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> North America

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The U.S. proposal suggests a location near the VLA site in New Mexico, at a latitude of 34° North, with array stations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Location of the SKA in North America, with the core of the array in the southwestern U.S, will benefit from the following:

• Significant existing infrastructure resources, particularly unpopulated, low-cost land, and an extensive transportation, power and fiber-optic network, thereby substantially reducing the overall initial cost of the project. The combination of highly developed infrastructure and access to undeveloped land will substantially reduce the capital costs associated with building the SKA.

• Existing infrastructure of human resources, including engineers, scientists, and institutions from the
universities, national observatories and federal laboratories in the US southwest.

• The continent of North America hosts a continent-scale array, the VLBA. Co-location offers the possibility of integrating existing arrays (VLA, The New Mexico Array (NMA), VLBA) so that phased development is possible with science done along the way.

• The average high altitude and desert climate of the US southwest offers numerous high-elevation plateaus that are well-suited for locating the SKA cores and the individual stations of the SKA array. The
combination of high altitude and dry climate results in lowered tropospheric turbulence and reduced water
vapor content, thereby facilitating high-frequency observations.

• Previous site studies, using similar criteria, have shown that the sites that currently host the VLA, VLBA
and the future NMA are excellent radio astronomy sites.

• A North American siting of the SKA could accommodate most of the SKA concepts.

• A radio frequency quiet location that will allow deep, sensitive observations to be made, which is particularly important for the SKA.

• A geographical location that allows access to the Galactic Center, and access to important northern regions such as Virgo and Coma, all major science objectives for the instrument.

More about this location : Download the White Paper (PDF)
On the web: usska

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