GONG Operations and Engineering Support

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) operations team supports 24/7/365 instrument monitoring. This team monitors the health of the instruments via the GONG Monitor Tool, https://monitor.nso.edu/, and remote login to the site workstations. As part of the operations support, the team travels to each network site for preventive maintenance or emergency repairs. The GONG network maintains two engineering instrument shelters, located in Boulder, CO. The engineering shelters are used for testing repaired hardware prior to re-deployment to the network sites, new hardware & software development, and component acceptance tests. For the initial testing, repairs, and development of electronics, the team uses the Sonora Lab, an electronics copy of a GONG shelter without a light feed.

Prior to the 20th anniversary of the deployment of the GONG network, the NSF approved the funding of a refurbishment project that allowed the project to replace or spare failing and outdated components and subsystems. The scope of the refurbishment project included the replacement of computer workstations, liquid crystal modulators, and cameras. A significant engineering effort was required for replacing the SMD/DALSA 1M60 cameras with the Emergent Vision Technologies HB-1800-S-M cameras. The GONG refurbishment program formally ended with the replacement of the camera at the Tenerife, Spain site in May 2025. The full refurbishment of the Mauna Loa site is pending the reopening of the Mauna Loa Observatory. Now that GONG has passed its 30th anniversary, a higher level of operations and engineering support is anticipated.