Impact on Europe's LSF

Proposed 100-beam OCRA system and the 32m Telescope at Torun. A design study for the 30GHz 100-beam system is part of the FARADAY project.

At the end of this RTD programme prototype arrays (both low-frequency phased arrays and high frequency horn-based arrays) of significant size will be delivered and will provide European astronomers with the ability to undertake the first phase of qualitatively new scientific programmes. For example on individual telescopes large-area continuum and spectroscopic surveys at high frequencies (>20 GHz) will begin. Future developments of even larger arrays will transform our knowledge of the radio sky at frequencies above ~20 GHz.

The radio telescopes operated by the partners, along with others, also form the European VLBI Network (EVN), a Large Scale Facility for radio astronomy and the only one of its kind in Europe. The long-term development of phased arrays, to maximise each telescope's field-of-view, in concert with the development of optical fibre links and new correlation systems, will provide the EVN with the technological capability to carry out completely new types of high angular resolution observations

In addition to enhancing the existing infrastructure, this programme will also provide a technological and astronomical foundation for the next generation of large international projects . The high frequency continuum source surveys, which the horn-based arrays will permit, are a vital requirement for the full interpretation of the data from the ESA Planck Surveyor satellite due for launch in 2007. These surveys will also provide target and calibration sources for ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimetre Array). The phased array technology will also form part of Europe's R&D for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)