2011 will be a busy year for VENUS. We now have enough experience to keep the observatory operational from the instrument interfaces through to the data delivery. We have chewed through many prototypes and even some ‘bright ideas’ that dimmed a little too quickly – in hardware, software and maintenance techniques. Fortunately, ‘crisis mode’ is less frequent now and, with more staff, we are now concentrating on better data delivery and more reliability. Marlene Jeffries and Kevin Bartlett are dealing with data QA/QC, daily checks, file transfers, DMAS interface and new product development while Denis Hedji is our new instrument wizard and Johanna MacLeod is formulating website design. An important addition is our new Chief Scientist, Ken Denman, who will explore new research opportunities.
We are fortunate to have a good base of operational funding this year thanks to a special grant from CFI. Ocean Networks Canada, the parent organization for NEPTUNE Canada, VENUS and ONCCEE, has worked hard this past year to sustain the observatories; our thanks to CEO Dr. Martin Taylor.
