The Square Kilometre Array: An Engineering Perspective (Hardcover)

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project is a global project to design and c- struct a revolutionary new radio telescope with of order 1 million square meters of collecting area in the wavelength range from3mto1cm.It will have two - ders of magnitude greater sensitivity than current telescopes and an unprecedented large instantaneous ?eld-of-view. These capabilities will ensure the SKA will play a leading role in solving the major astrophysical and cosmological questions of the day (see the science case at www.skatelescope.org/pages/page astronom.htm). The SKA will complement major ground- and space-based astronomical facilities under construction or planned in other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g. ALMA JWST ELT XEUS ...). The current schedule for the SKA foresees a decision on the SKA site in 2006 a decisiononthedesignconceptin2009 constructionofthe?rstphase(international path?nder)from2010to2013 andconstructionofthefullarrayfrom2014to2020. The cost is estimated to be about 1000 M . TheSKAProjectcurrentlyinvolves45institutesin17countries manyofwhich are involved in nationally- or regionally-funded state-of-the-art technical devel- ments being pursued ahead of the 2009 selection of design concept. This Special Issue of Experimental Astronomy provides a snapshot of SKA engineering act- ity around the world and is based on presentations made at the SKA meeting in Penticton BC CanadainJuly2004.Topicscoveredincludeantennaconcepts so- ware signal transport and processing radio frequency interference mitigation and reports on related technologies in other radio telescopes now under construction. Further information on the project can be found at www.skatelescope.org.