The Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview

C.L. Lonsdale; R.J. Cappallo; M.F. Morales; F.H. Briggs; L. Benkevitch; J.D. Bowman; J.D. Bunton; S. Burns; B.E. Corey; L. Desouza; S.S. Doeleman; M. Derome; A. Deshpande; M.R. Gopala; L.J. Greenhill; D.E. Herne; J.N. Hewitt; P.A. Kamini; J.C. Kasper; B.B. Kincaid; J. Kocz; E. Kowald; E. Kratzenberg; D. Kumar; M.J. Lynch; S. Madhavi; M. Matejek; D.A. Mitchell; E. Morgan; D. Oberoi; S. Ord; J. Pathikulangara; T. Prabu; A.E.E. Rogers; A. Roshi; J.E. Salah; R.J. Sault; N. Shankar; K.S. Srivani; J. Stevens; S. Tingay; A. Vaccarella; M. Waterson; R.B. Wayth; R.L. Webster; A.R. Whitney; Andrew Williams; C. Williams

doi:10.1109/JPROC.2009.2017564

The Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview

C.L. Lonsdale, R.J. Cappallo, M.F. Morales, F.H. Briggs, L. Benkevitch, J.D. Bowman, J.D. Bunton, S. Burns, B.E. Corey, L. Desouza, S.S. Doeleman, M. Derome, A. Deshpande, M.R. Gopala, L.J. Greenhill, D.E. Herne, J.N. Hewitt, P.A. Kamini, J.C. Kasper, B.B. KincaidJ. Kocz, E. Kowald, E. Kratzenberg, D. Kumar, M.J. Lynch, S. Madhavi, M. Matejek, D.A. Mitchell, E. Morgan, D. Oberoi, S. Ord, J. Pathikulangara, T. Prabu, A.E.E. Rogers, A. Roshi, J.E. Salah, R.J. Sault, N. Shankar, K.S. Srivani, J. Stevens, S. Tingay, A. Vaccarella, M. Waterson, R.B. Wayth, R.L. Webster, A.R. Whitney, Andrew Williams, C. Williams

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

294 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Murchison Widefield Array is a dipole-basedaperture array synthesis telescope designed to operate in the80–300 MHz frequency range. It is capable of a wide range ofscience investigations but is initially focused on three keyscience projects: detection and characterization of threedimensionalbrightness temperature fluctuations in the 21 cmline of neutral hydrogen during the epoch of reionization (EoR)at redshifts from six to ten; solar imaging and remote sensing ofthe inner heliosphere via propagation effects on signals fromdistant background sources; and high-sensitivity exploration ofthe variable radio sky. The array design features 8192 dualpolarizationbroadband active dipoles, arranged into 512 Btiles[comprising 16 dipoles each. The tiles are quasi-randomly distributedover an aperture 1.5 km in diameter, with a smallnumber of outliers extending to 3 km. All tile–tile baselines arecorrelated in custom field-programmable gate array basedhardware, yielding a Nyquist-sampled instantaneous monochromaticuv coverage and unprecedented point spreadfunction quality. The correlated data are calibrated in realtime using novel position-dependent self-calibration algorithms.The array is located in the Murchison region of outbackWestern Australia. This region is characterized by extremelylow population density and a superbly radio-quiet environment,allowing full exploitation of the instrumental capabilities.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1497-1506
Journal	Proceedings of the IEEE
Volume	97
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2009.2017564
Publication status	Published - 2009

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Lonsdale, C. L., Cappallo, R. J., Morales, M. F., Briggs, F. H., Benkevitch, L., Bowman, J. D., Bunton, J. D., Burns, S., Corey, B. E., Desouza, L., Doeleman, S. S., Derome, M., Deshpande, A., Gopala, M. R., Greenhill, L. J., Herne, D. E., Hewitt, J. N., Kamini, P. A., Kasper, J. C., ... Williams, C. (2009). The Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview. Proceedings of the IEEE, 97(8), 1497-1506. https://doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2009.2017564

Lonsdale, C.L. ; Cappallo, R.J. ; Morales, M.F. ; Briggs, F.H. ; Benkevitch, L. ; Bowman, J.D. ; Bunton, J.D. ; Burns, S. ; Corey, B.E. ; Desouza, L. ; Doeleman, S.S. ; Derome, M. ; Deshpande, A. ; Gopala, M.R. ; Greenhill, L.J. ; Herne, D.E. ; Hewitt, J.N. ; Kamini, P.A. ; Kasper, J.C. ; Kincaid, B.B. ; Kocz, J. ; Kowald, E. ; Kratzenberg, E. ; Kumar, D. ; Lynch, M.J. ; Madhavi, S. ; Matejek, M. ; Mitchell, D.A. ; Morgan, E. ; Oberoi, D. ; Ord, S. ; Pathikulangara, J. ; Prabu, T. ; Rogers, A.E.E. ; Roshi, A. ; Salah, J.E. ; Sault, R.J. ; Shankar, N. ; Srivani, K.S. ; Stevens, J. ; Tingay, S. ; Vaccarella, A. ; Waterson, M. ; Wayth, R.B. ; Webster, R.L. ; Whitney, A.R. ; Williams, Andrew ; Williams, C. / The Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview. In: Proceedings of the IEEE. 2009 ; Vol. 97, No. 8. pp. 1497-1506.

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title = "The Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview",

abstract = "The Murchison Widefield Array is a dipole-basedaperture array synthesis telescope designed to operate in the80–300 MHz frequency range. It is capable of a wide range ofscience investigations but is initially focused on three keyscience projects: detection and characterization of threedimensionalbrightness temperature fluctuations in the 21 cmline of neutral hydrogen during the epoch of reionization (EoR)at redshifts from six to ten; solar imaging and remote sensing ofthe inner heliosphere via propagation effects on signals fromdistant background sources; and high-sensitivity exploration ofthe variable radio sky. The array design features 8192 dualpolarizationbroadband active dipoles, arranged into 512 Btiles[comprising 16 dipoles each. The tiles are quasi-randomly distributedover an aperture 1.5 km in diameter, with a smallnumber of outliers extending to 3 km. All tile–tile baselines arecorrelated in custom field-programmable gate array basedhardware, yielding a Nyquist-sampled instantaneous monochromaticuv coverage and unprecedented point spreadfunction quality. The correlated data are calibrated in realtime using novel position-dependent self-calibration algorithms.The array is located in the Murchison region of outbackWestern Australia. This region is characterized by extremelylow population density and a superbly radio-quiet environment,allowing full exploitation of the instrumental capabilities.",

author = "C.L. Lonsdale and R.J. Cappallo and M.F. Morales and F.H. Briggs and L. Benkevitch and J.D. Bowman and J.D. Bunton and S. Burns and B.E. Corey and L. Desouza and S.S. Doeleman and M. Derome and A. Deshpande and M.R. Gopala and L.J. Greenhill and D.E. Herne and J.N. Hewitt and P.A. Kamini and J.C. Kasper and B.B. Kincaid and J. Kocz and E. Kowald and E. Kratzenberg and D. Kumar and M.J. Lynch and S. Madhavi and M. Matejek and D.A. Mitchell and E. Morgan and D. Oberoi and S. Ord and J. Pathikulangara and T. Prabu and A.E.E. Rogers and A. Roshi and J.E. Salah and R.J. Sault and N. Shankar and K.S. Srivani and J. Stevens and S. Tingay and A. Vaccarella and M. Waterson and R.B. Wayth and R.L. Webster and A.R. Whitney and Andrew Williams and C. Williams",

year = "2009",

doi = "10.1109/JPROC.2009.2017564",

language = "English",

volume = "97",

pages = "1497--1506",

journal = "Proceedings of the IEEE",

issn = "0018-9219",

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Lonsdale, CL, Cappallo, RJ, Morales, MF, Briggs, FH, Benkevitch, L, Bowman, JD, Bunton, JD, Burns, S, Corey, BE, Desouza, L, Doeleman, SS, Derome, M, Deshpande, A, Gopala, MR, Greenhill, LJ, Herne, DE, Hewitt, JN, Kamini, PA, Kasper, JC, Kincaid, BB, Kocz, J, Kowald, E, Kratzenberg, E, Kumar, D, Lynch, MJ, Madhavi, S, Matejek, M, Mitchell, DA, Morgan, E, Oberoi, D, Ord, S, Pathikulangara, J, Prabu, T, Rogers, AEE, Roshi, A, Salah, JE, Sault, RJ, Shankar, N, Srivani, KS, Stevens, J, Tingay, S, Vaccarella, A, Waterson, M, Wayth, RB, Webster, RL, Whitney, AR, Williams, A & Williams, C 2009, 'The Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview', Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 97, no. 8, pp. 1497-1506. https://doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2009.2017564

The Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview. / Lonsdale, C.L.; Cappallo, R.J.; Morales, M.F.; Briggs, F.H.; Benkevitch, L.; Bowman, J.D.; Bunton, J.D.; Burns, S.; Corey, B.E.; Desouza, L.; Doeleman, S.S.; Derome, M.; Deshpande, A.; Gopala, M.R.; Greenhill, L.J.; Herne, D.E.; Hewitt, J.N.; Kamini, P.A.; Kasper, J.C.; Kincaid, B.B.; Kocz, J.; Kowald, E.; Kratzenberg, E.; Kumar, D.; Lynch, M.J.; Madhavi, S.; Matejek, M.; Mitchell, D.A.; Morgan, E.; Oberoi, D.; Ord, S.; Pathikulangara, J.; Prabu, T.; Rogers, A.E.E.; Roshi, A.; Salah, J.E.; Sault, R.J.; Shankar, N.; Srivani, K.S.; Stevens, J.; Tingay, S.; Vaccarella, A.; Waterson, M.; Wayth, R.B.; Webster, R.L.; Whitney, A.R.; Williams, Andrew; Williams, C.

In: Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 97, No. 8, 2009, p. 1497-1506.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview

AU - Lonsdale, C.L.

AU - Cappallo, R.J.

AU - Morales, M.F.

AU - Briggs, F.H.

AU - Benkevitch, L.

AU - Bowman, J.D.

AU - Bunton, J.D.

AU - Burns, S.

AU - Corey, B.E.

AU - Desouza, L.

AU - Doeleman, S.S.

AU - Derome, M.

AU - Deshpande, A.

AU - Gopala, M.R.

AU - Greenhill, L.J.

AU - Herne, D.E.

AU - Hewitt, J.N.

AU - Kamini, P.A.

AU - Kasper, J.C.

AU - Kincaid, B.B.

AU - Kocz, J.

AU - Kowald, E.

AU - Kratzenberg, E.

AU - Kumar, D.

AU - Lynch, M.J.

AU - Madhavi, S.

AU - Matejek, M.

AU - Mitchell, D.A.

AU - Morgan, E.

AU - Oberoi, D.

AU - Ord, S.

AU - Pathikulangara, J.

AU - Prabu, T.

AU - Rogers, A.E.E.

AU - Roshi, A.

AU - Salah, J.E.

AU - Sault, R.J.

AU - Shankar, N.

AU - Srivani, K.S.

AU - Stevens, J.

AU - Tingay, S.

AU - Vaccarella, A.

AU - Waterson, M.

AU - Wayth, R.B.

AU - Webster, R.L.

AU - Whitney, A.R.

AU - Williams, Andrew

AU - Williams, C.

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - The Murchison Widefield Array is a dipole-basedaperture array synthesis telescope designed to operate in the80–300 MHz frequency range. It is capable of a wide range ofscience investigations but is initially focused on three keyscience projects: detection and characterization of threedimensionalbrightness temperature fluctuations in the 21 cmline of neutral hydrogen during the epoch of reionization (EoR)at redshifts from six to ten; solar imaging and remote sensing ofthe inner heliosphere via propagation effects on signals fromdistant background sources; and high-sensitivity exploration ofthe variable radio sky. The array design features 8192 dualpolarizationbroadband active dipoles, arranged into 512 Btiles[comprising 16 dipoles each. The tiles are quasi-randomly distributedover an aperture 1.5 km in diameter, with a smallnumber of outliers extending to 3 km. All tile–tile baselines arecorrelated in custom field-programmable gate array basedhardware, yielding a Nyquist-sampled instantaneous monochromaticuv coverage and unprecedented point spreadfunction quality. The correlated data are calibrated in realtime using novel position-dependent self-calibration algorithms.The array is located in the Murchison region of outbackWestern Australia. This region is characterized by extremelylow population density and a superbly radio-quiet environment,allowing full exploitation of the instrumental capabilities.

AB - The Murchison Widefield Array is a dipole-basedaperture array synthesis telescope designed to operate in the80–300 MHz frequency range. It is capable of a wide range ofscience investigations but is initially focused on three keyscience projects: detection and characterization of threedimensionalbrightness temperature fluctuations in the 21 cmline of neutral hydrogen during the epoch of reionization (EoR)at redshifts from six to ten; solar imaging and remote sensing ofthe inner heliosphere via propagation effects on signals fromdistant background sources; and high-sensitivity exploration ofthe variable radio sky. The array design features 8192 dualpolarizationbroadband active dipoles, arranged into 512 Btiles[comprising 16 dipoles each. The tiles are quasi-randomly distributedover an aperture 1.5 km in diameter, with a smallnumber of outliers extending to 3 km. All tile–tile baselines arecorrelated in custom field-programmable gate array basedhardware, yielding a Nyquist-sampled instantaneous monochromaticuv coverage and unprecedented point spreadfunction quality. The correlated data are calibrated in realtime using novel position-dependent self-calibration algorithms.The array is located in the Murchison region of outbackWestern Australia. This region is characterized by extremelylow population density and a superbly radio-quiet environment,allowing full exploitation of the instrumental capabilities.

U2 - 10.1109/JPROC.2009.2017564

DO - 10.1109/JPROC.2009.2017564

M3 - Article

VL - 97

SP - 1497

EP - 1506

JO - Proceedings of the IEEE

JF - Proceedings of the IEEE

SN - 0018-9219

IS - 8

ER -