VLA CASA Pipeline-CASA4.5.3

Introduction

• With the start of Jansky VLA Full Operations (January 2013), we started a new operational model: – Deliver flagged and calibrated visibility data – You will self-calibrate and image visibility data to meet science goals, using resources at home institution or NRAO computing resources • Automated pipeline should run correctly on all “standard” Stokes I science SBs; “standard” means: – 128 MHz spws, but may work on other set-ups as well • Some constraints on strength of calibrators needed – Contains correctly labeled and complete scan intents • Current versions available: – “scripted” pipeline is a collection of python scripts that use CASA tasks wherever possible, but also uses toolkit calls; readable and easy to modify – CASA integrated pipeline is compatible with ALMA pipeline infrastructure, improved diagnostics in weblog, used as real-time pipeline since Sep 2015

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• Real-time pipeline: – Minimal human intervention • Pipeline is run automatically on every science SB as it completes (not just “continuum”) – Pipeline output undergoes quality assurance checks by NRAO staff upon request; reports generated are archived as pipeline products • At your home institution: – Instructions for installation and operation of the VLA CASA Calibration Pipeline are available at https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vla/data-processing/pipeline • Uses CASA 4.3.1, similar to current real-time pipeline • CASA 4.5.2 currently being validated (you are helping with this!) • Scripted pipelines for CASA versions through 4.5.0 also available – Provides more flexibility in how to use the pipeline, options suitable for spectral line datasets, mixed correlator set-ups, multi-band observations, etc. – Working to incorporate these into the CASA integrated pipeline

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Pipeline Requirements

“Standard” Stokes I science SB means: – 128 MHz spws, but may work on other set-ups as well • Can work for narrower BWs, depends on the strength of the calibrators • Heuristics currently make some assumptions about the strength of the calibrators, in particular, the delay calibrator – Contains correctly labeled and complete scan intents • And also that the observation has been set up correctly! • Will the pipeline work for you? – The pipeline successfully completes on ~95% of all science SBs observed on the VLA; whether the output can be used for science depends on the science goal, and whether the observation was correctly set up • Pipeline includes Hanning smoothing, RFI flagging, and weight calculations that may not be appropriate for spectral line projects (but can modify scripted pipeline) • No polarization calibration (yet) but can use pipeline output as starting data for pol. cal. • Will probably work well for data taken since May 2012, may work for earlier EVLA data, likely that extra flagging may be needed in these cases

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Calibrator strength: – Conservative limit on strength of BP and complex gain calibrators can be derived from requirement for initial gain calibration to work at high end of Q-band – Heuristic for delay calibration currently requires the SNR=3 limit on initial gain calibration per integration

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• Correct observation set-up – Independent of whether you want to run the pipeline! – Remember: simple observing set-ups are always easier to calibrate – Do not skimp on calibration to spend more time on your target – you may end up not being able to calibrate the target data at all • Spending 3 minutes pointing could buy you more sensitivity than doubling the time on your target • Scan intents – The pipeline relies entirely on correct scan intents to be defined in each SB – In order for the pipeline to run successfully on an SB it must contain, at minimum, scans with the following intents: • A flux density calibrator scan that observes one of the primary calibrators (3C48, 3C138, 3C147, or 3C286) – this will also be used as the delay and bandpass calibrator if no bandpass or delay calibrator is defined • Complex gain calibrator scans