The Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade or WSU is one of the most significant upgrades for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope to enhance ALMA science potential, instrumentation, and software systems.
Top priority goal is to broaden the receiver IF bandwidth by at least a factor 2 (eventually x4) and to upgrade the associated electronics and correlator. Following the scientific priority, the first receiver upgrades are targeting the intermediate observing frequencies: Bands 6, 7 and 8, and the new receivers for Band 2 (which was already commisioned and now offered to ALMA users from Cycle 13 in April 2026).
Additionally, WSU will allow for 0.1 km/s spectral resolution at full bandwidth at any ALMA frequency. As for Band 2, this will result in 70x increase of the spectral scan speed for 0.1 km/s resolution. In general, we will reach a factor of (at least) 3 increase in continuum imaging speed and a factor of (at least) 2 increase in spectral line imaging speed. The zoom-in modes will give access to ultra-high spectral resolution: at least 15 m/s at any frequency.
News
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08-Oct-2026
- First WSU cycle will be offered in early 2030s.
- Next cycle, Cycle 14, will not be affected by the WSU commisioning
Note: users will be informed at least one year in advance of the potential impact on the next call for proposals – e.g. in April 2027 (Cycle 14), we will know if Cycle 15 will be affected).
- A new data processing system is being developed, but first WSU cycles will start with using CASA.
For more information follow official ALMA WSU Website:
https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/scientists/alma-2030-wsu/