LANGMUIR LABORATORY
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLAN

May 1, 2004 - April 30, 2005

CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST
MAGDALENA RANGER DISTRICT

PLAN OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this annual plan is to provide close on-the-ground coordination and management of the Langmuir Research Site as required in the Special Use Authorization, dated March 12, 1992, Clause 23.

MUTUAL AUTHORITIES

The Magdalena District Ranger or the designated Acting Magdalena District Ranger is authorized to help prepare and approve the Annual Operation and Maintenance Plan or amendment to the Plan.

The President of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology or the Chairman of Langmuir Laboratory and the Deputy Principal Investigator of the Magdalena Ridge Observatory are authorized to help prepare and approve the Annual Operation and Maintenance Plan or amendments to the Plan.

An annual meeting of both parties will be scheduled by the District Ranger at the convenience of both parties to provide the coordination needed to prepare the Plan.

The Plan will be prepared by Langmuir Laboratory and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory and approved by all parties prior to the field season.

Amendments that are within the scope of the Operation and Maintenance Plan may be submitted at any time for review and approval of the other party. The maximum response time for amendments by either party is 7 days; exceptions may be made if additional information is needed.

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPERIMENTS

Preparations for summer experiments at Langmuir Laboratory will begin in late May or early June. Only a few people, on an irregular basis, are expected to stay overnight at Langmuir Laboratory during the 2004 summer research season. The active season will end around September 1, 2004. Laboratory maintenance and winterizing will continue into October and perhaps November, depending on weather.

Trees and other fuel next to buildings are concerns which will be addressed in cooperation with the District Ranger.

The Magdalena Ridge Observatory operates year round, but with reduced use in the summer owing to the stormy weather.

The main research activities will include the following:

1. An array of lightning rods and radiation detectors will be installed near South Baldy Peak and at other locations around Langmuir Laboratory to study the zone of protection around the rods. Measurements of lightning currents near South Baldy Peak will be conducted by personnel from New Mexico Tech.
2. Seismic activity will be monitored with an instrument located just south of the Main Langmuir Building.
3. The Long-Term Ecological Research Project will study ground-dwelling arthropods, tree demography, and rodent populations.
4. Instrumented balloons will be flown from the Balloon Hangar.
5. Instruments on two poles in the vicinity of the New Mexico Tech Remote Observatory will be used to characterize turbulence and its effect on telescope observations. One pole will be 30 feet high and the other 45 feet high.
6. A 14-inch telescope within the New Mexico Tech Remote Observatory building will be used to measure astronomical seeing conditions.
7. Another 14-inch telescope will be used to measure the astronomical seeing at the MRO optical interferometer site and the New Mexico Tech Remote Observatory. The telescope will be housed in a 10-foot portable dome that will be moved between the two sites as needed.
8. Chemists at New Mexico Tech will measure background levels of ozone, NO_x, hydrocarbons and carbonyl compounds in the atmosphere, and similar compounds emitted from pine and fir trees, and will collect weather data from a trailer at Microphone Hill.
9. Visiting scientists, in collaboration with New Mexico Tech, will observe at night luminous electrical breakdown events (sprites) that occur between the tops of thunderstorms and the ionosphere.
10. Model rockets with trailing wires may be launched to trigger lightning in late July or in August after the forest becomes wet.
11. Experiments to see if a laser beam can trigger lightning may be conducted during the thunderstorm season. Tests of the laser may occur when thunderstorms are not present.
12. Lightning paths inside thunderclouds will be mapped using a Lightning Mapping Array (LMA).

PERMANENT RESEARCH FACILITIES

Permanent research facilities include the following:

1. Main Langmuir Building, Langmuir Annex, and A-Frame Dormitory
2. Socorro Electric Co-Op power line to the main buildings, West Knoll, Balloon Hangar, and the Remote Observatory
3. Water feed from Sawmill Canyon to the Main Langmuir Building
4. Two 150-kW diesel generators in quonset bunkers
5. Storage yard, including trailers
6. Supernova telescope facilities
7. Instrument trailer at Microphone Hill
8. Power and signal lines from the main buildings to West Knoll, Balloon Hangar, Remote Observatory, and the Kivas
9. Instrument trailer at West Knoll
10. Rocket storage container, 7 by 2 by 2 feet. This box is bullet proof and weighs about 3000 lbs. It is located near West Knoll.
11. Rocket Launching Pad near West Knoll (4 by 4 foot concrete pad with three bolt studs to anchor launcher)
12. Balloon Hangar and associated trailers
13. Tracking radiosonde receiver near the Balloon Hangar
14. New Mexico Tech Remote Observatory (formerly Joint Observatory for Cometary Research)
15. Rocket Launching and Instrument Platform north of Remote Observatory
16. Instrument Tower north of Remote Observatory
17. Diesel Generator for Kivas in a small metal building. This generator and its small building will be moved to a flat area above the other generators near the main buildings.
18. Kiva I and Kiva II---underground metal rooms for the study of electromagnetic radiation from lightning and for triggering lightning
19. Areas designated for the long-term study of insect, rodent, and plant populations and for the study of biomass production
20. Miscellaneous instruments (rain gauges, electric field meters, anemometers, etc.).
21. Radar trailer to be located north of the Remote Observatory
22. Other facilities not in the National Forest

NEW FACILITIES

Planning for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory, a major optical astronomy observatory, will continue.

A back-up gate may be installed about 200 meters before the end of the road to the main Langmuir Laboratory buildings to provide security for those buildings during the construction of the Magdalena Ridge Observatory when the Main Gate is likely to be open more often.

We will do grading and subgrade preparation at the site of the MRO Main Operations Building. We will prototype a section of the Operations Building on that site. We will also prototype a section of the Beam Combination Facility and a section of the Delay line Building at the interferometer site. Most of the other new facilities associated with the Magdalena Ridge Observatory will be associated with the utilities. These include:

1. Install the utilities in a trench along the road, 3000 feet in length. The trench will carry potable water, fire suppression water, electrical power, optical fiber, and copper wire to replace the Langmuir signal cable that currently passes through the interferometer site.
2. Install communications lines and power at a voltage less than 600 VAC in a trench along the road to the Kivas on South Baldy Peak.
3. Replace 900 feet of the 7200-volt, single-phase underground power line from the last pole at tree line to the ridge with 24,000-volt, three-phase capable cable.
4. Install a 40,000 square foot water catchment system and two 100,000-gallon cisterns, one for potable water and one for fire suppression water.
5. Install water purification pre-storage sand filters.
6. Install four fire hydrants, one at the interferometer, one at the Main Operations Building, one at the Balloon Hangar, and one at the single telescope.
7. Install a new automated, card-accessible gate of stainless steel or aluminum near the existing main gate. The new gate will be a single-leaf, motor-operated gate with a manual override system. Its control system will be capable of keeping records of who enters and exits and at what times. The existing gate will be left unlocked and open in its present location except when it is needed as a backup to the new gate. The new, automated gate will become the main gate.

ANTICIPATED TEMPORARY STRUCTURES

1. Lightning rods near South Baldy Peak and at other locations around Langmuir Laboratory.
2. Two guyed poles will be installed near the Remote Observatory to study turbulence. The poles will be 30 and 45 feet high. A small building (7 by 7 by 8 feet) will remain near the southeast corner of the Observatory to house instruments to record turbulence.
3. Small stakes will be put in the ground to show where MRO telescopes will be.
4. The portable dome and hut will be moved between the Remote Observatory and the MRO array center. They will be used to house one of the 14-inch astronomical seeing telescope.
5. The laser for triggering lightning will be located inside the Balloon Hangar. The laser beam will exit the Hangar through one or more portholes.

SITE PLANS

The maps containing four sheets titled ``Topographic Orthophoto of Langmuir Laboratory,'' dated 6/87, and related specifications prepared by Langmuir Laboratory, are attached to and hereby made a part of the Operation and Maintenance Plan.

MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE AND STANDARDS

Maintenance will be scheduled when it is required and it will comply with the standards of New Mexico Tech and the USFS when applicable.

Langmuir Laboratory staff will remove segments of trees that have fallen across the trail to the water pump in Sawmill Canyon.

Road Maintenance

Major maintenance was performed in 2003. This will continue in 2004. The main activities are:

1. Install 60 to 70 culverts at approximately 500-foot spacing.
2. Install four concrete water crossings at the current wet crossings, approximately 20 x 60 feet each.

We note that two road relocations were described under New Facilities.

Water System Maintenance

The existing Langmuir water supply needs repair and modification. The pump's electrical supply needs to be replaced and the pump's location needs to be moved off the steep slope to a site suggested by the USFS. The pump housing will be rebuilt; drawings of the new housing will be submitted to the USFS for approval before construction begins.

Reparation of the ground will continue where the old pump leaked oil.

SAFETY PROCEDURES

Langmuir Laboratory and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory will adhere to Safety Procedures established by New Mexico Tech. The Procedures include the following:

Rocket Firings

1. Storing, transporting and launching of rockets will conform to regulations of the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
2. Restricted Area R5113 and the Tech and Withington Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspaces (ATCAAs) will be operated in accordance with a Letter of Agreement between New Mexico Tech and the Federal Aviation Administration, Albuquerque Center.
3. Before anticipated rocket firings, New Mexico Tech will consult with the District Ranger, or his representative, to determine fire danger rating. If fire danger is high or extreme, New Mexico Tech will discuss risk of fire with the District Ranger and his staff before deciding to launch rockets. The decision to launch rockets lies with New Mexico Tech, which is responsible for prevention and suppression of fires resulting from its activities, in accordance with special use permit clause 28.

Additional safety procedures are established when 2.75-inch rockets will be launched (not planned for 2004):

1. The road to West Knoll will be blocked to vehicle traffic whenever rockets are loaded in preparation for thunderstorm investigations or test firings.
2. The rocket landing area is the same one that we have used for many years in the past; during 1994 we used only that part of it south of the latitude of the Main Laboratory Building.
3. A description of the area, and how and when it will be used will be published by New Mexico Tech in newspapers of local distribution (notice attached).
4. Warning signs (wording and map attached) will be posted at the following locations if 2.75 inch diameter folding fin aircraft rockets will be flown (not planned for 2004):
   • Deer Plot Saddle on the old mining road
   • Blue Cut (where Forest Road 235 crosses Timber Ridge)
   • Both ends of Forest Trail 14 (where it joins Forest Roads 235 and 38)
   • North end of Forest Trail 93 (where it joins Forest Road 235)
   • Hardy Springs at the end of Forest Road 47
   • The high-altitude end of Forest Trail 11 (South Baldy Crossing)
   • The south end of Forest Trail 8 (where it meets Forest Road 235)
   • Where Forest Trail 17 (Ryan Hill Canyon) crosses the Forest Boundary
5. Before each anticipated firing, New Mexico Tech will be reasonably secure in the fact that people are not within the impact area. Determination will also be made through the District Ranger that fire crews or other Forest personnel are not within the impact area.
6. All grazing and special use permittees affected by the impact areas will be notified in writing by New Mexico Tech of the coming summer program. Copies of the notification letters will be furnished to the District Ranger. The Ranger will furnish a list of permittees involved.
7. Rocket landing areas will be observed for a full 48-hour period after each launch to determine if fires may have been started by rockets.
8. Property liability insurance will be carried by New Mexico Tech to adequately cover the hazards of the operation.

Fire Danger Closures

When the Cibola Forest is closed to entry, such as during periods of extreme fire danger, the Laboratory will arrange with the District Ranger for access to the area. Laboratory personnel will be informed of the forest restrictions and the procedures to be followed. Typical arrangements will include the following:

1. Langmuir Laboratory and MRO will limit activities in the forest to those that are essential.
2. Laboratory and MRO personnel in the forest will be limited to those people who are essential to projects. A list of names of those people will be provided to the District Ranger. The list may be updated from time to time.
3. The Langmuir Laboratory Office will monitor which Laboratory personnel are in the forest at all times. Personnel will notify the Office before entering the forest, and upon leaving, so that there is a record of who is in the forest at all times. Whenever possible, entry will be limited to weekdays. On weekends or during non-office hours, notice of entry and exit will be left as a message on the Laboratory Office telephone (575-835-5423) or with the Laboratory Chairman (W. P. Winn, 575-835-1174).
4. The MRO Office will monitor which Observatory personnel are in the forest at all times. Personnel will notify the office before entering the forest and after leaving the forest, so that there is a record of who is in the forest at all times. On weekends and outside of office hours notice of entry and exit will be left on the office's telephone answering machine at 575-835-6431.
5. Some years there may be Laboratory personnel who need to be in residence in the Main Laboratory Building. Special arrangements will be coordinated with the District Ranger if residency is requested, and necessary communication and evacuation plans will be established.

PUBLIC ACCESS AND VEHICLE RESTRICTIONS

When New Mexico Tech employees are in residence at the Laboratory, the public will be allowed access to the first floor of the Main Laboratory Building, which houses the kitchen and dining areas, bathrooms, visitor center, and main data collecting area. The public may also be guided into other areas by a Volunteer Host or by employees of New Mexico Tech.

When New Mexico Tech employees are in residence at the MRO Main Operations Building the public will be allowed access to the foyer and to restrooms. The public may also be guided into other areas by a Volunteer Host or by employees of New Mexico Tech.

The Forest Service will provide signs for the Langmuir Research Site boundary at major road and trail routes.

Off-road vehicle use is prohibited within the Langmuir Research Site, except on roads.

Special Order #03-67 closes the Principal Research Area as shown on map dated October 22, 1990, JRL, to ultra-light aircraft and hang-gliders except by permit of the Forest Supervisor.

EROSION CONTROL

Road damage from erosion will be repaired as needed.

OFF-SEASON CLOSURE PROCEDURES

The main gate and the back-up gate will be closed whenever there are too few employees to keep the main buildings under surveillance. We anticipate that the main gate will be open on an irregular basis in July and August 2004.

VISITOR INFORMATION

Information will be available at the Main Laboratory Building and at the MRO Main Operations Building.