance on how much Board interaction and/or approval is necessary prior to proposal submission.

Community Activities

• G&A structure is now shared between core programs and EarthScope, resulting in a decrease in the G&A rate for core programs.
• CoCom recommends that KNET funding be transitioned over a 3-year time period to new sources of funding which is consistent with IRIS’ role of facilitating international programs in seismology. To encourage this transition CoCom recommends a $20K decrease in this year’s KNET request, offset by providing 4-5 refurbished Reftek 072A if technical integration within their existing equipment allows.
• CoCom recommends that the proposed International Coordinator take responsibility for these and other emerging programs.
• The International Coordinator has two key tasks:
  • To develop new sources of funding for IRIS;
  • To provide leverage for international organizations and facilities.
• There will be a bi-yearly swing in the community activities budget as a result of IRIS hosting the Annual Workshop in even years, as directed by NSF.
• The new NSF agreement is being funded at approximately 75% level, yet IRIS is moving forward by doing all the work stated in the proposal.  Consideration should be given to producing a statement to NSF as to what can be produced at this level, but not until an agreement is in place.

EarthScope

• The PASSCAL Chair will update the Board on a proposal for modification of the Flexible Array instrument procurement plan (also in a document provided to the Board).
• The Deputy GSN Manager will brief the Board on a proposal to use five Transportable Array stations to infill missing ANSS Backbone.
• The USArray Project Director will update the Board on USArray status, including the new baseline accepted in April.
• The EFEC will hold its annual review of USArray 17-18 May.  NSF will be present.
• CoCom expresses concern that 2.5 years into the MREFC, NSF has not provided any direction on how the O&M plan will be developed.