LANGMUIR LABORATORY
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLAN

May 1, 2006 - April 30, 2007

CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST
MAGDALENA RANGER DISTRICT

Dennis R. Aldridge, District Ranger, Approved 09/07/06
W. P. Winn, Chairman, Langmuir Laboratory, Approved 09/07/06
David J. Westpfahl, Magdalena Ridge Observatory, Approved 09/07/06

USFS sign on Forest Road 235 to Langmuir Lab

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, 2006. 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. Instruments and balloons that land on the National Forest will be recovered. If any balloons are launched during periods when access to the forest is restricted or closed to entry, the launches and recovery will be approved by the District Ranger.
  5. A 14-inch telescope will be used to measure the astronomical seeing at the MRO optical interferometer site and the MRO 2.4-meter Telescope facility. The telescope will be housed in a 10-foot portable dome that will be moved between the two sites as needed.
  6. Chemists at New Mexico Tech will measure background levels of ozone, NOx, 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Model rockets with trailing wires may be launched to trigger lightning in late July or in August after the forest becomes wet. Wires and rocket parts will be retrieved and removed from the forest.
  9. Lightning paths inside thunderclouds will be mapped using a Lightning Mapping Array (LMA).
  10. Continue construction of the MRO 2.4-meter Telescope. Interior fit-out of the control building will continue and the telescope tower enclosure will be completed. The 40-foot dome will be assembled on-site in June/July, and then lifted into place on the tower. The 2.4-meter telescope will be delivered and assembled on-site in August/September, and the observatory will begin a commissioning and testing phase.
  11. Install water purification pre-storage filters.
  12. Install four fire hydrants, one at the Interferometer, one at the Main Operations Building, one at the Balloon Hangar, and one at the 2.4-meter Telescope.
  13. Install weather monitoring gauges at the 2.4-meter Telescope Site and also at the Site Characterization Trailer.
  14. In summer 2006, begin construction of the Interferometry Beam Combining Facility and the foundation pads for the unit telescopes.
  15. The power feeds to the Kivas, the Microphone Hill trailer, and the main Langmuir Buildings will be upgraded.
  16. A section of road near the Balloon Hangar will be widened to provide parking space for a 35-kW generator on a trailer to supply back-up power for the Balloon Hangar. The parking space, about 50 feet long, will be cut into the bank on the west side of the road to the southeast of the Balloon Hangar. Trenches for power lines will be dug from the parking site to the southeast corner of the Balloon Hangar.
  17. All felled trees have been disposed of. Further trees tagged for felling along Forest Road 235 will be felled and disposed of in late fall 2006 or early spring 2007, depending on weather conditions and the requirement of other construction activities.

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 Langmuir buildings, West Knoll, Balloon Hangar, and the 2.4-meter Telescope and Interferometer.
  3. Water feed from Sawmill Canyon to the Main Langmuir Building. This water supply needs a new power feed and pump support. Until funding is available, water will be delivered to Langmuir Lab by truck.
  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, 2.4-meter Telescope, the Kivas, and Interferometer
  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 receiver in a dome near the Balloon Hangar
  14. MRO 2.4-meter Telescope Facility (formerly Joint Observatory for cometary Research)
  15. Rocket Launching and Instrument Platform north of 2.4-meter Telescope
  16. Instrument Tower north of 2.4-meter Telescope
  17. Diesel Generator in a small metal building. It is located across the road from the 150 kW generators.
  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. Lightning Mapping Array (LMA)---An array of radio receivers and communication links to them for mapping the paths of lightning inside thunderclouds--the Lightning Mapping Array (LMA). The receivers are located at West Knoll, Microphone Hill, Balloon Hangar, near South Baldy Peak, near Timber Peak, Blue Cut, sites about 3~km from South Baldy Peak, and sites outside the National Forest around the Magdalena Mountains.
  22. Radar trailer to be located north of the 2.4-meter Telescope
  23. Other facilities not in the National Forest
  24. 96,000 gallon water tank and pump house
  25. A traffic control shed located approximately 1/4 mile downhill from the existing gate.
  26. A control trailer and a storage container located approximately 1/2 mile along Forest Road 235 from Water Canyon Campground.

NEW FACILITIES

  1. 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.
  2. Utilities in trenches to carry water, electrical power, optical fiber, and copper signal wire.
  3. Another 94,000-gallon water tank and pump house.
  4. Telescope pads, delay line, and research buildings for the Magdalena Ridge Interferometer.

ANTICIPATED TEMPORARY STRUCTURES

  1. Lightning rods near South Baldy Peak and at other locations around Langmuir Laboratory. Rods are removed before winter, usually in October.
  2. A Site Characterization Trailer to be located just west of the intersections of the roads to Langmuir Lab and West Knoll will be removed in August 2006.

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

Periodic maintenance of Forest Road 235 will continue as required.

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. This action is awaiting funding; in the meantime, water will be hauled up in a truck.

Reparation of the soil will continue where the pump leaked oil. New Mexico Tech will arrange for suitable soil testing and submit the test results to the Forest Service Hazardous Materials On-Scene Coordinator, Marcia Miolano, for analysis and determination if additional remediation is required.

SAFETY PROCEDURES

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

Storm Safety

A storm safety plan has been implemented and is included as an attachment to this document.

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):
  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

During MRO construction hours, Forest Road 235 is closed to visitors, as specified in the following closure orders. These are to be rescinded and replaced by one Forest Service Closure Order that addresses all the appropriate restrictions for road access:

  1. Order #03-16, dated March 31, 1980, closing the upper part of FR 235 between September 1 and May 3;,
  2. Order #03-198, dated April 8, 2004, closing FR 235 from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, Mondays through Thursdays;
  3. Order #03-212, dated December 3, 2004, closing FR 235 daily during construction activities;
  4. Order #03-213, dated January 13, 2005, closing the road during snow removal operations.

When New Mexico Tech employees are in residence at Langmuir 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.

New Mexico Tech will provide signage after agreement with the Forest Service on the wording and the locations where those signs are to be placed.

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

Order #03-67 , dated January 24, 1989 closes the Principal Research Area as shown on map dated October 22, 1990, to ultra-light aircraft and hang-gliders except by permit of the Forest Supervisor.

Order #03-67(2) dated March 6, 1995, restricts aircraft landings or drops.

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 2006.

VISITOR INFORMATION

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

Last updated 09 April 2007 by kieft@nmt.edu.