Standing Committee Meeting Report PASSCAL
March 2021
Attendees
Committee Members Present: Beatrice Magnani (chair), Lee Liberty, Marianne Karplus, Wes Thelen, Rob Evans, Andy Parsekian, Max Bezada, Timothy Bartholomaus, Weisen Shen
Ex Officio Members: Ninfa Bennington (ex-officio EMAC chair), Paul Winberry (ex-officio PTSC chair)
Board Liaison: Susan Schwartz (PASSCAL Board Liaison)
IRIS Staff and Observers: Kent Anderson (IRIS-Portable Program Manager), Jerry Carter (IRIS-DS Director), Andy Frassetto (IRIS-MT Program Manager), Justin Sweet (IRIS-Portable Project Associate), Bruce Beaudoin (PASSCAL-NMT), Sue Bilek (NMT), Galen Kaip (SSF-UTEP)
Action Items
- (Anderson): Assemble a facility capabilities prioritization spreadsheet for the PASC to review and respond to that could eventually be shared with the wider community
- (Anderson): Revise the priorities spreadsheet and then re-distribute to the PASC for additional input
- (Thelen/Shen): Assemble science highlight slides for NSF by mid/late March
- (Sweet): Send out a doodle for face-to-face fall meeting in Sept/Oct timeframe
Motions
- PASC votes unanimously to approve all items on the consent agenda
- PASC votes unanimously to approve a list of spending priorities for remaining SAGE-II Year 3 portable funds (Karplus not present)
- Broadband and DAS systems
- MT replenishment
- PASC votes unanimously to approve SAGE-II Year 4 portable budget as proposed (Karplus not present)
Meeting Objectives
- Approve the Consent Agenda
In an effort to maximize group discussion during our virtual sessions, the PASC was presented with a Consent Agenda in advance of the first day of the spring meeting. This agenda contained several routine items (e.g. Fall 2020 PASC meeting summary and action item status report) as well as a set of current IRIS committee charges for their review and approval (e.g. PASC, PSTC, EMAC, SSFAC, QAAC). All Consent Agenda items were unanimously approved at the start of the first day of the spring meeting.
- Review Guidance from IRIS Board of Directors
As part of ongoing strategic planning the Board requested that the PASC deliberate on and provide:
- A prioritization of capabilities or services within your existing SAGE-II program, while ensuring that scope management plans are reviewed and current
- The priorities of your program’s constituency/community in terms of what they expect from the FGF, and from the EarthScope Consortium, to support their research and educational activities
- Identify areas and activities where you envision synergy or overlap with the capabilities required by the geodesy community
In response to this guidance, Portable PM (Anderson) drafted a priorities spreadsheet that the PASC reviewed and discussed as a possible method for prioritizing program capabilities and services in response to identified science questions. The committee plans to finalize this spreadsheet before distributing it more widely among community members and users of the PASSCAL facility. The PASC also discussed strategic plans for the portable program and reviewed the current scope management plan.
- Review and Approve SAGE-II Year 3 Portable Spending Priorities
PM Anderson provided the PASC with a mid-year update on the SAGE-II Year 3 portable budget. The PASC discussed priorities for spending remaining Year 3 funds and any carryover funds that may be available. After proposing and discussing several possible uses for these funds, the committee settled on a hybrid spending approach that provided some funds for additional wideband MT systems with the remainder of funds put towards replenishing aging broadband and digitizers with new, latest-generation systems.
- Review and Approve SAGE-II Year 4 Portable Budget
The SAGE-II Year 4 portable budget was reviewed by the PASC and approved as proposed with minimal discussion.
Other Business
- Provide guidance on Rapid Response testing & evaluation targets
- Discuss potential candidates for PASC chair
- Produce Portable Program science highlight slides for NSF
