This contribution deals with the SKALA4-AL antenna developed by INAF in collaboration with CNR-IEIIT and the industrial partner Sirio Antenne. This dual-polarized Log Periodic Dipole Antenna optimized to operate between 50 and 350 MHz is a candidate for the SKA1-LOW telescope. The main characteristics of the antenna are: aluminium material, 50 ohm single-ended feeding, screw fastening and...
INAF/IRA has a long and well established tradition with low frequency arrays thanks to the Northern Cross radio telescope, located in Medicina (Italy). Since the beginning of the Italian adventure in the SKA project, with the participation to the SKADS EC-FP6 program, INAF/IRA has been involved, as part of its general effort, to contribute into the design of RF receivers for low frequency...
ITPM ADU is an international collaboration led by INAF team, whose goal is the realization of a digital equipment designed and produced for SKA-LFAA station signal processing. The project started in 2013 and led to the production of a digital platform consisting of 3 hardware upgrades (ITPM 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2), the processing and management firmware for LFAA and the station control software....
The Square Kilometre Array is currently completing the pre-construction phase in which two arrays of radio antennas (SKA1-Mid and SKA1-Low), observing at different frequencies, are being designed to be installed in the South Africa's Karoo region and Western Australia's Murchinson Shire. The SKA1-Mid array will consist of 133 15-m diameter dish antennas observing in the 350 MHz-14 GHz range...
Telescope Manager (TM) is the central element of the SKA. Its role (and responsibility) are the management of the preparation of astronomical observations, the execution of telescope operations and the control and monitoring of the overall telescope status.
To accomplish these functions, TM was originally structured as made of of specific sub-elements: Observation Management (OBSMGT,...
New-generation radio telescopes such as the SKA’s aperture array require advanced techniques to confirm the desired performance and calibrate the instrument. At low frequencies, the strong mutual coupling between the array elements and the interaction of the antennas with the environment can drastically alter the expected response of the elements and compromise the calibration process.
In this...
SKA Data Challenger is only one of the IT technologies challengers in which the SKA project is involved. These imply all activities from data management, network transfer, (super)computing infrastructure to, last but not least, software pipeline development and workflow management. INAF, as Italy main actor in the SKA project, can play an important role, both in the evolution of the exascale...
On March 2018, INAF approved the participation to the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) and the organization of a LOFAR-IT Consortium leaded by INAF itself aiming at coordinating at Italian level the participation to ILT.
The University of Turin (Department of Phyiscs: DP-UniTO) has recently formalised the participation to LOFAR-IT Consortium.
A Board of the LOFAR-IT project has been...
Training and support services will provide the pillars for the future SKA endeavour.
The AENEAS WP5 analysis identified the crucial aspects in preparing for the new frontier that is SKA: several challenges await our astronomical communities to proficiently face the opportunities offered by it. A preparatory plan based on coordinated training events that exploit current facilities and tests...
