New methods for ALMA angular-scale based observation scheduling, quality assessment, and beam shaping

Dirk Petry; María Díaz Trigo; Rüdiger Kneissl; Ignacio Toledo; Stefano Facchini

doi:10.1117/12.2557596

13 December 2020 New methods for ALMA angular-scale based observation scheduling, quality assessment, and beam shaping

Dirk Petry, María Díaz Trigo, Rüdiger Kneissl, Ignacio Toledo, Stefano Facchini

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 11449, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VIII; 114491D (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2557596
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2020, Online Only

Abstract

Up to now, the completion of an ALMA interferometric observation is determined based on the achievement of a given shape and size of the synthesized beam and the noise RMS in the representative spectral range. This approach with respect to the angular resolution investigates mainly the longest baselines of the interferometer and says little about the sensitivity at larger angular scales. We are exploring the ideas of angular-scale-based scheduling and quality assessment, and of angular-scale-based visibility weighting as a step towards optimising both observation efficiency and image fidelity. This approach carries the imaging quality assurance into the visibility space, where interferometers record the data, and therefore simplifies many aspects of the procedure. Similarly during scheduling such detailed assessment of the expected imaging properties helps optimising the scheduling process. The methodology is applicable to all radio interferometers with more than ca. 10 antennas.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Dirk Petry, María Díaz Trigo, Rüdiger Kneissl, Ignacio Toledo, and Stefano Facchini "New methods for ALMA angular-scale based observation scheduling, quality assessment, and beam shaping", Proc. SPIE 11449, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VIII, 114491D (13 December 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2557596

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