Poor Weather (PW) | Gemini Observatory

The PW queue is a program to fill telescope time under poor, but usable, conditions. Time spent on these programs is not charged to the PI or the partner countries. These are queue programs only but are distinct from the "regular" Band 1 to Band 3 queue. They are executed only when nothing in the regular queue is observable. In most other respects (NGO and contact scientist support, science archive data distribution) they are identical to other Gemini programs. If your program is in the poor weather queue, it will be designated as "Band 4". There is no data quality assessment for Band 4 programs.

PW time is open to users based in participating countries, the host institutions and Gemini staff. Access for users from exchange time facilities is granted if the agreement with the facility covers poor weather proposals.

Acceptable observing condition constraints

Observing condition constraints for PW proposals should be:

CC=70%, 80% or "Any" and IQ="Any" and WV="Any" (no restriction on SB)
CC="Any" and WV="Any" (no restriction on IQ and SB)

Consult the Observing Condition Constraints [LINK TO COME] page for a definition of conditions CC, IQ, WV and SB.

Submitting a proposal

Proposers should provide a very clear and concise scientific justification, including the strategy for data reduction.

PW proposals may be submitted through the normal TAC process or at any time using the Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT) (please use the appropriate version, as this changes throughout the year).

Proposals submitted through the normal TAC process follow the proceedure described in the Standard Semester Program page. Depending on the TAC ranking, the proposal could be placed in the usual science ranking bands (Band 1-3). If the don't then they are placed in the poor weather queue (Band 4).
Proposal submitted at any time throughout the semester need to be submitted as PW proposals. This means that in PIT, you submit by:
- choosing "Other Proposal Types" in Proposal Class under the "Time Requests" tab,
- selecting "Poor Weather" in Proposal Type,
- entering the total time requested, and
- clicking "Submit this Proposal" in the Submit tab.

Only proposals submitted this way will be seen and reviewed by the relevant staff (the Heads of Science Operations).

Once validated and approved, programs will be prepared using the Phase II (Observing) Tool [LINK TO COME] to be included and activated in the Observing DataBase (ODB) for their execution in the queue.