Project Title

Management and Operations of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, 2021-2026

Summary

Event Number:
A-333-M/S
NSF / OPP Award 2534830

Program Director:
Dr. Marion Dierickx

ASC POC/Implementer:
Marissa Goerke / Jenny Cunningham / Randolph Jones / Sheryl Seagraves / Leah Street

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Francis Halzen
halzen@icecube.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department of Physics
Madison, Wisconsin

Project Web Site:
https://icecube.wisc.edu/

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station, South Pole Station
Research Locations: South Pole (Dark Sector)

Description

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (ICNO) operations and maintenance (O&M) team of researchers and engineers maintains the neutrino detector infrastructure at South Pole Station and at the project’s home institution. This guarantees an uninterrupted stream of scientifically unique, high-quality data. The O&M team and IceCube Collaboration have worked together to produce significant performance increases over time in the cubic-kilometer, deep ice detector that is ICNO. After several seasons of preparatory work and project rebaselining in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IceCube Upgrade project was fielded in 2025-26.

ICNO/O&M activities have broad impacts, involving postdocs and students in the daily operation and calibration of the neutrino detector and public outreach. Components of this experiment are installed in various locations within the detector boundaries at South Pole and on the roof of the IceCube Laboratory (ICL). They include IceACT telescopes, prototype scintillator panels, all-sky cameras, cosmic-ray shower radio antennae, and upgrades to FieldHubs.

Field Season Overview

Tasking for the 2026-27 season includes core O&M, operating system security patches, restock of spare uninterruptible power supply batteries, archival data disk exchange, DOMHub hard-drive life-cycle replacements and other maintenance, the annual IceTop survey, a calibration campaign (e.g., device response, timing, ice properties), complementary science - surface array maintenance, IceACT and Askaryan Radio Array maintenance and upgrade, renewable energy evaluation, ICL rooftop mini-wind turbine upgrade, redeployment of the temporary solar test setup, IceCube Upgrade retrograde, and identifying cargo to retrograde to Madison, Wisconsin (Physical Sciences Laboratory), or remain at South Pole.

Deploying Team Members